1929
Born February 5, 1929
Birmingham, AL, USA
Al Worthington Marquee
b. February 5, 1929 · New York Giants 1953–1954, 1956–1957, San Francisco Giants 1958–1959, Boston Red Sox 1960, Chicago White Sox 1960, Cincinnati Reds 1963–1964, Minnesota Twins 1964–1969
Al Worthington left the San Francisco Giants in 1960 rather than take part in a scheme to steal signs with a telescope from the scoreboard, and did the same thing at Chicago that season when he found the practice there too. He was out of the majors for two full years afterwards.
Cincinnati brought him back in 1963 and Minnesota acquired him a year later, where he became the closer for the 1965 pennant winners and led the American League with 21 saves in 1968, at thirty-nine.
Born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1929, Worthington appeared in 602 games, saved 110 and finished 75-82. He coached at Liberty University for years afterwards and died in June 2026, at ninety-seven.
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | NYG | 20 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 0 | .065 |
| 1954 | NYG | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| 1956 | NYG | 28 | 51 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 | .235 |
| 1957 | NYG | 55 | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .100 |
| 1958 | SFG | 54 | 44 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 0 | .182 |
| 1959 | SFG | 42 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .077 |
| 1960 | BOS/CHW | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .667 |
| 1963 | CIN | 50 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .083 |
| 1964 | CIN/MIN | 47 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .063 |
| 1965 | MIN | 62 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .100 |
| 1966 | MIN | 65 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .273 |
| 1967 | MIN | 59 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 1968 | MIN | 54 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| 1969 | MIN | 46 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 602 | 255 | 22 | 35 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 85 | 0 | .137 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | NYG | 4 | 8 | 20 | 17 | 0 | 102.0 | 103 | 39 | 54 | 52 | 3.44 |
| 1954 | NYG | 0 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 18.0 | 21 | 7 | 15 | 8 | 3.50 |
| 1956 | NYG | 7 | 14 | 28 | 24 | 0 | 165.2 | 158 | 73 | 74 | 95 | 3.97 |
| 1957 | NYG | 8 | 11 | 55 | 12 | 4 | 157.2 | 140 | 74 | 56 | 90 | 4.22 |
| 1958 | SFG | 11 | 7 | 54 | 12 | 6 | 151.1 | 152 | 61 | 57 | 76 | 3.63 |
| 1959 | SFG | 2 | 3 | 42 | 3 | 2 | 73.1 | 68 | 30 | 37 | 45 | 3.68 |
| 1960 | BOS/CHW | 1 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 17.0 | 20 | 12 | 15 | 8 | 6.35 |
| 1963 | CIN | 4 | 4 | 50 | 0 | 10 | 81.1 | 75 | 27 | 31 | 55 | 2.99 |
| 1964 | CIN/MIN | 6 | 6 | 47 | 0 | 14 | 79.1 | 61 | 19 | 30 | 65 | 2.16 |
| 1965 | MIN | 10 | 7 | 62 | 0 | 21 | 80.1 | 57 | 19 | 41 | 59 | 2.13 |
| 1966 | MIN | 6 | 3 | 65 | 0 | 16 | 91.1 | 66 | 25 | 27 | 93 | 2.46 |
| 1967 | MIN | 8 | 9 | 59 | 0 | 16 | 92.0 | 77 | 29 | 38 | 80 | 2.84 |
| 1968 | MIN | 4 | 5 | 54 | 0 | 18 | 76.1 | 67 | 23 | 32 | 57 | 2.71 |
| 1969 | MIN | 4 | 1 | 46 | 0 | 3 | 61.0 | 65 | 31 | 20 | 51 | 4.57 |
| Career | — | 75 | 82 | 602 | 69 | 110 | 1246.2 | 1130 | 469 | 527 | 834 | 3.39 |
On this day & linked events
2026
Died June 18, 2026
1953
Major-league debut: Al Worthington
Al Worthington made a major-league debut on July 6, 1953.
1956
Carl Erskine's No-Hitter
Carl Erskine threw a no-hitter for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the New York Giants on May 12, 1956, winning 3–0.
1969
Final major-league game: Al Worthington
Al Worthington played a final major-league game on October 2, 1969.
Image: Unknown author Unknown, public domain