Richard Anthony Drago (born June 25, 1945) is a former

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played for the Kansas City Royals (-),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

(-, -), California Angels (-),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1977) and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

(). He batted and threw right-handed. In a 13-season career, Drago posted a 108–117 record with a 3.75

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

and 58 saves in 519 appearances (189 as a starter). Drago played high school ball for Woodward High School in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

, graduating in 1963. He was originally signed by the Detroit Tigers in the amateur draft, but was selected by the Kansas City Royals during the expansion draft. He started his Major League career with the Royals in , becoming the ace of their pitching staff in , after going 17–11 with a 2.98 ERA, and ending fifth in the

AL Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

vote behind

Vida Blue Vida Rochelle Blue Jr. (born July 28, 1949) is a former American professional baseball player. He was a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball between and , most notably as an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won thr ...

Mickey Lolich Michael Stephen Lolich (born September 12, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1963 until 1979, almost entirely for the Detroit Tigers. A three-time All-Star ...

Wilbur Wood Wilbur Forrester Wood Jr. (born October 22, 1941) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. In a 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he pitched for the Boston Red Sox (1961–64), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1964–65), and the Chi ...

and

Dave McNally David Arthur McNally (October 31, 1942 – December 1, 2002) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from 1962 through 1975, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dy ...

. Finishing with a 3.01 ERA in , Drago went 12–17, but declined with 12-14 and 4.23 in . He was traded by the Royals to the Red Sox for Marty Pattin on October 24, 1973, Drago also pitched for the Angels and Orioles in part of two seasons. He had been acquired by the Orioles from the Angels for

Dyar Miller Dyar K Miller (born May 29, 1946) is a retired professional baseball pitcher, coach and instructor. A product of Utah State, Miller pitched 13 seasons in professional baseball between and . He also pitched all or parts of seven seasons in Majo ...

on June 13, 1977. He filed for

free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

after his lone season with the Orioles. He returned to Boston after signing with the Red Sox on November 21, 1977. During his last three years with the Red Sox, he saved 13 games with a 10–6 record in 1979. He ended his major league career with Seattle in 1981. On July 20, 1976, Drago gave up the last of

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. One of the gre ...

's then-major league record 755 career home runs.Henry Aaron's 755th home run
/ref>

References

External links

Dick Drago
- Baseballbiography.com
The 50 Greatest Royals of All-Time- #35 Dick Drago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drago, Dick 1945 births Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Ohio Kansas City Royals players Boston Red Sox players California Angels players Baltimore Orioles players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Toledo, Ohio Detroit Mercy Titans baseball players Rocky Mount Leafs players Daytona Beach Islanders players Montgomery Rebels players Toledo Mud Hens players Fort Myers Sun Sox players