When Drysdale leaves the yard and Stargell goes yard

Dodger Stadium: the site of Don Drysdale’s last stand and Willie Stargell’s 507-foot home run

Los Angeles’ Don Drysdale pitches the final game of his Hall of Fame career 57 years ago tonight at Dodger Stadium. ‍

Already suffering from a torn rotator cuff, Drysdale works the first six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing three runs before leaving with the score tied at 3.

Drysdale’s finale, though, quickly becomes a footnote to the game as the Pirates score a go-ahead run in the seventh inning and then break open the game with a seven-run ninth inning for an 11-3 victory before a Tuesday night crowd of 22,604 at Chavez Ravine.

The Pirates’ run in the seventh off Dodgers rookie reliever Alan Foster is still talked about more than a half-century later as Willie Stargell follows Foster’s strikeout of Richie Hebner to start the seventh with a drive to deep right field. ‍

Real deep.

Like out of the ballpark deep.

No one ever does that before at Dodger Stadium, but then the power-hitting Stargell is known for his prodigious homers.

Estimated distance for this one: 507 feet.

The 1969 homer is the only one Stargell hits off Foster among the 475 homers during his Hall of Fame career.

Stargell matches his feat in 1973, launching another ball out of Dodger Stadium.

Since then, only four others – Mike Piazza in 1997, Mark McGwire (1999), Giancarlo Stanton (2015) and Fernando Tatis Jr. (2021) – match Stargell’s feat.

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