Overview
- The Minnesota Twins and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame confirmed Worthington’s death this week at age 97, ending the life of a player who linked baseball’s 1950s and 1960s eras.
- Worthington spent parts of 14 major‑league seasons, appearing in 602 games with a 3.39 ERA and 834 strikeouts, and he was on the New York Giants’ roster for the 1954 World Series.
- He revived his career in Minnesota, emerging as a top reliever and serving as the Twins’ closer during their 1965 World Series season after a run of sub‑3.00 ERA campaigns.
- Worthington was widely remembered for publicly confronting sign‑stealing on multiple teams in 1959–60 and for twice leaving clubs on moral and religious grounds because of those practices.
- After retiring as a player he built Liberty University’s baseball program, served as athletic director, recorded 343 coaching wins, had Liberty’s stadium named Worthington Field and was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.