Books and articles about Red Ruffing

Ruffing's career was made by a change of scenery. He joined the Red Sox at age 19, and from 1924 through May 1930, toiled for consistently last-place Boston clubs, compiling an unimpressive 39-96 record. The righthander led the AL in losses in both 1928 (25) and 1929 (22), as his team was always last in batting and averaged a meager 35 HR annually.

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Yankee manager Miller Huggins was interested in him, seeing his strength, foreseeing durability and effectiveness, and knowing that Yankee power could give Ruffing the support he deserved. In 1930, Boston ownership, badly in need of money, sold Ruffing to New York for backup outfielder Cedric Durst and $50,000.

Ruffing went 15-5 for the Yankees that first year, though his ERA remained high. In the 15 seasons that followed, the Yankees won seven pennants and six World Series, averaging .276 with 146 homers a year. Ruffing contributed a 231-124 record and had four straight 20-win seasons, coinciding with four Yankee championships, from 1936-39. He threw 42 of his 48 career shutouts'Zh)''for New York. In 1938 his 21 wins topped the AL, as did his .750 (21-7) winning percentage and four shutouts.

In World Series competition, he was 7-2, tying him for second place in wins behind Whitey Ford.

Ruffing was also one of the best-hitting pitchers of all time, with lifetime marks of .269 (10th among pitchers with 500 at-bats), 36 HR (3rd), 273 RBI, and 58 hits in 228 pinch-hitting appearances. He batted over .300 eight times, his .364 (40-for-110) in 1930 standing as the second-best single-season average for a pitcher (Walter Johnson hit .433 in 1925).

The determined Ruffing accomplished what he did despite having lost four toes on his left foot in a mine accident as a youngster. The injury cut down on his speed, and the pain, he said, never ceased.

