Ryne duren biography

With his poor eyesight, and notoriously poor control, flame-throwing pitcher Ryne Duren’s fastball put the fear of God into opposing hitters in the late 1950s and early 1960s. “Duren was the standard by how we ranked hard throwers,” All-Star pitcher and pitching coach Jim Kaat said. “We’d say [so-and-so] can throw almost as hard as Duren.”1

Duren labored as a starting pitcher in the minor leagues for the first eight years of his career but it was not until he was converted to a relief pitcher, and was brought up to the Major Leagues by the New York Yankees that his career really took off. He drew national attention by throwing 100-miles-per-hour while wearing tinted sunglasses with lenses as thick as the bottoms of Coca-Cola bottles.

Duren mastered his control problems enough to be selected to the AL All-Star team in 1958, 1959, and 1961. His speed and his control issues were perhaps only exceeded by his fondness for drink, and his career was likely shortened by the effects of alcoholism. “I never really knew what it was like to pitch a sober inning,” Duren