Виктор Раски: Американдық бейсбол шебері

American baseball player

Victor John Angelo Raschi (March 28, 1919 – October 14, 1988) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. Nicknamed "the Springfield Rifle", he was one of the top pitchers for the New York Yankees in the late 1940s and early 1950s, forming (with Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat) the "Big Three" of the Yankees' pitching staff. He also pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Athletics. From 1946 to 1953, Raschi won 120 games for the Yankees while losing 50, a .706 winning percentage. He pitched in three straight All Star Games from 1948 to 1950, and a fourth in 1952. Raschi led the American League (AL) in won/lost percentage in 1950 (.724) and in strikeouts in 1951 (164). From 1949 through 1951, he won exactly 21 games a year, ranking second in the AL in wins in 1950 and 1951. After pitching in relief for the Yankees in the 1947 World Series, Raschi won five World Series in a row with the ballclub from 1949 to 1953, pitching a shutout in Game 1 of the 1950 World Series. Later in his career, as a pitcher with the Cardinals, he was responsible for allowing Hank Aaron's first MLB career hit as well as his first MLB career home run. In the remaining two years of his career, with the Cardinals and Athletics, Raschi won only 12 games while losing 16.

Born March 28, 1919, in West Springfield, Massachusetts, Victor John Angelo Raschi was one of four children of Massimino and Eugizia Raschi. Massimino worked for a local railroad as a carpenter, and the family moved to Springfield itself when Raschi was just an infant. At Springfield Tech High School, Raschi excelled in baseball, football, and basketball. Gene McCann, a scout for the New York Yankees became interested in him as a high school freshman, but Raschi wished to attend college upon graduating. The Yankees decided to pay for him to go to college in return for the first chance to sign him. In 1938, he started attending the College of William and Mary. Before he graduated, the Yankees had him begin pitching minor league baseball for them in 1941, though Raschi would continue to take classes at William and Mary during his offseasons.

Raschi started his professional career with the Amsterdam Rugmakers of the Class C Canadian–American League in 1941. Making 17 appearances for them, he posted a 10–6 record in 142 innings pitched. He also appeared in 17 games in 1942 for the Class B Norfolk Tars of the Piedmont League, working 113 innings. Though he posted a 4–10 record, his ERA was 2.71, which Lawrence Baldassaro of the Society for American Baseball Research called "impressive." Later in the year, he appeared in five games for the Newark Bears of the Class AAA International League, posting a 1–2 record. In September, he was promoted to the Yankees for the first time. He made one other start six days later, also a complete game against the Athletics, in which he allowed one run in a two run triumph in Game 2 of a doubleheader.

Hoping to remain with the Yankees for 1947, Raschi was very disappointed when he was sent to the Class AAA Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League to start the season. He initially refused to report, but when he finally did join the team, manager Jim Turner helped him become a better pitcher.

Raschi started the 1948 season with the Yankees; after losing his first start, he won nine decisions in a row. He shut out Philadelphia on May 14, allowing just three hits. On June 2, he threw a shutout against the Detroit Tigers, singling against Art Houtteman and scoring the only run of the game when Johnny Lindell drove him in with a double. He threw a second consecutive shutout in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Browns on June 6, holding St. Louis to three hits. Selected to his first All Star Game in 1948, Raschi earned the win after pitching three scoreless innings and driving in the winning run with a two RBI single against Johnny Schmitz. Facing the Indians on August 7, he threw a four hit shutout in front of 66,693 fans at Cleveland Stadium in a game that drew the Yankees within half a game of the AL lead. He was 17–5 with a 3.31 ERA after holding the Athletics to four hits in a shutout on August 22, but he posted an ERA of 6.00 in his final 11 games as the Yankees finished in third place. He finished 11th in AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting. On May 18, Raschi allowed just two hits in a shutout of the defending champion Indians. Against the White Sox on June 1, he limited Chicago to three hits in a 3–0 shutout victory. At midseason, he was selected to the All Star Game, throwing three scoreless innings in the AL's 11–7 win. He was 15–3 with a 2.55 ERA through July 21, but he went 2–6 over his next 10 games, posting a 5.58 ERA from that date through the end of August. He had a 3.30 ERA in September, though, losing once in five decisions. In 1949, the pennant race between the Yankees and the Red Sox came down to the final day of the season, October 2 at Yankee Stadium. Pitching for New York, Raschi held the Red Sox scoreless for eight innings, clinging to a one run lead until the Yankees scored four runs in the eighth. He gave up three runs in the ninth but persevered, retiring Birdie Tebbetts on a pop fly to end the game as the Yankees prevailed by a score of 5–3. Thirty nine years later, this game was considered by pitching coach Turner to be his favorite of Raschi's performances. For the second year in a row, he finished 11th in AL MVP voting. Raschi allowed six runs over 6 2/3 innings in Game 5 but earned the win, clinching the series victory for the Yankees. "It would have been nice to be around at the finish," Raschi said, "but I have no complaints as long as we won. That's the important thing."

