RIP Steve Dalkowski

[lumberjack]

Perhaps Ryne Duren is the one guy from that period who comes closets to Dalkowski. Duran, who also started in the Baltimore farm system, managed to get a grip on his control (I remember how he would come into a game and throw his first warm up pitch five feet over the catcher's head just to freak everyone out), but he always had a drinking problem that only accelerated once his ability to pitch was problematic (he once got into a fist fight with Ralph Houk, how dumb was that).

Maybe drinking led to his decline, maybe he just lost his swift.
lumberjack

[skil55voy]

There is a great HBO documentary called Fastball which actually spends a little bit of time talking about him. Great movie. May he rest in peace.

[BaltOrioles]

Here's a few Steve Dalkowski items from my collection that you don't see that often. RIP Steve.

1961 and 1963 Baltimore News-Post Scrapbook Cards

1961 Baltimore News-Post Scrapbook (Dalkowski, Steve).jpg 1963 Baltimore News-Post Scrapbook (Dalkowski, Steve).jpg


1963 Orioles Team Issued 8x10 Photo and Postcard

Dalkowski, Steve 1.jpg 1963 Postcard.JPG

[bocca001]

"A ripe Strawberry through a locomotive." Nice.

Those Orioles issues show that he sure had some serious chest hair.

I know that one of the stories about him is that he took off part of somebody's ear with a pitch. I always thought that it would be interesting for someone to go around and interview batters who faced him. I'm sure that would be an interesting read.

[JimC]

[QUOTE=BaltOrioles;1974750]Here's a few Steve Dalkowski items from my collection that you don't see that often. RIP Steve.

Awesome stuff.

[talkinbaseball]

If you do a little more research Steve Dalkowski also played in the mythical high school football championship game played in the orange bowl in 1955
. he was a rotating quarterback in that game. He was coached by John Toner who later went on to hire Jim Clahoun and Geno Auriemma for UCONN.

john