Dick Donovan

Dick Donovan
Donovan in 1955.
Pitcher
Born: (1927-12-07)December 7, 1927
Boston, Massachusetts
Died: January 6, 1997(1997-01-06) (aged 69)
Weymouth, Massachusetts
Batted: Left Threw: Right
MLB debut
April 24, 1950, for the Boston Braves
Last MLB appearance
June 12, 1965, for the Cleveland Indians
MLB statistics
Win–loss record 122–99
Earned run average 3.67
Strikeouts 880
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Richard Edward Donovan (December 27, 1927 – January 6, 1997) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched for the Boston Braves (1950–1952), Detroit Tigers (1954), Chicago White Sox (1955–1960), Washington Senators (1961), and the Cleveland Indians (1962–1965). A Boston native, he graduated from North Quincy High School and served in the United States Navy during and after World War II.

Donovan batted left-handed and threw right-handed, stood 6 feet 3 inches (1.91 m) tall and weighed 190 pounds (86 kg). During a 15-year major league career, he compiled 122 wins, 880 strikeouts, and a 3.67 earned run average, with 101 complete games, 25 shutouts and five saves. In 2,017​1⁄3 career innings pitched, he allowed 1,988 hits and 495 bases on balls.

Donovan, as a member of the White Sox, led the 1957 American League in winning percentage, posting a 16–6 (.727) won-lost record. He pitched in the 1959 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He lost his only World Series start in Game 3, but saved Game 5 for the White Sox, and pitched in relief in Game 6, allowing two hits, three earned runs, walked one, and struck out none. In his only postseason appearance, he compiled 0 wins, 1 loss, 1 save, 5 strikeouts, and a 5.40 earned run average. At the plate in the Series, he went 1-3 (.333 batting average).

His 1962 season was his career-best, when he won 20 games in 34 games started with 16 complete games and five shutouts in 250​1⁄3 innings pitched, all of them new career-highs, for Cleveland. The previous season, 1961, had seen Donovan lead the American League in earned run average with a stellar 2.40 mark in 168​2⁄3 innings for the first-year expansion edition of the Senators.

See also


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