Don Gullett: (2014) 40th Annual Ashland Elks Club Sportsman of the Year

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• published: 04 Jul 2014
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Don Gullett, who is arguably the greatest athlete in northeastern Kentucky history, is the honoree for the 40th annual Els Sports Day. Gullett stared in baseball, basketball and football at Mckell High School. He once scored 72 points in a single football gameand struck out 20 of 21 batters in a baseball game. The Cincinnati Reds selected him in the first round of the 1969 amateur draft and he made his majojor league debut on Aoril 10, 1970. Gullett played for the Reds from 1970 to 1976 and for the New York Yankess in 1977 and 1978 before shoulder problems brought a promising career to a premature end. Gullett won 109 games and posted a 3.11 ERA and was a member of 6 World Series teams and 4 consecutive world championships ('75 and '76 with the Reds and '77 and '78 with the Yankees). If Gullett's left rotator cuff hadn't exploded on him in June 1978, his plaque might be hanging in Cooperstown. He was only 27 years old and one of the best pitchers in the game when his shoulder gave out. He was well on his way to the Hall of Fame had he been able to pitch into his late 30's instead of his late 20's. Gullett's .686 winning percentage in nine seasons was better than competitors Jim Palmer (.652), Nolan Ryan (.517), Tom Seaver (.636), and Don Sutton during their nine-year career. Gullett is often compared to Hall of Famer Qhitey Ford, a Yankee left-hander, who had a .690 winning percentage and a career 2.75 ERA. As a high school athlete in northeastern Kentucky, Gullett had few who compared. He was a star at whatever sport he tried at McKell High School and burst onto the high school scene as a fireballing eigth-grade pitcher. Gullett had offers to play football for Ohio State, Notre Dame and Alabama and numerous basketball offers, too. Of course he chose baseball and the Reds selected him first in the 1969 draft at the urging of scout Gene Bennett. Gullett's minor-league apprenticeship lasted a half season when he pitched in 11 games at Class A Sioux Falls in 1969. He was invited to spring training the next year and made the team, appearing in 44 games as a rookie in 1970, but he made only 2 starts. He was 5-2 with a 2.42 ERA. But he was even better in the postseason, pitching 10 1/3 innings and alloeing on one run on six hits in the National League playoffs and Wprld Series. He saved two of the three wins in the sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He became a starter the next year and remained that way throughout the rest of his career. The shoulder injury was the only thing that slowed him down.