He spent three years in the army in WWII, but lasted for only three injury-plagued seasons upon his return. After retiring at age 43, he managed in the minors, scouted, and in 1962 became the Mets' first pitching coach. He was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 1967 by the BBWAA in his last year of eligibility. (EC)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » September 3, 1925: The first place Senators continue their march toward a second straight pennant with a 9–3 roughing up of Red Ruffing and the Red Sox. Roger Peckinpaugh leads the way, going 3-for-4 with a triple. Alex Ferguson, Yankee castoff, is the winner. The idle A's drop six games off the pace. » September 7, 1928: The A's take two from Boston, winning 1–0 and 7–3, and move into a first-place tie with the Yankees. Lefty Grove is magnificent in the opener, allowing four hits and striking out 11 to win his 14th straight. Red Ruffing takes the tough loss, allowing an unearned run. Ed Rommel outguns Danny MacFayden in the nitecap. » September 21, 1928: At St. Louis, Boston's Red Ruffing smashes a 3-run homer in the 7th and pitches the Sox to a 5–3 win over the Browns. » April 18, 1929: After two cancellations of their season start—their first ever—the Yankees open against the Red Sox before 40,000 at the Stadium, winning 7–3. Judge Landis presents diamond-studded watches to the New York players in honor of their championship season in 1928. New York Starter George Pipgras allows just three hits in five 1/3 innings, but walks 9. Reliever Fred Heimach then pitches hitless ball to preserve the win. In his first at bat against Boston's Red Ruffing, the newly wed Babe hits a home run and as he rounds 2nd base, he doffs his cap to his bride Claire in the stands. Gehrig adds a home run in the 6th, off Milt Gaston. For the first time, the Yanks have numbers on their uniforms, assigned according to the player's spot in the lineup: Combs, 1, Koenig, two Ruth, 3, Gehrig, 4, Meusel, 5, Lazzeri 6, Durocher, 7, Grabowski, 8. The win goes to Pipgras # 14, with Heimach #17 picking up the save. » April 28, 1929: The Red Sox play the first Sunday game in Boston history, at Braves Field, losing to the A's 7–3. Protests by a few members of a nearby church are the reason for the shift from Fenway. The Braves, rained out of their scheduled Sunday game on April 21, will play their first Sunday home game on May 5. Starter Red Ruffing gives up four runs in the 6th, including consecutive homers by Miller and Dykes. When Milt Gaston takes over in the 7th he pitches to his brother Alex, the 2nd battery of brothers in AL history: Tommy and Homer Thompson, one game in 1912 for the Yankees, were the first. » May 6, 1930: The Yankees get Red Ruffing, loser of 47 games in the past two years and with a lifetime 39-96, from the Red Sox for $50,000 and Cedric Durst. » May 24, 1930: In New York, the Yanks and A's play their 3rd doubleheader in four days. Babe Ruth homers in both games, giving him eight in six games, and drives home seven runs to help New York sweep, 10–6 and 11–1. Newly acquired Red Ruffing is the easy winner in the nitecap. » April 26, 1931: Dusty Cooke, Yankee RF, is hurt diving for a fly ball off the bat of Ossie Bluege of Washington. 1B Gehrig winds up playing the ball, which becomes an inside-the-park HR. With Babe Ruth still sidelined, the shorthanded Yankees send P Red Ruffing to the outfield. The game's most significant play comes with Lyn Lary on base when Lou Gehrig's drive into the CF stands at Washington bounces back and is caught by CF Harry Rice. According to the rules, this is a home run, but when Lary sees Rice catching the ball, he thinks it's the final out of the inning. Unnoticed by Joe McCarthy, coaching at 3B, Lary heads for the dugout after crossing 3B. Gehrig circles the bases. He is called out and gets credit for a triple instead of a HR and loses 2 RBI. As a result Gehrig will end the season tied for the HR title with Babe Ruth and will have "only" 184 RBI. » June 4, 1931: After hitting safely in his last eight times at bat, Oscar Melillo, the slick-fielding but light-hitting 2B of the Browns, is stopped by Red Ruffing of the Yankees. St. Louis wins 8-6. » August 2, 1931: The Red Sox and the third-place Yankees split a Sunday doubleheader before a record 40,000, played at Braves Field because of religious restrictions involving Fenway. Former Boston P Red Ruffing wins the first game 4–1, and ex-New Yorker Wilcy Moore blanks his former mates 1–0 in the nightcap. Moore allows just three singles in topping George Pipgras. The Yanks will go 308 games before being shut out again. » September 17, 1931: In the first of two, the Yankees and Red Ruffing rough up the Browns and George Blaeholder, 17–0. Bill Dickey's grand slam is the big blow. The Yanks take the nitecap, 6–1 behind Lefty Gomez's three hitter and Babe Ruth's 41st and 42nd homers of the year. » May 16, 1932: The Yankees record their 4th straight shutout to equal the record set by Cleveland and Boston in 1903 and 1906. Johnny Allen, George Pipgras, Red Ruffing, and Lefty Gomez are the hurlers. Lefty stops Cleveland on five hits to win, 8–0, New York's 5th shutout in seven games. » August 13, 1932: It looks like the Yankees scoring streak might be broken, but P Red Ruffing hits a HR in the 10th to beat Al Thomas of the Senators 1-0. Tom Hughes, in 1906, was the last major-league pitcher to hit an extra-inning, game-winning HR. » September 21, 1932: Jimmie Foxx slugs #54 to lead the A's to an 8–4 win over the visiting Yankees. Simmons and McNair also homer off Red Ruffing as Sugar Cain is able to win. » April 30, 1934: Red Ruffing hits a HR in the 9th to defeat Washington and put the Yankees in first place. » May 27, 1934: Buck Newsom walks 11 batters but knocks the visiting Yankees out of first place with a 16–7 Browns win. Bruce Campbell helps Buck with a grand slam as the Brownies score eight runs in the 4th to pin the loss on Red Ruffing. Cleveland moves into the league lead. » June 20, 1934: The AL leading New York Yankees trip the Indians twice, 3–2 and 3–0, at Yankee Stadium. New York ties the first game on Frank Crosetti's solo homer in the 8th of Bob Weiland, then wins it on Gehrig's 18th in the 9th. Lefty Gomez, in relief of Johnny Broaca, is the winner. In game 2, Hal Trosky's single is the only hit off Red Ruffing, who also knocks in a run. » July 10, 1934: The second annual All-Star Game produces Carl Hubbell's amazing feat of striking out five future Hall of Famers in a row. Off