Red Ruffing debuted in 1924 for the Red Sox and was a pretty lousy pitcher through 1931, posting a 4.52 ERA (93 ERA+) and a .378 winning percentage. In 1932 with the Yankees, Ruffing went 18-7 with a 3.09 ERA and led the league in strikeouts, starting a kind of second career. He slumped to average in 1933 and 1934, but from 1935 through 1942 (his age 30 through 37 seasons), Ruffing was pitching at a Hall of Fame level for the Yanks, four times winning 20 games and once winning 19. He even posted a 2.98 ERA in 1937 and an improved 2.93 in 1939. Ruffing then lost the next two seasons to military service. When he returned in 1945, he was 40 years old, but he was better than ever, going 7-3 with a 2.89 ERA in 87 1/3 innings. He had a 1.77 ERA and a 5-1 mark across 61 frames the following season. In 1947, however, Ruffing went 3-5 with an ERA over 6.00 for the White Sox in limited action. He was released by the club on September 30.
Despite his success, Ruffing is best known for two other things. Before his MLB career, he suffered the loss of four toes on his left foot when a coal car ran over it. Secondly, he was regarded as one of the greatest hitting pitchers in history, batting a career .269 with 36 home runs.
Additionally, Ruffing had a 7-2 record in the World Series with a 2.63 ERA and 61 strikeouts, winning six rings.
However, Ruffing's career winning percentage is 41 points below the Hall of Fame average, and his adjusted ERA is only 109. To start out a career like Ruffing did and still make the Hall of Fame would take a pretty amazing turnaround. Ruffing did have a fantastic turnaround starting in 1932, but it wasn't strong enough.
My opinion: Red Ruffing is probably not a Hall of Famer.
Red was 19 when he started out with the Red Sox, and 25 when he left for New York. Considering how most players are in college and the minors in those years, I don't really get penalizing him for them. He was used a lot because the Sox were terrible, which I think also hampered his effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteWith the Yankees he was 231-124, 119 ERA+. That's a hall of famer.
Come on. Most players who eventually have a longer career in the Majors are there by 22. I think that a lot of his wins came from pitching for the Yankees' Murderers' Row lineup, so a lot of his 273 wins probably came from games in which the Yankees scored 8 or 9 runs. That was probably the reason for instituting the 300 win benchmark, to keep Ruffing's and Jack Morris's type out.
DeleteLooking at the career GS leaderboard, Gaylord Perry and Cy Young made the majors at 23, Pete Alexander at 24, Big Unit at 24, Spahn at 25, really, and Jack Quinn at 25. It's normal for a pitcher to struggle for a while before finding himself. Nolan Ryan had his first good season at 25, Randy Johnson at 29, Fergie Jenkins at 24, Don Sutton at 26, Early Wynn at 30, etc. And I think in those last years in Boston he was held down by a heavy workload.
ReplyDeleteRuffing's ERA+ of 119 in his Yankee days is as good or better as the ERA+ of Warren Spahn, Blyleven, Tom Glavine, Ted Lyons, Vic Willis, Madison Bumgarner, Dennis Eckersley, Jim Bunning, Steve Carlton, Fergie Jenkins, Eppa Rixey, Phil Niekro, Charles Bender, Nolan Ryan (!), and other good players and hall of famers. His 231-124 record is inflated, but not outrageously.
What seals the deal for me is his batting. From 1928 to 1932, he hit .324 with 14 homers, 89 RBIs, 44 doubles, and a 118 OPS+ in 578 at-bats. He hit .339 in 1935, .291 with 5 homers in 1936, .307 in 1939, and .303 in 1941. His career average was .269, and he hit 36 homers. BR rates him as being 136 runs above average as a batter, which strikes me as an accurate rating.
And in the World Series he had a 7-2 record, with a 2.63 ERA.
You can think what you want to think. Besides, you are comparing all those ERA+ guys' career adjusted ERA's just to Ruffing's prime, which I don't think is fair.
DeleteOkay, here's another way to look at it. Red missed 2.5 years to the military, and finished with 273 wins. He had won 15, 15, and 14 games a year before going off to war, and he pitched well after coming back. From what I've heard, he wasn't very privileged in the war, not getting to just play ball like Joe Di etc.
ReplyDeleteWithout those 2.5 years missing, it seems highly likely he would have won 300 games, which you think should be an automatic induction.
Hence my saying, "Red Ruffing is probably not a Hall of Famer" rather than, "Red Ruffing is not a Hall of Famer." Besides, I'm just adding to the discussion of who should or shouldn't be in Cooperstown. I am saying nothing definite. Remember?
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