THE WILD THING

Good evening. This is Dead Legends. We’re the kind of guys who grew up watching web gems on Baseball Tonight.

What a time to be alive.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about the real-life Ricky Vaughn.

If you’ve never seen the movie Major League, this email probably isn’t for you.

It’s a bonafide baseball classic, filled with incredible characters like Pedro Cerrano, Lou Brown, Willie Mays Hayes, and of course, Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn.

Unbeknownst to most, Charlie Sheen’s character is actually based on a real ballplayer named Ryne Duren.

The 6’2” relief pitcher emerged into the big-league spotlight during his years pitching for the Yankees, from ‘58-’60.

Duren shoved in ‘58, leading the league with 19 saves and posting a 2.02 ERA; he made his first all-star game and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting too.

Even still, he definitely had his shortcomings.

Ryne was diagnosed with myopia, better known as nearsightedness.

He had 20/70 vision in his left eye and 20/200 vision in his right eye.

Just to put that in perspective, the definition of being “legally blind” is when you have 20/200 vision in your best eye; so basically Duren was a notch or two better than blind.

This lead to control issues, but it also lead to him wearing these coke bottle glasses that became his signature look.

A legend was born.