Allan Fulton Worthington (February 5, 1929 – June 18, 2026), nicknamed "Red", was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played all or part of 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1953–1954, 1956–1959), Boston Red Sox (1960), Chicago White Sox (1960), Cincinnati Reds (1963–1964), and Minnesota Twins (1964–1969). Worthington batted and threw right-handed.
Raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Worthington played baseball at the University of Alabama before becoming a professional. Acquired by the Giants in 1953, he began his career with the ballclub as a starter, pitching shutouts in his first two major league games. After spending most of 1954 and all of 1955 in the minor leagues, he became a full-time starter again in 1956. During 1957–58, he split his time between the rotation and the bullpen, and by 1959 he was almost exclusively used as a relief pitcher. He split 1960 between the Red Sox, the minor leagues, and the White Sox, retiring with about a month left in the season because the White Sox were engaged in ruses to steal opposing team's signs, and he could not play for the team with a clear conscience. He completed his degree at Howard College, then decided to return to baseball and spent two years in the minor leagues for the White Sox. The Reds acquired him in 1963, and Worthington posted a 2.99 earned run average (ERA) out of the bullpen for them that year. He began 1964 with Cincinnati, was sent to the minor leagues, and had his contract purchased by the Twins, with whom he would spend the rest of his career. Sports Illustrated called his 1.37 ERA with the team that year "impressive". In 1965, Worthington had a career-high 21 saves and a career-low 2.13 ERA, also winning 10 games. From 1966 to 1967 he saved 32 games, and in 1968 he led American League (AL) relievers with 18 saves. In a 14-year career, Worthington compiled a 75–82 record with 834 strikeouts, a 3.39 ERA, and 110 saves in innings pitched.
Worthington continued with his career in baseball after his retirement as a player. In 1972 and 1973, he served as the pitching coach for the Twins. Then, in 1973, he heard a radio commercial for Liberty University. Worthington contacted Liberty president Jerry Falwell and told him that the school should have a good Christian baseball coach; he was hired to create the school's baseball team. After their first season, the ballclub never had a losing record under Worthington again. He coached them until after the 1986 season, when Bobby Richardson replaced him. While he was still coaching, he became Liberty's Athletic Director, a position he held until his retirement in 1989. In May 2011, he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Worthington died in June 2026 at the age of 97.
Early life Allan Fulton Worthington was born on February 5, 1929, in Birmingham, Alabama. He was the seventh of ten children of newspaper compositor Walter B. Worthington and his wife, Lake Worthington. Walter played amateur baseball locally, and two of Al's older brothers, Robert and Walter, played Minor League baseball as well. Growing up, Al went to Inglenook Elementary School and Phillips High School in Birmingham. He attended the University of Alabama, where he played baseball and football. The football team used him sparingly, though, and he stopped playing football during his sophomore year because he suffered a left arm and shoulder injury that was not healing quickly. The Advocate considered him "lanky" for a baseball pitcher, but Worthington caught the eye of Birmingham railroad employee Dickey Martin while pitching against a local team in 1951. Martin recommended Worthington to his friend Larry Gilbert, manager of the Nashville Volunteers of the Double-A Southern Association, who signed the Alabama pitcher to a $1,500 contract in 1951.
Nashville Volunteers (1951–1952) With Nashville in 1951, Worthington won his first two starts. He appeared in 23 games (21 starts), posting a 7–10 record and a 4.57 earned run average (ERA) in 124 innings pitched. He did not pitch well to begin the 1952 season; new manager Hugh Poland said the pitcher was "trying to throw too hard for his own good." As the season went on, he improved, evidenced on August 24 when he allowed one run and six hits in 14 innings against the Little Rock Travelers. He finished the year making 30 starts in 41 appearances, posting a 13–13 record and a 3.54 ERA in 221 innings pitched.
New York/San Francisco Giants (1953–1959)
In April 1953, the New York Giants purchased Worthington's contract and assigned him to their Triple-A affiliate, the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association (AA), where he had a 9–5 record and a 2.90 ERA. In July, he was called up by the Giants, who added him to their starting rotation. Making his major league debut on July 6, he allowed two hits in a complete game shutout over the Philadelphia Phillies. He allowed four hits in his next start against the Brooklyn Dodgers on July 11, also a shutout, becoming the first National League (NL) pitcher to start his career with consecutive shutouts since Jay Hughes did so for the Baltimore Orioles in 1898. Worthington then lost his next three starts, but his ERA remained under 1.00; in one of the games, he allowed seven runs, but only one was earned. He would go on to lose eight straight decisions, however, before picking up a win on September 19, allowing one run in innings pitched in the first game of a doubleheader against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He won his final start of the season, also against the Pirates, on September 25, allowing two unearned runs in a complete game, 6–2 victory. In 20 games (17 starts), he had a 4–8 record, a 3.44 ERA, 52 strikeouts, 54 walks, and 103 hits allowed in 102 innings pitched.
