Vic Raschi: "The Springfield Rifle", 4x AL All-Star

Card: 1952 Bowman #37

Position: RHP

Victor John Angelo Raschi 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 was nicknamed “The Springfield Rifle”.

In a war-shortened nine year career, Vic was named to four All-Star teams, was an integral part of six World Championship Yankee teams, and compiled an amazing won/loss record of 132-66. In 1948 he was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game and also drove in the winning run with a bases-loaded single. Raschi led the AL in strikeouts in 1951.

An outstanding big game pitcher, Raschi posted a 5-3 record and a 2.24 ERA in World Series play, completing three of his eight starts, tossing a 2-hit shutout in one contest, and allowing just 1 run on 3 hits in another.” – Author Robert W. Cohen in The 50 Greatest Players in New York Yankees History (Scarecrow Press, #43. Vic Ranchi, 06/16/2003, Page 225)

His success on the mound was an integral part of the Yankees’ unprecedented streak of five straight World Series titles between 1949 and 1953. During this time, Vic’s record was 92-40, an average of eighteen wins a season and a winning percentage of .697. From 1949, only his second full season in the majors, through 1951, he won twenty-one games each year. Vic was a 4-time AL All-Star (1948-1950 & 1952), the AL Winning Percentage Leader in 1950, and the AL Strikeouts Leader in 1951.

Later in his career, as a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals, he was responsible for allowing Hank Aaron’s first career home run.

(excerpted from SABR, BR Bullpen & Wikipedia)