BASEBALL ON TV — “The Rifleman” (Featuring Don Drysdale & Duke Snider)

Episode: “Skull” (1962)

REVIEWED BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher

When it comes to old TV westerns, perhaps nothing was more distinctive than Chuck Connors squeezing off a dozen rounds with a quick-action, rapid-fire Winchester repeating rifle at the beginning of “The Rifleman.”

The half-hour ABC series premiered in 1958 and was an immediate hit that lasted five years.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale had a small role during the fourth season in an episode called “Skull.” Ironically, Connors once played big league ball – including a short stint with the Dodgers.

In “Skull,” Lucas McCain (the lead character played by Connors) and his son, Mark (Johnny Crawford), are away on a hunting expedition. Through a series of circumstances, they both end up captives of a gang who inhabit “The Skull Ranch.” As McCain describes it: “Skull Ranch is a haven for every outlaw and saddle tramp in the country.”

The leader of the gang decides to use McCain in a scheme to kill the local sheriff who has decided to crack down on the Skulls. But when they get to town the plot is thwarted.

Drysdale plays one of the outlaws – named Warren – who is put in charge of guarding McCain. Warren, dressed in bib overalls, looks like a hayseed … and is sort of a combination cowboy and hillbilly. (Perhaps, he fell off a turnip truck – or in this case, a wagon – passing by the Skull Ranch.)

The Dodgers hurler gets quite a bit of screen time, although he only has two lines. At first, he orders: “Sit down McCain, you’re not going anywhere.” Later, when the head outlaw snarls “we have a cemetery for lawmen,” Drysdale’s character adds “and we bury ’em deep.” (Incidentally, the Warren character is the only survivor of the final gunfight with the sheriff and his men … giving up quickly when he sees his goose is cooked.)

Drysdale as outlaw “Warren”
(with Connors above)

Drysdale was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1984. Among many mound feats, the hard-throwing, tall right-hander appeared in seven World Series contests for the Dodgers spread over five Fall Classics – going 3-3, with a 2.95 ERA, including three complete games and a shutout.

Chuck Connors is one of only 13 men to play both Major League Baseball and NBA basketball. (He played in 53 games for the Boston Celtics between 1946-48.) After 1948, he focused on his baseball career only.

The six foot, six inch first-baseman appeared in one game for the 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers and 66 for the Cubs in 1951. In 201 major league at-bats, hit two homers, with 18 RBIs and a .238 average.

Connors’ minor league career over parts of nine seasons was more impressive. His best year was 1949 for Brooklyn’s AAA Montreal Royals: He hit .319, with 20 homers, 108 RBIs and 90 runs scored in 477 at-bats.

The charismatic Connors was playing for the Los Angeles Angels (the Cubs’ AAA Pacific Coast League affiliate), when he caught the eye of a Hollywood casting director. With his baseball career waning, it was off to the races in movies and television.

Drysdale and Connors never crossed paths on the baseball diamond, as the pitcher’s major league debut wasn’t until 1956. However, the two would appear together again on the small screen. Six years after his “Rifleman” gig, Drysdale guested on another Chuck Connors network show called “Cowboy in Africa.” It was a short-lived series on ABC that lasted just one season.

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Episode: “The Retired Gun” (1959)

Don Drysdale wasn’t the first Dodger Hall-of-Famer to appear on “The Rifleman” as a member of a nasty gang of scoundrels. That distinction goes to Duke Snider who appeared three years earlier in an episode entitled “The Retired Gun.”

The gang continually hassles an ex-gunfighter (played by Robert Webber) and go on to try and take over the town, but to no avail. They were all mowed down in a climactic gunfight. Snider appeared in four scenes – mostly in the background – and had three minor quips.

Connors and Snider played together briefly in 1949 with Brooklyn. Between 1947-64, “The Duke of Flatbush” blasted 407 career homers and was a lifetime .295 hitter. The centerfielder was an integral part of the successful Dodgers teams of the late 1940s and ’50s (seven N.L. pennants in 13 years).

(As a sidenote, a more prominent member of the gang in this episode was played by long-time character actor John Anderson. Thirty years later, in short, but memorable scenes, he depicted Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in the movie “Eight Men Eight Out.” … For movie review: Click Link Here

***John Anderson as Bad Guy and as Landis***

NOTE: To find out if this show is available in your area, use a search engine and type in: “Where to watch THE RIFLEMAN” … In general, know that some television programs are currently only available on DVD, so check your local library … Others may not be available at all at this time.

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