"Cincinnati's starting pitcher in the first game of the last two World Series, Don suffered a displaced ankle tendon in the 1976 opener. The injury hardly deterred the dozen teams that selected him in the historic free agent draft. Shoulder and neck problems cost him one month of the season, and injuries have interfered with his progress and have prevented him from winning 20 games in any season.
Born in Lynn, Kentucky, Don was a scholastic football standout, once scoring a remarkable 10 touchdowns in a single game. He also had a baseball game in which he struck out 20 of 21 batters.
'He throws wall-to-wall heat,' says Willie Stargell. 'He could pitch in a car wash and the ball wouldn't get wet.'"
-Phil Pepe, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1977 Edition
"New York welcomes Don Gullett, the first free agent signed by the Yankees under baseball's new rules - and a strong addition to a pitching staff which led the American League last season.
There is general agreement among baseball people that a healthy Don Gullett is among the two or three best pitchers in the game. Unfortunately, bothersome injuries have kept him from putting together a full healthy season thus far. Still, he had 91 victories prior to his 26th birthday and has the best won-lost percentage among active pitchers with 100 or more decisions. The youthful veteran of seven seasons with Cincinnati has appeared in five Championship Series and four World Series. He was named the Sporting News' top left-handed pitcher in 1974.
Don is six feet tall and weighs 190. He's a lifelong resident of Lynn, Kentucky, where he compiled some of the most brilliant high school all-sports credentials in the country, and a year later was hurling for the pennant winning Reds. His entry into the American League figures to be brilliant and exciting, and the Yankees are delighted that the American League club he's pitching for is based in New York."
-The New York Yankees Official 1977 Yearbook
"Don Gullett was the first free agent signed by the Yankees following the 1976 re-entry draft. He was signed to a six-year contract and his presence helps give the Yankees one of the best pitching rotations in baseball history.
The hard-throwing southpaw won 91 games prior to his 26th birthday, and most feel he has yet to reach his full potential, as injuries have cut into his productivity. His .684 lifetime won-lost percentage is tops among all active pitchers with 100 or more decisions, and he has twice led the National League in percentage (1971 and 1975), the first title coming at the age of 20, his second year with the Reds.
He has pitched in five Championship Series and four World Series, including last fall when he defeated the Yankees in the first game. He suffered a dislocated tendon in the right ankle and had to leave the game.
His 1976 season was also marked by a pinched nerve in his neck and shoulder problems. In 1975, a broken thumb put him out of action for two months; but no one questions his position as one of the game's top hurlers.
Writers have described him as the epitome of the All-American Boy. Don was a sensational schoolboy star at Southshore McKell High School in McKell, Kentucky in three sports. He once scored 72 points in a football game; once scored 47 points in a basketball game, and once struck out 20 of 21 batters in a baseball game. Don developed a forkball in high school and uses it today to compliment his fastball.
He was the Reds' number one draft pick in June 1969, and at 19, in his rookie year, Don struck out six consecutive Mets in a relief role, tying a National League record. He had a no-hitter against the Cubs for 7.1 innings in 1971; his low-hit efforts have been a pair of two-hitters in 1973 and 1975. He won nine straight in 1973. He was sidelined by hepatitis in 1972, and by a back ailment in 1974, but was still named the Sporting News' top left-handed pitcher of that latter season.
Don hit a home run in the 1975 National League Championship Series, his only one in the major leagues."
-1977 New York Yankees Press/TV/Radio Guide
GULLETT'S 100TH
"On the pitching side, Don Gullett notched his 100th career victory during the season. The 26-year-old Gullett has the best winning percentage among those pitchers with 100 or more career decisions."
-1977 World Series Official Program
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