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World Series hero cherishes Denver no-hitter

Triple-A gem 'was quite a thrill,' Ryne Duren says

Brian Metzler, Special to the Rocky

Published June 26, 2007 at midnight

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"Fifty years ago today, I pitched a no-hitter in Denver. Who am I?"

It wasn't a question in a sports trivia game, but it certainly could be. That's what former Yankees World Series hero Ryne Duren told the reporter on the other end of the line Saturday.

Duren pitched for eight teams during a 10-year major league career between 1954 to 1965 and helped the Yankees win the 1958 World Series. But one of his fondest baseball memories is the no-hitter he hurled against the Louisville Colonels for the Triple-A Denver Bears on June 23, 1957, at Mile High Stadium.

The only other no-hitter in the history of professional baseball in Denver is Hideo Nomo's gem against the Rockies at Coors Field on Sept. 17, 1996.

"It was quite a thrill, but it was one of those things where no one was keeping track and I didn't pay any attention to it," says Duren, 78, who still spends his summer in his childhood home of Cazenovia, Wis. "When the game was all over, I didn't really realize it until someone said it was a no-hitter."

Duren keeps in touch with a few of his teammates from those legendary Yankees teams of the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Bobby Richardson, Tony Kubek, Ralph Terry, Whitey Ford and Moose Skowron. But he still laments the fact he had to spend the entire 1957 campaign with Ralph Houk's Bears and not with Casey Stengel's Yankees.

The hard-throwing right-hander had been traded to the Yankees a week earlier in a deal that sent Billy Martin to the Kansas City Athletics. Even though he had been on the major league roster with the A's and earlier in his career with the Baltimore Orioles, Duren was sent to Denver to "get my feet on the ground," he said.

Duren became the Bears' star pitcher and helped the team win the 1957 American Association championship and the Junior World Series, the name given to the minor league championship back then.

"When I was traded, my manager at Kansas City, Lou Boudreau, told me I was the best pitcher on his staff and that he would never have traded me," Duren said. "But the Yankees sent me down, and I threw a no-hitter and thought I'd be right back up. Then they kept me there the whole year. I went 13-2 and got beat 1-0 twice and I saved a bunch of games out of the bullpen, too. But I guess I never got my feet on the ground."

During a four-year stint with the Yankees beginning in 1958, Duren was one of the most feared relief pitchers in the big leagues. He was a flamethrower - reportedly hitting 100 mph with regularity - but he also had control problems and wore "Coke bottle" glasses because of his poor eyesight.

In 589 1/3 innings in the big leagues, Duren struck out 630 but also walked 392. To accentuate his wildness and intimidate hitters, he often would throw his first warm-up pitch over the catcher's head to the backstop.

Still, Duren posted a 6-4 record with a 2.02 ERA and a league-leading 20 saves in 1958, then helped the Yankees beat the Milwaukee Braves in the World Series with a win and a save. But he also battled alcoholism during his career.

He was traded to the Los Angeles Angels during the 1961 season but never had the same success. He finished his career in 1965 with a 27-44 record, 57 saves and a 3.83 ERA.

He finally overcame his alcohol addiction in 1968 and spent the next 25 years working as an alcohol-abuse counselor. In 2003, he co-authored I Can See Clearly Now, a book about his struggle with alcohol.

Duren has been to the Denver area dozens of times since his shining season with the Bears and says he's amazed at how the city has grown. He has a son who lives in the suburbs and formerly had a golf tournament in his name for many years in the area.

"Knowing how messed up I was, I thought I'd have been dead 40 years ago," says Duren, who heads up the Winning Beyond Winning Foundation that provides cross-training for life for children in New York City. "The story is about saves - first my own life and then so many other people with interventions and counseling. I think my baseball career is incidental to the real story of my life. I'm grateful to be on this side of the divot every day."