Red Ruffing

Red Ruffing lost four toes on his left foot in a mining accident as a teenager, pitched 22 seasons in the major leagues anyway, and won 273 games while serving as the ace of a Yankees dynasty that took four consecutive World Series titles from 1936 through 1939. He was one of the best-hitting pitchers in baseball history, batting .269 with 36 home runs over his career, and the BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in a 1967 runoff election after he had fallen just short on multiple previous ballots.

Illinois

Charles Herbert Ruffing was born on May 3, 1905, in Granville, Illinois. He grew up in a coal mining family and went to work in the mines as a young man. A mining accident cost him four toes on his left foot, an injury that would have ended most athletic careers before they started. Ruffing adapted his delivery and his balance, and the missing toes became a footnote rather than a limitation. He reached the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox in 1924 at 19 years old.

Boston

Ruffing spent six seasons with the Red Sox, and they were miserable. Boston was one of the weakest teams in the American League during the late 1920s, and Ruffing absorbed the losses that came with pitching for a bad club. He went 39-96 with the Red Sox, including a 10-25 record in 1928 and a 9-22 record in 1929. His ERA was respectable given the context, but the win-loss record made him look like a mediocre pitcher. The Yankees acquired him in May 1930 for outfielder Cedric Durst and $50,000, and the trade transformed his career overnight.

The Yankees

Ruffing won 231 games for the Yankees over 15 seasons, and the contrast with his Boston years was stark. He won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons from 1936 through 1939, going 20-12, 20-7, 21-7, and 21-7 during that stretch. The Yankees won the World Series in all four of those years, and Ruffing was their most reliable starting pitcher throughout the run.

His repertoire centered on a hard fastball, a sharp curve, and the command to locate both pitches consistently. He worked deep into games, completing 335 of his career starts, and he handled pressure with a composure that made him the obvious choice to start the biggest games on the schedule. He started ten World Series games for the Yankees and won seven of them, compiling a 7-2 record in Fall Classic play overall.

Ruffing was also an extraordinary hitter for a pitcher. He batted .269 over his career with 36 home runs, and Joe McCarthy occasionally used him as a pinch hitter on days he was not pitching. In an era when pitchers were expected to help themselves at the plate, Ruffing stood out even among his peers, and his offensive contributions added measurable value beyond what he provided on the mound.

Military Service and Final Years

Ruffing was drafted into the Army in January 1943, at 37, and missed the 1943 and 1944 seasons entirely. He returned to the Yankees in 1945 and pitched parts of two more seasons before finishing his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1947. He retired with a career record of 273-225, a 3.80 ERA, and those 335 complete games that reflected both his durability and the era in which he pitched.

His Hall of Fame candidacy was a prolonged affair. He appeared on the BBWAA ballot for years without reaching the 75 percent threshold, coming close multiple times before finally clearing it in a 1967 runoff election. He received 266 of 306 votes in the runoff, crossing the threshold at last. He died on February 17, 1986, in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, at 80.