By Staff
Staff Report
The First Baptist Church of Brewton will host its annual Wildgame Supper Saturday beginning at 5:30 p.m. Al Worthington of Sterrett, Ala. will be this year's guest speaker.
In addition to food and the special speaker, the event will feature a drawing for door prize. Tickets are still available at the church in advance or they may be purchased at the door for $3.
Worthington attended Phillips High School in Birmingham from 1944 to 1948 where he lettered in four sports. In football he was voted All-State; selected by coaches to be on the All-City team; named team's MVP and was named Birmingham's Outstanding Lineman of the Year. He finished second in the state in the shot put and finished third in the state in the 120 high hurdles.
He attended University of Alabama on a football scholarship in 1948 and while he had a career ending injury, he excelled in baseball. He broke pitching records in three years and played in the 1950 College World Series in Omaha. His team won the Southeastern Conference Championship that year. He began playing semi-pro ball in the summer of 1950 and signed a professional contract with the Nashville Vols of the Southern League in 1951. He won his
first professional game against the Birmingham Barons that year and led the team in shutouts. He played with the Nashville Vols in 1952 and led the team in innings pitched, wins, strikeouts and ERA and led the Southern League in strikeouts.
His contract was purchased in 1953 by the New York Giants, began his career with the Minneapolis Millers and was called up to the New York Giants in July of that year. In his first two outings with the team he pitched shutouts against the Philadelphia Phillies and Brooklyn Dodgers. In the next few years he played with both the Millers and the Giants and the Millers won the Little League World Series for the first time ever.
From 1960 until 1964, he played with the Boston Red Sox, the Millers, the Chicago White Sox, San Diego triple A and the Indianapolis Indians. He was sold in 1964 to the Minnesota Twins where he played baseball until 1969 winning several honors. During his major league career, he pitched in 602 games, winning 79 games and posted a career ERA of 3.391 with 108 saves.
In 1972, he returned to Minnesota to serve as pitching coach and to Liberty University in 1973 where he began serving as the baseball coach. He was named as Liberty's Director of Athletics in 1983.
During all this time Worthington has spoken of his faith and will share that with the attendees of the Wildgame Supper.
One note of interest is that Brewtons own, Roy Stokes, was Worthington's roommate at the University of Alabama. When contacted he said that he is excited about seeing his old friend.