Red Ruffing
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| Red Ruffing | ||
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| Starting pitcher | ||
| Born: May 3, 1905 Granville, Illinois |
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| Died: February 17, 1986 (aged 80) Mayfield Heights, Ohio |
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| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| May 31, 1924 for the Boston Red Sox |
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| Final game | ||
| September 15, 1947 for the Chicago White Sox |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Record | 273-225 | |
| ERA | 3.80 | |
| Strikeouts | 1987 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
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| Member of the National | ||
 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Elected | 1967 | |
| Vote | 86.93% (fifteenth ballot) | |
Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing (May 3, 1905 - February 17, 1986) was a Major League Baseball pitcher most remembered for his time with the highly successful New York Yankees teams of the 1930s and 1940s.
Born in Granville, Illinois, Ruffing suffered the loss of four toes on his left foot in a freak mine accident (in Coalton, Illinois) as a youth. Subsequently transformed from an outfielder to a pitcher, Ruffing made his major league debut in 1924 with the Boston Red Sox, pitching without a decision over 23 innings of work. He saw regular playing time with the Sox over the next few years but had limited success. His best year, in terms of earned run performance, came in 1928, when he posted a respectable 3.89 ERA; however, he also received abysmal offensive support and consequently suffered 25 losses to only 10 wins.
Ruffing's career was renewed by a mid-season trade in 1930 which sent him to the New York Yankees. Buoyed by the offensive production of greats Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, he won 15 games after the trade despite a hefty 4.14 ERA. Ruffing eventually turned into an ace, winning 20 games or more four times in a row from 1936 to 1939, and striking out a league high 190 batters in 1932. He regularly contended for the ERA crown, twice posting ERAs under 3.00, and appeared in seven World Series, won six (1932, 1936-1939 and 1941), and posted a 7-2 career post-season record with a 2.63 ERA.
On August 13, 1932, Red Ruffing threw a complete game shutout and hit a 10th inning home run off Washington Senators pitcher Al Thomas to give the New York Yankees a 1-0 victory. ([1]). Though Ruffing was not the first to achieve the feat, through the 2006 season, no Major League pitcher has since thrown a complete game shutout and hit a home run in a 1-0 game. This feat also means that he was responsible for BOTH of the scores on the scoreboard in the victory. Extremely difficult to do in any major team sport.
After missing the 1943 and 1944 seasons due to the war, Ruffing was unable to regain his ace material upon returning in 1945. After moving to the Chicago White Sox in 1947, he retired. He finished his career with 273 wins, 225 losses, 1987 strikeouts and a 3.80 ERA. Ruffing was also an accomplished hitter, hitting 36 home runs and batting .269 in 1937 career at-bats.
Ruffing was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. At an Old Timers Day Ceremony on July 10, 2004, the Yankees dedicated a plaque in his memory to hang in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium.
A museum in Nokomis, Illinois is dedicated to Ruffing and Hall of Famers Ray Schalk and Jim Bottomley.
[edit] See also
- All-Time leaders in Home runs for a Pitcher
- Top 100 winning pitchers of all time
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball wins champions
- Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
- MLB all-time leaders in home runs by pitchers
- Chicago White Sox all-time roster
[edit] External links
- Baseball Hall of Fame
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- The Deadball Era
- [2]
| Preceded by Lefty Grove |
American League Strikeout Champion 1932 |
Succeeded by Lefty Gomez |
| Preceded by Lefty Gomez |
American League Wins Champion 1938 |
Succeeded by Bob Feller |
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