Page 120 - 1975 BoSox

’75—THE RED SOX TEAM THAT SAVED BASEBALL 113
During these three years Drago appeared in 133 games, mostly in relief, although in 1980 he did have a com- plete game. His composite record was 21-17 with 23 saves and an ERA of 3.52.
One aspect of the game in which Drago excelled was the role of bench jockey. In his days as a relief pitcher, he would stay in the dugout until later in the game so he could get on as many opposing players as possible. Nothing was o -limits to the leather-lunged Drago if he felt it irritated opponents and gave his team even the slightest edge.8 Drago also did good work o the eld, including many visits to see children in hospitals, bringing small gifts and signing autographs. In July 1978 one of his hospital visits made the wire services and he cheered up a young patient by promising him a strikeout and tickets to the World Series.9
Just before the 1981 season began, Drago was dealt to Seattle for Venezuelan right-hander Manny Sarmiento, who never pitched a game for the Red Sox. e deal upset Drago, who blasted the Red Sox for not releasing him so he could become a free agent.10 For Seattle, he went 4-6 with the highest ERA of his career; his 5.53 was more than one run above any previous season ERA and almost two runs higher than his career mark. As disappointing as 1981 was for Drago, it became even more disappointing in that it was his last year. e Mariners released him on April 2, 1982.
e early years of his retirement from baseball were not kind to Dick Drago. Twice divorced, he was as- sessed signi cant child-support payments and soon thereafter was assessed even more in tax payments, penalties, and interest because the IRS disallowed tax shelters he had claimed. is all came to a head in 1992 when he was arrested in Florida and returned in custody to Massachusetts to face charges of failure to pay child support. Doug Hornig suggests that Massachusetts had decided to make an example of the ex-Red Sox player. His brother was able to post bond and he was released. As the trial was about to begin, Drago produced proof of payments, a settlement was reached, and he was allowed to return to Florida.11
Despite the high pro le of his post-baseball problems, Dick Drago should also be remembered for what he was as a player: a good pitcher who excelled as both a starter and reliever, and who pitched great baseball in his biggest games.
Note
A version of this biography was originally published in ’75: e Red Sox Team at Saved Baseball, edited by Bill Nowlin and Cecilia Tan, and published by Rounder Books in 2005.
Sources
e major-league statistical, transaction information was obtained from at least one of three sources: e Baseball Encyclopedia, 9th ed., Total Baseball, 1st ed., or Baseball-Reference.com. Much of the information about Drago’s early years comes from an undocu- mented index card in Drago’s clipping le housed in the Research Department at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Game accounts draw on Retrosheet.org, the Boston Globe, and, for 1975, Tom Adelman’s book e Long Ball. (Boston: Little Brown, 2003).
Notes
1 e author recalls the “Drago Segui” anecdote in a Boston news- paper at the time but has been unable to locate the exact citation.
2 Boston Herald, June 24, 1974.
3 Joe Giuliotti, “Sox’ Reliever Drago Rates Among Best in A.L.,”
Boston Herald, September 28, 1975.
4 Ibid.
5 Boston Globe, October 6, 1975.
6 Drago’s bloody stocking was reported by Peter Gammons, Boston
Globe, October 9, 1975.
7 Reds manager Sparky Anderson called Evans’s catch the great- est he had ever seen. See “Evans Sensational Catch Balks Reds,” San Francisco Examiner, October 22, 1975, cited in Tom Adelman, e Long Ball (Boston: Little Brown, 2003), 352.
8 Mike Ribowsky, “Scoring from the Dugout,” TV Guide, May 3, 1980, 17.
9 “Drago pitches in for friend,” Boston Herald, July 18, 1978.
10 Drago’s reaction to this trade is found in an undocumented article dated April 9, 1981, found in Drago’s clipping le at the Hall of Fame.
11 Drago’s story of his di culties is characterized by Doug Hornig in his book e Boys of October (Chicago: Contemporary Books, 2003), 93-97.