Gullett Remains Hospitalized After Suffering a Heart Attack

CINCINNATI — Former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Don Gullett, 35, Monday remained in the intensive care unit of Scioto Memorial Hospital in Portsmouth, Ohio, recuperating from a heart attack.

Gullett was admitted Friday. He had been driving a tractor on his farm when he experienced chest pains.

“I’m as puzzled as everybody else,” said Dr. Grant Stevenson, Gullett’s physician.

“Usually there are some risk factors you can point to. The only risk factor I can come up with is that he’s a smoker.”

The Reds took Gullet as their No. 1 choice in 1969. The next season, at age 19, he was called up to the Reds as a reliever. In one game, he struck out the first six batters he faced.

After the 1976 season, he became a free agent, and the Yankees signed him to a six-year contract, totaling $2 million. He was 14-4 in 1977. By July, 1978, his career was over because of a torn rotator cuff. Gullett’s nine-year record was 109-50.