George Dugan (1977) - Hall of Fame - Murray State University Athletics

George Dugan

Induction:
1977

George Dugan – Baseball, 1963-1965 (Deceased)

As one of the first great players to compete at Murray State under legendary coach Johnny Reagan, George Dugan’s career has stood the test of time as he still stands as its greatest pitcher.

Dugan, a native of Mt. Vernon, Illinois, pitched for the Racers from 1962-65 and was one of the top pitchers of his time at the collegiate level.

Inducted into the Murray State Hall of Fame in 1977, Dugan helped the Racers to three Ohio Valley Conference championships in 1963, 1964 and 1965. During this time, the Racers also won two OVC Tournament titles. Dugan was a four-time All-OVC selection and was named OVC Pitcher of the Year in three-straight seasons after his sophomore, junior and senior seasons.

Finishing his career in 1965, Dugan held every pitching record at Murray State and still does as of 2017. He had 24 complete games, nine shutouts, 343 strikeouts, strikeouts per 9-innings at 14.0 and most consecutive wins at nine in a row. Dugan was part of an amazing day in 1965 when he teamed with Jerry Anderson to toss a doubleheader no-hitter against Austin Peay. He also had four one-hitters and four two-hitters at MSU. He led the nation in 1963 with an ERA of 0.29 in 63 innings of work as we won all nine of his starts.

Dugan was drafted by the California Angels in the 19^th round of the 1965 Major League Baseball draft. He played three seasons of minor league ball in Quad Cities (Class A) and El Paso (Class AA). In three seasons, he appeared in 46 games and recorded 10 wins with an ERA of 3.50 in 167 innings with 164 strikeouts.

Even though he never reached the big leagues, George Dugan was known for having an amazing arm. His name came up on Aug. 6, 1993 on WTBS. While Don Sutton was calling the game between the Braves and Montreal Expos, another Murray State star, Kirk Rueter, was in his rookie season. Sutton said of Rueter, “Did you say he (Kirk Reuter) was from Murray State? That’s a great baseball school up in Kentucky. One of the best little left-handers I ever saw that didn’t get to pitch in the big leagues was George Dugan. He pitched just like Whitey Ford.”