Worthington failed to make the Giants' roster out of spring training in 1954, but he was the top pitcher at Minneapolis, posting an 11–7 record, a 4.32 ERA, and 93 strikeouts in 152 innings pitched for the Millers through July 29. On that date, he was promoted by the Giants to bolster their pitching staff. Worthington mainly pitched out of the bullpen for the Giants in 1954, though he made one start in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on August 29, allowing three runs in four innings and taking a no decision in a 7–4 Giants victory. In 10 games for New York, Worthington had an 0–2 record, a 3.50 ERA, eight strikeouts, 15 walks, and 21 hits allowed in 18 innings pitched. The Giants won the NL pennant that year, and though Worthington did not pitch in the 1954 World Series, he on New York's roster as the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in four games.
In 1955, Worthington spent the entire season with Minneapolis. He led the American Association with 19 wins, losing 10 games and tying for fifth in the league in strikeouts (150) while posting a 3.58 ERA. With his help, the Millers defeated the Rochester Red Wings to win the Junior World Series.
The Giants hoped for improvement from Worthington in 1956; manager Bill Rigney, discussing him and two other young players, said, "If these three come through, we could go places." In his second start on April 28, he allowed six hits and three runs (one earned) in a complete game, 5–3 victory over the Phillies. On June 16, he pitched 11 innings and allowed just five singles but suffered the loss in a 3–1 defeat to the Cincinnati Redlegs. Four days later, he allowed one run in a complete game and was rewarded for his efforts in a 4–1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Later in the season, he missed over a month, not pitching between July 25 and August 28 because of a sore arm. With a 5–14 record after September 17, he won his last two starts of the year, including a game against Philadelphia on September 22 when he allowed one run in a complete game, 2–1 victory. Worthington appeared in 28 games for the Giants in 1956, making what would be a career-high 20 starts. He tied for sixth in the NL in losses (14, tied with Sam Jones, Tom Poholsky, and Vinegar Bend Mizell), posted a 3.97 ERA, struck out 95 batters, walked 74 batters, and allowed 158 hits in innings.
Worthington started three of his first four games for the Giants in 1957, but after posting a 12.75 ERA, he was then used mostly out of the bullpen, though he still made occasional starts. On May 11, relieving Joe Margoneri to start the ninth inning of a 5–5 tie against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Worthington threw seven shutout innings, picking up the win as the Giants prevailed in the 15th on a Valmy Thomas home run. Four days later, he allowed two runs in innings, but the first allowed the Cardinals to tie the game in the seventh, and the second allowed them to win the game 6–5 in the 14th. Used for a start in the second game of a doubleheader on August 18, he held the Phillies to three hits in a 1–0, shutout victory. Five days later, he pitched 10 innings and held the Cubs to two runs, getting a no decision in an eventual 3–2 Giants victory. He made three more starts through September 5 before moving back to the bullpen for the rest of the year. In 55 games (12 starts), he had an 8–11 record, a 4.22 ERA, 90 strikeouts, 56 walks, and 140 hits allowed in innings pitched.
In 1958, the Giants moved to San Francisco; Worthington started the fourth game of the year for the ballclub, then worked out of the bullpen after that. Against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 13, he worked six innings of relief, blowing a 7–6 lead when Gil Hodges hit a home run against him in the third inning but earning the win as the Giants prevailed 16–9. Given a start on June 15, he allowed eight hits but just one unearned run in a 3–1 victory over the Phillies. From that day forth, he was used mainly as a starter until August 6, after which he was exclusively used out of the bullpen for the rest of the year. He held the Pirates to one run over nine innings in the first game of a doubleheader on July 27 but got a no-decision in a 14-inning, 2–1 loss. In 54 games (12 starts), he had an 11–7 record, a 3.63 ERA, 76 strikeouts, 57 walks, and 152 hits allowed in innings.
Worthington held out during 1959 spring training hoping for a salary raise, which he was granted, but he was pitching for the Giants again by the time they played their first game. He made starts on August 22 and 27, a day after and the day of a Giants doubleheader, respectively. In the August 22 start, he allowed one run and three hits in six innings, earning the win as the Giants beat the Phillies 8–1. Other than that, except for a June 18 start, he pitched exclusively out of the bullpen. Between June 24 and August 8, he made only three appearances. Discovering in September that the Giants were having an employee steal opposing team's signs, observing them from the grandstands with binoculars and relaying them to the Giants' dugout, he confronted Rigney about the fact. "I told Bill that I had been talking to church groups, telling people you don't have to lie or cheat in this world if you trust Jesus Christ," said Worthington. "How could I go on saying those things if I was winning games because my team was cheating?" Rigney, who had been friends with Worthington since the pitcher's minor league tenure, promised to stop the practice. In 42 games (three starts), Worthington had a 2–3 record, a 3.68 ERA, 45 strikeouts, 37 walks, and 68 hits in innings pitched.
Boston Red Sox/Chicago White Sox (1960)