Al Worthington

Positions:
Bats: R Throws: R
Height: 74 Weight: 195
Born: Tuesday, February 05, 1929 in Birmingham, AL USA
Died: in ,
Debut: 7/6/1953
Last Game: 10/2/1969
Full Name: Allan Fulton Worthington

Al Worthington – February 5, 1929

Al player in the Majors for 14 seasons between 1953 & 1969. He played in Cincinnati for a season and a half in 1963 & 1964.
While with the Reds he compiled a record of 4 – 4 in 56 games, picking up 10 Saves.

My interest in Al Worthington is based on his principles. He was, and is, a man of strong Christian faith.

There is a very nice article written in the May 2, 1964 edition of POST (The Saturday Evening Post) Magazine.
The title of the article in “A Bible in the Bullpen”. The story shares how his principles and his faith often caused him issues with his Coaches and Managers. While he was with the Giants, he heard that the team was using a “spy” in the outfield with binoculars to steal sign from the Catcher to let their players know what pitch was going to be thrown. He told his Manager Bill Rigney that it had to stop or he would leave the team. He explained that he know sign stealing was as old as baseball, but their methods were downright cheating. Worthington was assured it would stop and the then first-place Giants went on a three game losing streak to the Dodgers and blew the National League Pennant. In less than a year, both Rigney and Worthington were dropped from the Giants team. Worthington went on to play for other teams but the issue with cheating kept coming up and in 1960 while with the White Sox he felt the cheating was so bad he packed his bags and left the team. He knew it could have been the end of his career, but his faith and his following of Jesus Christ meant more to him.

He did get another chance. After a couple of years in the Minors he returned to the Majors in Cincinnati in 1963. In 1963 the Reds needed experienced relief pitching and they took a chance on Worthington. He appeared in 50 games in 1963 finishing the season with a 2.99 ERA.

“Al was real great for us at times last season,” said Reds Manager Fred Hutchinson. “If he keeps on improving, he could be one of the best relief pitchers in the league this season.”

In June of 1964 the Twins purchased Worthington from the Reds and he played for the Twins from 1964 to 1969, pitching in two Post Seasons with the Twins, 1965 & 1969.

Happy Birthday to a true gentleman!