An arm injury suffered on May 13, 1950, caused Raschi to miss a few days, but he returned on May 22 to pitch a complete game five hitter against the Indians as the Yankees won 5–2, continuing a seven game winning streak. In the first game of a June 11 doubleheader, he held the Browns to three hits in a 1–0 victory. He started the All Star Game for the first time in 1950, allowing two runs in three innings, though he got a no decision in the AL's 4–3 loss. Facing Feller on August 4, he pitched a three hit shutout in a 1–0 victory over the Indians, as 66,743 fans turned out to see the night game at Cleveland Stadium. Five days later, he had a perfect game going against the Red Sox until Billy Goodman got a single with two outs in the seventh; Raschi held Boston to three hits and one run in a 2–1 victory. After losing on August 13, Raschi never lost a game again during the regular season, winning each of his next six starts and eight of 10 games overall. On August 29, he hit his first career home run (a three run shot against Early Wynn), then pitched all 10 innings of a 6–5 victory over the Indians. In one of the August games against Cleveland, he collided with Indians catcher Jim Hegan at home plate, tearing cartilage in his right knee. The Yankees kept the injury a secret, as the injury limited Raschi's range; after the 1951 season, he would have surgery to remove the cartilage. In MVP voting, he finished seventh. It was his only start of the series, which New York won four games to none.

In 1951, Raschi made the first of three straight Opening Day starts for the Yankees. "The excitement before an opening game is as great, I think, as the World Series," he later recalled, emphasizing the importance of getting the season started well. He started the season with a six hit shutout of the Red Sox. In May, he won six straight starts. Included in the streak were a 10 strikeout performance against the Indians (May 16) and a five hit shutout of the Browns (May 21). Exactly a week later, he held the Tigers to three hits in a 2–0 shutout. He limited the Red Sox to three hits on June 29 in a 2–1 triumph. Despite a 12–6 record at the All Star break, Raschi was not selected to the All Star Game, partly because the AL owners decreed that only one pitcher could be selected from each team. In the first game of a doubleheader on July 29, he struck out 12 White Sox and pitched into the ninth inning, earning the win in an 8–3 victory. Facing the Senators in the second game of a September 9 doubleheader, he pitched a one hit shutout, though the game lasted only six innings. Raschi finished the year with a 21–10 record. The Yankees again won the AL pennant, and Raschi finished eighth in AL MVP voting. Another error (a passed ball allowed by Berra) led to all the scoring against Raschi in Game 6 as the Giants only picked up one run against him in six innings. Johnny Sain and Kuzava finished the game for the Yankees, and Raschi earned the win in the 4–3 triumph that clinched the series for the Yankees. Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, who played for the Giants, thought that Raschi was one of the best pitchers he had ever seen.

