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Former Major League Baseball pitcher and three-time World Series champion Don Gullett died on Wednesday, according to reports. He was 73.
No cause of death was provided. His death was announced by the Cincinnati Reds, the team with whom he played his first seven MLB seasons after the Reds drafted him in the first round of the 1969 MLB Draft.
“Don dedicated 24 years to this franchise as a player, coach and minor league instructor,” Reds CEO Bob Castellini said in a statement. “An anchor on the pitching staff of one of the greatest baseball teams in history, his contributions to our rich tradition, our city and his community will never be forgotten.”
Gullett played nine seasons in MLB from 1970 to 1978, his first seven for the Reds and his final two seasons for the New York Yankees. He won three consecutive World Series during his career – two with Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine” teams in 1975 and 1976, and another with the Yankees in 1977. He was also on the Yankees team that won the 1978 World Series, but his season was cut short in July due to a rotator cuff injury that ultimately ended his career.
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The southpaw hurler finished his MLB career with a 109-50 record, 3.11 ERA, 44 complete games, 14 shutouts, 11 saves and 921 strikeouts in 1,390 innings pitched across 266 games, including 186 starts.
Following retirement, Gullett spent 16 seasons as a coach in the Reds’ organization from 1990 to 2005, the last 13 of which he served as pitching coach for the Reds. He was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2002.
“Don Gullett, the best athlete and competitor I ever saw or played with!,” former Reds teammate and Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench said in a tweet. “He will be missed.”
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