to a shaky start with two on base in the first inning, Hubbell uses his screwball to fan Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx. He adds Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to start the second. After three scoreless innings he leaves with the NL ahead 4-0. The AL rallies, scoring nine runs off Warneke, Mungo, and Dean, while Mel Harder pitches five shutout innings in relief of Red Ruffing to hold the lead. Frisch and Medwick hit HRs. Earl Averill's three RBI are decisive for the AL 9-7 victory. » March 26, 1936: Hank Greenberg signs a Tigers contract for $20,000, and Red Ruffing accepts $12,000 from the Yankees. » June 7, 1936: George Selkirk's HR in the 16th gives Red Ruffing a 5-4 win over Oral Hildebrand of the Indians. Ruffing has three hits, including a HR. There are no strikeouts in the long game. » July 10, 1936: The Yankees roll to an easy victory over the Indians, as Red Ruffing takes the shutout, 18–0. Lloyd Brown, the first of three pitchers, is the loser. Lou Gehrig has a pair of homers to take over the American League lead with 23. » May 30, 1938: The largest crowd in Yankee Stadium history, 83,533, sees Red Ruffing end Lefty Grove's 8-game winning streak in a 10–0 victory over the Red Sox. Six thousand fans are turned away, and 511 are given refunds because there is no place to sit. The Yankees also took the 2nd game of the doubleheader, 5–4, in a game made famous for a fight between Yankee OF Jake Powell and Boston player-manager Joe Cronin. The brawl starts when Boston P Archie McKain hits Powell with a pitch in the stomach. Powell's charge to the mound is intercepted by Cronin and the two pummel each other for 2-3 minutes. Cronin and Powell are ejected but continue the fight in the area beneath the stands, until they are separated by Yankee players. Both players are fined and suspended for 10 days. » October 9, 1938: The Yankees become the first team to win 3 successive World Championships, defeating the Cubs by a score of 8-3, as Red Ruffing wins his 2nd game and the Yankees sweep. » April 20, 1939: The Red Sox show off their prize rookie Ted Williams before 30,278 in the opener in New York, delayed two days because of rain. After striking out twice, Williams collects a double off Red Ruffing, who wins 2–0. Gehrig makes an error, goes hitless, and lines into two double plays in the only game featuring the two great sluggers. Other notables in what will become a historic box score include Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey, Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, Bobby Doerr, Red Rolfe, and losing pitcher Lefty Grove. The Yanks score their first run on a homer by Dickey and their 2nd tally on an error by Jimmy Foxx. Boston has baserunners in each inning, but Ruffing tosses just the 2nd opening day shut out in Yankee history. Four umpires work the game including 3B ump George Pipgras, the starting pitcher for the Yankees in the 1929 Opener; his opponent for the Red Sox that day was Red Ruffing. » May 2, 1939: After carrying out the scorecard to the umpires, Lou Gehrig voluntarily benches himself "for the good of the team." He is batting .143 with one RBI. His consecutive-game string stops at 2,130. Babe Dahlgren, his replacement, has a homer and double, as the Yankees rout Detroit 22–2. New York bats around in three innings to make it easy for Red Ruffing. Ballyhooed Tiger teenager Fred Hutchinson makes his major league debut and the Yankees light him up for eight runs in 2/3 of an inning. Hutch gives up four hits and walks five. » May 7, 1939: Joe Gordon smacks two homers and Red Rolfe one to pace the Yankees to a 15–4 hosing of the White Sox. Red Ruffing is again the easy winner; in his last outing the Yanks scored 22 against Detroit. » May 30, 1939: At Boston, the Red Sox and Yankees split a Memorial Day doubleheader. The Sox double the Yanks, 8–4 in the opener, before the New Yorkers roar back to win the nitecap, 17–9. Ted Williams hits a long home run off Red Ruffing, that after retirement he says it is hardest hit ball he ever had. » August 13, 1939: The Yankees beat the A's 21-0 to equal the major-league record for lopsided shutouts. Joe DiMaggio and Babe Dahlgren each have two HRs, one each inside the park. Red Ruffing collects four hits along with the victory. » October 4, 1939: The WS, with the Yankees as heavy favorites, begins in New York. The pitching of Red Ruffing for New York and Paul Derringer for Cincinnati produces a tense, low-scoring duel that is tied 1-1 until the last of the 9th, when Yankees C Bill Dickey singles home the winning run. » May 12, 1940: Behind the six-hit pitching of Red Ruffing, the Yankees beat the Bosox, 4–0, and stop New York's 8-game losing streak. New York (7-14) is still in last place while Boston (16-6) sits atop the American League. » October 1, 1941: Red Ruffing pitches the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium in the opening game of the WS. Joe Gordon chips in with a HR and RBI single. » June 21, 1942: Ted Lyons wins his 250th career game, 6-5 over the Red Sox. A week later he will beat New York's Red Ruffing to match the Yankee hurler's 251 career wins. The White Sox veteran will finish the season with 20 complete games in 20 starts, lead the AL with a 2.10 ERA, then enter the Marine Corps at age 42. » September 30, 1942: Down 7-0 to Red Ruffing in the Series opener, the Cardinals storm back for four 9th-inning runs, not enough to win but enough to portend the result of the WS. » January 4, 1943: A wartime tone for the season is set when Red Ruffing, just months short of his 38th birthday, and minus four toes, is drafted into the Army Air Corp. » July 11, 1945: Aaron Robinson, Yankees C, returns from the military. Red Ruffing is back too, and so are Hugh Mulcahy and Buddy Lewis. Charlie Keller will follow, and a couple of dozen former major-league players will be in uniform before the season is over. » May 13, 1946: The Yankees become the first ML team to fly on a regular basis, as the fly United to St. Louis aboard the Yankee Mainliner. Red Ruffing and four others choose to take the train. » February 16, 1967: Red Ruffing is selected for the Hall of Fame through a special runoff election, since nobody received the required 75 percent vote in January. » May 8, 1973: In a 9–7 losing effort against the Giants, Cardinals ace Bob Gibson makes his 242nd consecutive start. It is a new 20th century record passing that of Red Ruffing, who never pitched in relief the last 10 years of his career.