George Vecsey’s column this Sunday is about Steve Dalkowski, the fireballing pitcher who struck Maris out on three pitches, convinced Ted Williams to bow out of trying to hit him, and served, in part, as the inspiration for Nuke LaLoosh.
Turns out he’s living in New Britain:
After decades of alcohol abuse, Dalkowski lives in Walnut Hill Care Center in New Britain, Conn., a block from the park where he was a high school star and a bonus baby in the mid-1950s.
His story’s a sad one–he hurt his arm in an era before the surgical reconstruction of pitchers’ arms was commonplace–but it’s a treat to know that he’s living here!