Raschi's received a $40,000 contract for the 1952 season, making him at the time the highest paid pitcher in Yankee history. He pitched back to back shutouts against the Browns and the Indians on June 8 (doubleheader, second game) and June 14, striking out 13 against the Browns. The starter in that year's All Star Game, he allowed one run in two innings, taking a no decision in the AL's 3–2 loss. Against the Tigers in the first game of a July 13 doubleheader, Raschi was four outs away from throwing a no hitter when Joe Ginsberg hit a home run off him. Ginsberg's blast was the only hit for the Tigers as the Yankees won 11–1. In an important July 17 doubleheader against the Indians, who were fighting the Yankees for the pennant in 1952, Raschi pitched a complete Game 2, allowing four runs in a 5–4 victory. On August 4, he allowed just six hits and struck out eight in a 1–0 shutout victory over the Senators. He threw a six hit shutout in a 1–0 victory over the Indians on August 23 in front of the largest crowd at Yankee Stadium up to that point in the season, a total of 53,747 fans. In 31 starts, Raschi had a 16–6 record. Of AL MVP candidates, he ranked 17th in the voting. He hit an RBI single off of Billy Loes' leg in Game 6 and held the Dodgers to two runs before getting removed as he tired with two outs in the eighth inning, but Reynolds finished off the 3–2 victory. In Game 7, he entered in the seventh inning with the Yankees clinging to a 4–2 lead, but still tired, he retired only one hitter while allowing the Dodgers to load the bases. Bob Kuzava bailed him out, however, and the Yankees won their fourth straight World Series.

Despite a 3–3 record in his first 10 games of 1953, Raschi posted a 5.05 ERA; some of his early starts were "not too impressive," according to sportswriter John Drebinger. In front of 74,708 fans in Cleveland on June 14 in the second game of a doubleheader, he allowed just three hits in a shutout of the Indians. He pitched a two hit shutout in Chicago against the White Sox on July 19, in the second game of a doubleheader that broke the Comiskey Park attendance record, as 54,215 fans bought tickets. On August 4, Raschi recorded seven RBI against the Tigers with a two RBI single in the second inning, a three RBI double in the third, and a two RBI single in the fourth in a 15–0 victory. The seven RBI set what remains an AL record for a pitcher in a game, and they were a major league record for pitchers until Tony Cloninger drove in nine runs on July 3, 1966. After the game, the Yankees stuffed Raschi's locker with bats as a tribute. He threw back to back shutouts on August 16 (doubleheader, first game) and 23, both against the Athletics. For the fourth time in his career, Raschi and the Yankees faced the Dodgers in the World Series. "It wasn't quite a strike, but I just didn't get it quite high enough, and Campy belted it," he said of the home run pitch. Raschi made no further appearances in the series but became a World Series champion for the sixth time and fifth year in a row as the Yankees defeated the Dodgers in six games. "It's baseball, I guess," he told reporters about the trade. "What hurts me most is leaving the team mates I've grown so fond of." From 1946 to , he had won 120 games while losing 50, a .706 winning percentage. In a game against the Milwaukee Braves on April 15, he allowed Hank Aaron's first hit, a double. Eight days later, he gave up the first home run to Aaron, who would go on to set an MLB record with 755 career home runs. On May 19, he pitched a five hit shutout in a 3–0 victory over the Giants. After that game, however, he won just once in 12 games (11 starts) through July 18. The victory moved his record to 8–5, but Raschi lost his four remaining decisions. He was unable to pitch for much of the spring, drawing reports that he might be released, until he finally solidified his spot on the roster with a five inning performance at the end of spring training. After he failed to get through the second inning in his first start of the regular season, on April 18, the Cardinals released him on April 19. On April 26, Raschi signed with the Athletics, who had moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City after the previous season. He posted a 7.33 ERA in his first six games with them, failing to pitch more than six innings. In his first game against the Yankees since his departure, on July 22, Raschi held the Yankees to one run over eight innings, earning the win in a 3–1 victory that temporarily knocked them out of first place in the AL. He held the Yankees to two runs over seven innings in his next start but took a no decision in a 3–2 loss. While Vic played for the Yankees, he and Sally lived in Hillsdale, New Jersey. Following his retirement, they moved to Geneseo, New York. Vic ran the Valley Liquor Store in Geneseo and served as a baseball and basketball coach at Geneseo State Teachers College (now the State University of New York at Geneseo). In 1975, the college dedicated the Victor J. Raschi Baseball Field, which is now used as a softball field. Raschi also taught at a local elementary school starting in 1969.