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Donald Ray (Don) Elston (April 6, 1929 - January 2, 1995) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs (1953, 1957, 1958-64) and Brooklyn Dodgers (1957). Elston batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Campbellstown, Ohio.

A hard-thrower pitcher, Elston played for perennially weak Chicago Cubs teams for most of his nine-year major league career. He began as a starter, but after switching to the bullpen, he became one of the best relievers in the National League. He led the league with 69 relief appearances in 1958, setting a club mark, and In 1959, he tied with teammate Bill Henry with 65 appearances for the league lead. In that season Elston had a career-high 10 victories and was selected for the All-Star Game. He came in the ninth inning of the first game to preserve a 5–4 victory over the American League.

In 450 career games, Elston posted a 49-54 record with a 3.70 ERA and 63 saves.

Elston died in Arlington Heights, Illinois, at the age of 65.

Quotation

• Elroy Face was 18-1 with Pittsburgh in 1959. I was traveling with the Cubs. The Cubs had two relief pitchers: right-hander Don Elston and left-hander Bill Henry. They were constantly protecting leads and no one even knew about it. The year Elroy Face was 18-1 he blew 10 leads. Did you know that? But they had such a good-hitting team they came back in the last inning and won the game for him. Elston and Henry were terrific. – Jerome Holtzman, Hall of Fame writer and MLB official historian [1]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

Sources

• Baseball Library
• Baseball Reference
• 1959 All-Star Game play-by-play