NEW YORK – 1933. In 1933 the Goudey Gum Company issues cards like this one of the New York Yankees’ pitcher Red Ruffing to sell their chewing gum. (Photo by Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics, Getty Images)

Happy Birthday to the late and great Hall of Fame Pitcher Red Ruffing. Throughout his 22-year career, it took place in the American League, 15 years with the Yankees, six years with the Red Sox, and 1 with the White Sox. Ruffing was a six-time All-Star and World Series champion.

Career Statistics (1924-1947):

273-225 W-L, 3.80 ERA, 1.341 WHIP, 1,987 SO, 4,344 IP, 335 CG, 624 Starts

Red Ruffing was a very good to great Starting Pitcher; over his 22-year career, he averaged 254 Innings pitched. Yes, his lifetime 3.80 ERA is high for a Hall of Famer. However, that reflects the extensive overload of pitching and the dominant offensive era in which he played. A lot of pitchers had a high ERA then; in fact, Ruffing finished top-10 in AL ERA eight years in a row. Also, Ruffing was one of the greatest hitting pitchers of all time.

Red Ruffing hitting stats:

.269 BA, 521 HITS, 36 HR, 273 RBI, .306 OBP, over 1,937 At Bats

Ruffing hit over .300 eight times and has the 4th most home runs by any pitcher in baseball history. He was so gifted that even on days he didn’t pitch, he’d be asked to either Pinch Hit or play in the Outfield in an emergency.

Overall, Red Ruffing had himself a “Hall of Fame” career—one of the five greatest starting pitchers in Yankee franchise history. Also noteworthy, Ruffing took himself out of baseball for over two years to serve in the US Air Force in WWII.

References:

  1. Red Ruffing via Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Ruffing#
  2. Red Ruffing Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruffire01.shtml