---

Ryne Duren was renowned for his poor eyesight and unpredictable yet effective fastball. The former kept in the minors for 9 years; the latter helped him appear in 311 big league games in parts of seasons.

Shown here is a letter from Hall of Fame executive Lee MacPhail in his role as regional farm director for the New York Yankees. It is written to fellow Cooperstown executive George Weiss and dated July 10, 1953, fourteen months before Duren’s major league debut.

Here MacPhail writes, “I talked to (Burleigh) Grimes about this boy as he had him in spring training. He says the boy is fast and has good stuff. Was wild this spring. Burleigh did not feel he was type who could help in Majors right now but liked his future possibilities.”

Grimes liked Duren’s character and was aware of his vision problems.

“(Grimes) Says he is a fine boy – quiet, good student,” MacPhail writes. “He has bad eyes and Grimes recommended he change his glasses.”

That a pair of Yankee talent evaluators had a keen watch on Duren at this time is curious. When the letter was sent, the pitcher was a minor leaguer in service of the St. Louis Browns. Four years elapsed before he became a Yankee.

The Browns moved to Baltimore for the 1954 season. After 8 years in the organization, the Orioles traded Duren to the Kansas City Athletics in September of ’56. Eight months later the Yankees acquired him in a six-player trade that shipped Billy Martin out of New York.

---

Ryne Duren’s fortunes changed once he arrived in New York for the ’58 season. He finished second in Rookie of the Year balloting thanks to a 2.02 ERA, six wins and a league-leading 19 saves. The performance earned him the first of four All Star selections and helped push the Yankees to the World Series.

Duren pitched in three Fall Classic contests in ’58, striking out 14 in 9 1/3 innings. He helped New York win it all with a win, a save, and a sparkling 1.93 ERA.

The hurler established quite a routine coming into games at Yankee Stadium. When summoned into the game, Duren hopped the chain-link gate of the low bullpen wall then slowly walked to the mound with his team-issued warm up jacket covering his right arm.

Duren played to his wildness while warming up. His first pitch was most often a fastball far out of the reach of the catcher. The ensuing fastballs continued and got closer and closer to the plate. Toward the end of his warmup pitches he’d finally throw a strike.

From 1958-1961 with the Yankees, Duren made four All Star teams and struck out 365 batters in 305 1/3 innings. In five World Series appearances, he pitched to a 2.03 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings pitched.

Duren pitched for 7 teams during his ten-year big league career that spanned from 1954-1965. He went 27-44 with a 3.83 ERA, 55 saves, 630 strikeouts, and 392 walks.

According to the author and director of the movie Major League, Duren was also the inspiration for Charlie Sheen’s bespectacled character Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn.

Shown here is an autographed card of Ryne Duren.

---

Among the many fans that Ryne Duren attracted was a mortician from Spokane, Washington. “Sandy” Sandberg was so impressed with the hurler that he named his youngest son after him.

Ryne Sandberg grew up to be a Hall of Fame second baseman. During his career he established the mark for home runs for men at his position, breaking Rogers Hornsby’s record. Eventually Sandberg’s accomplishment was surpassed by Jeff Kent.

Sandberg finished his career with 2,386 hits, seven Silver Sluggers, and nine Gold Gloves. The ten-time All Star and 1984 NL MVP was inducted into Cooperstown in 2005.

In the collection is a signed Topps contract dated March 20, 1989. Signed by Sandberg, the deal calls for Ryno to appear on Topps cards through the 1992 season.