Dodgers History: Did Robert Redford REALLY play high school baseball with Don Drysdale?

LOS ANGELES — With the passing of Robert Redford today at the age of 89, much of the baseball world is remembering not only his starring role in The Natural but also a long-standing rumor that connected him directly to the Dodgers’ past. For decades, stories circulated that Redford and Hall of Famer Don Drysdale were teammates on the Van Nuys High School baseball team in the early 1950s.

It’s the kind of story too good not to repeat: one of Hollywood’s greatest leading men patrolling the outfield behind a future Dodgers legend. Redford himself once told St. Louis sportswriter Bob Broeg that he had played with Drysdale, even recalling how Van Nuys was still “a fruit-and-vegetable farm area” when they were in school. When Broeg later asked Drysdale, the pitcher reportedly vouched for his famous classmate, saying, “Redford was a pretty good ballplayer.”

The tale stuck. It appeared in books, in articles, and in baseball lore, becoming part of Redford’s mystique. After all, the man who would later swing for the fences as Roy Hobbs in The Natural surely must have had real baseball roots.

But was it true?

In 2011, Brian Cronin took a deep dive into the story for the Los Angeles Times. He traced the rumor back through yearbooks, biographies, and firsthand accounts. What Cronin found was that while Redford and Drysdale absolutely attended Van Nuys High together, the evidence that they were baseball teammates simply wasn’t there. Van Nuys yearbooks from 1952–54 list Drysdale on the team, but not Redford. Instead, Redford’s name shows up with the tennis team.

So where did the scholarship story come from? Cronin pointed to Michael Feeney Callan’s Robert Redford: The Biography, which clarified that Redford did briefly try to pursue baseball at the University of Colorado. He was recruited with the possibility of earning a scholarship if he performed well, but by his own admission he soon lost interest in the sport, skipping practices and eventually leaving the team. His attention shifted to art and later acting, setting him on the path to stardom.

It’s very possible that Redford and Drysdale crossed paths on sandlots or in summer leagues around Van Nuys, which could explain both men’s recollections. If they played together outside of school, Redford’s use of the word “teammate” wasn’t entirely wrong, just not accurate in the high school varsity sense.

Cronin’s final verdict: status – false. Redford and Drysdale were classmates, not high school teammates. Still, as with so many baseball legends, the truth is complicated enough to keep the myth alive.

Today, as we remember Redford’s passing, it’s fitting to think about how this Hollywood icon always carried a touch of baseball with him—whether or not he ever wore the same uniform as Don Drysdale.

Credit to Brian Cronin and the Los Angeles Times (2011) for the original reporting that untangled this long-standing rumor.

Have you subscribed to the Bleed Los Podcast YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows & promotions, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!