Vic Raschi

Full Name: Victor John Angelo Raschi	Primary Position: P
Height/Weight: 6' 1"/205	First Game: September 23, 1946
Birthdate: March 28, 1919	Final Game: September 13, 1955
Birthplace: West Springfield, Massachusetts	MLB Experience: 10 years
Died: October 14, 1988
Deathplace: Groveland, New York
Bat/Throw: Right/Right

Biography[]

Victor John Angelo "Vic" Raschi (March 28, 1919-October 14, 1988) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. He was born in West Springfield, Massachusetts. As a result he was nicknamed "The Springfield Rifle."

His debut on the New York Yankees was September 23, 1946, wearing uniform number 12. The next year he wore three different numbers (17, 19, and 43) but number 17 became his from then on during his Yankee career. He was one of the top pitchers for the Yankees in the late 1940s and early 1950s, forming (with Allie Reynolds and Eddie Lopat) the "Big Three" of the Yankees' pitching staff. From 1946 to 1953, Raschi won 120 games while losing 50. He led the American League in won/lost percentage with a .724 record in 1950, and in strikeouts with 164 in 1951.

And he was a better hitter than most pitchers, with a .184 career batting average, and got 7 runs batted in (RBI) in one game, an American League record for pitchers, on August 3, 1953. But on February 24, 1954, Yankee fans were surprised to see him traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Apparently the Yankees' management knew what they had done, because in the remaining two years of his career, with the Cardinals and Kansas City Athletics (who signed him as a free agent on April 28, 1955 when the Cardinals released him), Raschi won only 12 games while losing 16.

On April 23, 1954, Raschi gave up the first of Hank Aaron's 755 career home runs. Aaron had also gotten his first career hit off Raschi eight days earlier. He kept his uniform number 17 on the Cardinals, but on the A's took number 16. He died in Groveland, New York.

Most people believe that Vic Raschi's best season was 1951, when he posted a 3.27 ERA, won 21 games and struck out 164 batters.

Statistics[]

Pitching Stats[]

Year	Team		G	GS	W	L	ERA	K	R	ER	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	IB	WP	HBP
1946	NY	A	2	2	2	0	3.94	11	7	7	2	0	0	16	14	0	5	0	0	0
1947	NY	A	15	14	7	2	3.87	51	47	45	6	1	0	104.2	89	11	38	0	2	1
1948	NY	A	36	31	19	8	3.84	124	103	95	18	6	1	222.2	208	15	74	0	5	3
1949	NY	A	38	37	21	10	3.34	124	120	102	21	3	0	274.2	247	16	138	0	10	6
1950	NY	A	33	32	21	8	4.00	155	120	114	17	2	1	256.2	232	19	116	0	6	3
1951	NY	A	35	34	21	10	3.27	164	110	94	15	4	0	258.1	233	20	103	0	8	5
1952	NY	A	31	31	16	6	2.78	127	78	69	13	4	0	223	174	13	91	0	5	6
1953	NY	A	28	26	13	6	3.33	76	74	67	7	4	1	181	150	11	55	0	1	1
1954	STL	N	30	29	8	9	4.73	73	99	94	6	2	0	179	182	24	71	4	5	0
1955	STL	N	1	1	0	1	21.60	1	4	4	0	0	0	1.2	5	0	1	1	0	0
1955	KC	A	20	18	4	6	5.42	38	66	61	1	0	0	101.1	132	10	35	4	2	1
1955	Total		21	19	4	7	5.68	39	70	65	1	0	0	103	137	10	36	5	2	1
Total	NL		31	30	8	10	4.88	74	103	98	6	2	0	180.2	187	24	72	5	5	0
Total	AL		238	225	124	56	3.59	870	725	654	100	24	3	1638.1	1479	115	655	4	39	26
Total			269	255	132	66	3.72	944	828	752	106	26	3	1819	1666	139	727	9	44	26

Fielding Stats[]

Year	Team		POS	G	GS	INN	PO	A	ERR	DP	PB	SB	CS	PkO	AVG
1946	NY	A	P	2	0	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1.000
1947	NY	A	P	15	0	0	4	15	0	1	0	0	0	0	1.000
1948	NY	A	P	36	0	0	12	28	0	3	0	0	0	0	1.000
1949	NY	A	P	38	0	0	12	53	1	3	0	0	0	0	.985
1950	NY	A	P	33	0	0	10	29	1	3	0	0	0	0	.975
1951	NY	A	P	35	0	0	8	30	2	1	0	0	0	0	.950
1952	NY	A	P	31	0	0	6	22	1	3	0	0	0	0	.966
1953	NY	A	P	28	0	0	5	23	1	2	0	0	0	0	.966
1954	STL	N	P	30	29	179	16	35	1	3	1	1	5	1	.981
1955	STL	N	P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1955	KC	A	P	20	0	0	10	21	1	1	0	0	0	0	.969
1955	Total		P	21	0	0	10	21	1	1	0	0	0	0	.969
Total			P	269	29	179	84	259	8	20	1	1	5	1	.977

Batting Stats[]

Year	Team		G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG	OBP	SLG	2B	3B	BB	SO	SH	GDP
1946	NY	A	2	4	1	1	0	0	.250	.250	.250	0	0	0	2	3	0
1947	NY	A	15	40	5	10	0	3	.250	.268	.300	2	0	1	7	1	0
1948	NY	A	36	81	10	19	0	11	.235	.279	.284	4	0	5	11	4	2
1949	NY	A	38	83	7	13	0	6	.157	.271	.193	1	1	13	19	11	1
1950	NY	A	33	86	6	17	1	8	.198	.258	.256	2	0	7	14	10	1
1951	NY	A	35	85	5	15	0	5	.176	.231	.200	2	0	6	24	13	5
1952	NY	A	31	69	4	13	0	2	.188	.273	.217	2	0	8	27	10	1
1953	NY	A	28	63	4	9	0	11	.143	.182	.159	1	0	3	13	5	4
1954	STL	N	30	64	3	9	0	3	.141	.179	.141	0	0	3	18	3	1
1955	STL	N	1	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	0	0	0	0	0	0
1955	KC	A	20	33	0	6	0	1	.182	.206	.212	1	0	1	10	3	2
1955	Total		21	33	0	6	0	1	.182	.206	.212	1	0	1	10	3	2
Total	NL		31	64	3	9	0	3	.141	.179	.141	0	0	3	18	3	1
Total	AL		238	544	42	103	1	47	.189	.250	.226	15	1	44	127	60	16
Total			269	608	45	112	1	50	.184	.243	.217	15	1	47	145	63	17

Transactions[]

Signed as an amateur free agent by New York Yankees (1941).
Sold by New York Yankees to St. Louis Cardinals for $85000 (February 23, 1954).
Released by St. Louis Cardinals (April 23, 1955).
Signed by Kansas City Athletics (April 29, 1955).
Released by Kansas City Athletics (October 13, 1955).