Hundreds Mourn Drysdale : Tributes Are Paid at Funeral of Dodger Hall of Fame Pitcher

More than 800 of Don Drysdale’s friends and relatives said goodby to him Monday, paying tribute to his character, his sense of humor, his kindness. They came to the Hall of the Crucifixion-Resurrection at Forest Lawn in Glendale to say thanks for the opportunity to have known him.

“The tragedy of life is in what dies inside a man while he lives,” Vin Scully, his broadcasting partner, said at the memorial service. “There was only life in Don--genuine feeling, inspired response and an awareness to feel the pain and glory in others and in himself.

“Don was God’s tool and he worked wonders. He lived the stuff of dreams--full of accomplishment, inspiration and love. In God’s eyes, Don lived a complete game, and it was a victory.”

Drysdale, 56, a Hall of Fame pitcher with the Dodgers, died July 2, while with the team in Montreal, apparently of a heart attack.

Drysdale’s wife, Ann Meyers Drysdale, thanked a crowd that included many of his former teammates--Sandy Koufax, Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Podres, Ron Perranoski, Ron Fairly, Ted Sizemore, Duke Snider, Norm Larker, Ed Roebuck, Don Zimmer and Chuck Essegian.

“Don will always be the light and love of my life, and we are all blessed with having him touched our lives and leaving his footprints on us,” said Meyers, who has been married to Drysdale for nearly seven years.

Earlier, holding the couple’s 4-month old daughter, Drew Ann, she had hugged and greeted friends who had come to speak--Ross Porter, Dick Enberg, Bob Uecker, Tom Lasorda, Gene Mauch, Orel Hershiser and Scully.

Also attending was a contingent of current players, including Eric Karros, Jody Reed, Tim Wallach, Cory Snyder, Dave Hansen, Mitch Webster and Jim Gott. Former Dodger and Angel John Werhas, now a pastor in Yorba Linda, conducted the service.

Hershiser, who broke Drysdale’s 20-year record when he pitched 59 scoreless innings in 1988, read a letter he had written to Drysdale’s four children, Kelly, 33, Don Jr., 6, Darren, 4, and Drew Ann.

“I wanted to write to you to tell you about your dad from my perspective,” Hershiser read. “We became friends at what could have been an awkward time in our lives, but your dad carried himself and his achievements with grace and dignity. He was not only a great pitcher, but his very being personified greatness. . . .

“I was humbled to be around him, to watch him and to learn from him. When he spoke, he spoke with conviction and insight about life as well as the game he loved. He made time for everyone, from the established veteran to the lowly rookie. His big smile always offset any grumblings or shortcomings he saw in the game.”

When Hershiser broke his record, Drysdale was on the bench to congratulate him and conduct the postgame interview.

“I did not meet your dad until after his playing days, yet I was amazed by his presence,” Hershiser continued. “You see, big leaguers are not the easiest people in the world to impress. But often, retired players, even Hall of Famers, lose some of their stature in the locker room as they leave their playing days behind. This was not the case with your dad.”

Drysdale, who was a Dodger TV and radio announcer with Scully and Porter for the last six years, was a fixture in the Dodger clubhouse, part of the players’ daily lives. He spent time talking with them, joking with them and sharing his convictions about the game.

Hershiser, the dean of the Dodger staff, struggled to read the end of his letter.

” . . . Even a veteran in this game needs a mentor, and I have lost one of the very best. He truly was a gift from God for all of us,” Hershiser read.

The service was held on a stage in a theater-style cathedral filled with floral arrangements and photographs of Drysdale in his playing days, with his children and with Meyers on his wedding day.

“If Don were here, he would have a smile on his face, chuckle and say, ‘What’s the big fuss?’ ” said Enberg, Drysdale’s former broadcasting partner with the Angels and Rams. “Don wouldn’t let those whom he cared about, nor himself, be down too long about anything. And if he saw someone who needed a hand, he was quick to put that big paw around them.”

Said Mauch: “The big guy was a giant of a man who walked among giants. Now, if Don heard me say that, he would say, ‘Gene, either start over or sit down. I never had anything to do with the Giants in my life.’ ”

Lasorda said that speaking at Drysdale’s service was one of the most difficult things he has had to do.

“Don and I were roommates in (the minor leagues at) Montreal, and we spent a lot of time together,” he said. “And on the days when it rained and we couldn’t go to the movies, we would sit in the room and he always told me that he wanted to be outstanding in baseball and have a great career. Then when he was finished he wanted to be a broadcaster.

“We would sit in the room and I would say, ‘Don, announce a couple of innings of an imaginary game.’ And he would. Then he would say to me, ‘Make a speech to the Rotary Club.’

“Who would have ever thought that he would be a Hall of Famer and then a sportscaster? Who would have ever thought that I would be here today, giving this speech for him.”

It was Lasorda’s third eulogy this year. He also delivered them for Roy Campanella, who died exactly a week before Drysdale, and former Dodger Tim Crews, who was killed in a boating accident during spring training.

Porter recalled how happy Drysdale was to be doing what he wanted most, announcing major league baseball for the only team he had played for during his 14-year career.

“The last time I saw Don, in the Montreal broadcast booth, he was eating strawberry ice cream and laughing,” Porter said. “Oh, how he loved to laugh. I believe that we should all take comfort today, in knowing that when he left us, Don Drysdale was the happiest he had been in his life.”

Uecker, at the invitation of Meyers, delivered a series of anecdotes about his friendship with Drysdale, which began during their playing days but really took off when they were both announcer for ABC Sports.

“Don first touched me in 1961, right here,” Uecker said, pointing to his neck and alluding to one of Drysdale’s infamous brushback pitches. “Don then touched me three more times. I was even brushed back by Don getting off a bus in Vero Beach. You didn’t have to be in uniform to be brushed back.”

Uecker recalled a time in Milwaukee when Drysdale, then a Texas Ranger announcer, was doing a live Hanes’ pantyhose commercial.

“I ran downstairs to the clubhouse and got a supporter and put it over my head,” Uecker said. “When Don started his spot, I got his attention, and when he saw me, needless to say, that was the end of the commercial. He went down laughing.”

Uecker, who visited often at the Drysdales’ home in Rancho Mirage, called Drysdale the Felix Unger of sports.

“He had a fetish for cleanliness,” Uecker said. “He hated fingerprints on his mirrors, and that’s all he had to tell me. I would go in and put my hand on the mirror and he would walk in and say, ‘Gee, how did you do that?’ And then he would clean it. He carried around a little sponge and every time I picked up my glass, he would wipe off the ring.

” . . . Everybody who stayed with Don got their own squeegee, and if you didn’t squeegee the bathtub after a shower, he did it himself.”

A five-minute video that the Dodgers had put together included shots of Drysdale during his playing days, including spots on the Joey Bishop and Bob Hope programs in the early 1960s, followed by footage of his broadcasting days and his wedding to Meyers.

It closed with shots of Drysdale with his children, in the swimming pool, teaching Don Jr.--DJ--to ride a bike without training wheels, and swinging him around in their front yard. The video ended with Drysdale and DJ sitting at a table in their home, with DJ, maybe 3 then, singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.”

When he finished singing, Meyers asked DJ, “Who is the home team?”

And DJ answers without hesitation, “The Dodgers.”