Charles Herbert "Red" Ruffing (May 3, 1905 – February 17, 1986) was an American professional baseball player. A pitcher, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1924 through 1947. He played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and Chicago White Sox in a Hall of Fame career. Ruffing is most remembered for his time with the highly successful Yankees teams of the 1930s and 1940s.
Ruffing dropped out of school as a child to work in a coal mine in his native Illinois. He played for the mine's company baseball team as an outfielder and first baseman. After he lost four toes from his left foot in a mining accident, he became unable to run in the field, and switched to pitching. He played in minor league baseball in 1923 and 1924 before making his MLB debut with the Red Sox. After struggling with Boston, pitching to a 39–96 win–loss record, the Red Sox traded Ruffing to the Yankees, where he became successful, pitching as the Yankees' ace through 1946. After one season with the White Sox, Ruffing retired from pitching to work in coaching. He served as a bullpen coach for the White Sox, a pitching coach for the New York Mets.
Ruffing was a member of six World Series championship teams with the Yankees. He also appeared in six MLB All-Star Games. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. The Yankees dedicated a plaque to Ruffing in Monument Park in 2004.
Charles Herbert Ruffing was born on May 3, 1905, in Granville, Illinois. He was one of five children of John and Frances Ruffing, who emigrated to the United States from Germany. Ruffing was raised in Coalton and Nokomis, Illinois. He went to school in Nokomis. His father was a coal miner, working in a mine in Coalton until he suffered a broken back. John became the superintendent of the mine, and also served as mayor of Coalton.
Red quit school at the age of 13 to work for his father in the mine, earning $3 per day ($64 in current dollar terms), working as a coupler. Conditions in the mine were dangerous. Red's cousin, who also worked in the mine, died in an accident. He also played baseball as an outfielder and first baseman for the mine's company team, and for a semi-professional team in Nokomis.
When Ruffing was 15 years old, he suffered an accident in the mine, where his left foot was crushed between two cars. Though the doctor was able to save his foot, Red lost four toes. He was supposed to begin his professional baseball career in the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League that year, but he found himself unable to run as fast as he previously could. Doc Bennett, the manager of a nearby semi-professional team, suggested that Ruffing should try to continue pursuing a baseball career by becoming a pitcher.
Bennett helped arrange for Ruffing to sign his first professional contract when he reached the age of 18. Ruffing signed with the Danville Veterans of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, a minor league baseball team in the Class B designation level. With Danville, Ruffing had a 12–16 win–loss record. After pitching for Danville in the 1923 season, the Boston Red Sox purchased Ruffing from Danville for $4,000 ($75,586 in current dollar terms).
The Red Sox assigned Ruffing to the Dover Senators of the Class D Eastern Shore League to pitch at the start of the 1924 season. He had a 4–7 record for Dover.
Ruffing made his major league debut with the Red Sox on May 31, 1924. He pitched without earning a decision in over 23 innings pitched, and had a 6.65 earned run average (ERA). He saw regular playing time with the Red Sox over the next few years but had limited success. He had a 9–18 win–loss record with a 5.01 ERA in the 1925 season, as the Red Sox finished in last place in the eight team American League (AL). Ruffing had a 6–15 win–loss record and a 4.39 ERA in the 1926 season, and a 5–13 win–loss record with a 4.66 ERA in the 1927 season, with the Red Sox finishing in last place both years. His best season to date, in terms of earned run performance, came in 1928, when he posted a 3.89 ERA. However, he led the AL in earned runs allowed, with 125, and had a 10–25 win–loss record, which led the AL in losses. On a positive note, he also led the AL with 25 complete games. As Ruffing had a .314 batting average during the 1928 season, the Red Sox and Ruffing considered having him shift to the outfield. The team decided against a position change due to the limitations of Ruffing's left foot.
The Red Sox chose Ruffing to be their Opening Day starting pitcher for the 1929 season. During the 1929 season, he again led the AL in losses, with 22, and earned runs, with 135. He won only nine games. Ruffing often had difficulty pitching more than five innings in a game. Someone in the Red Sox organization suggested to Ruffing that he should try to gain weight by drinking beer, which saw him grow from 185 pounds (84 kg) to 240 pounds (110 kg).
During the 1930 season, Bob Quinn, the owner of the Red Sox, was in debt and afraid he would lose the team due to foreclosure. To raise capital, he traded Ruffing to the New York Yankees for reserve outfielder Cedric Durst, $50,000 ($963,645 in current dollar terms), and a $50,000 loan from Jacob Ruppert, the Yankees' owner. Ruffing ended his 5+1⁄2-year tenure with the Red Sox with a 39–96 win–loss record; his winning percentage (.289) was lower than that of the Red Sox during his tenure (.344).
Miller Huggins, who served as the Yankees' manager through 1929, had attempted to acquire Ruffing from the Red Sox for the last couple years of his Yankees' tenure. When Ruffing told him that he was considering moving to the outfield, Huggins told him he should continue as a pitcher. Bob Shawkey, a former pitcher who succeeded Huggins as the Yankees new manager in 1930, had convinced Ed Barrow, the Yankees' general manager, to acquire Ruffing. Shawkey believed he could change Ruffing's approach to pitching to obtain better results. Shawkey worked with Ruffing to change his pitching delivery, so that Ruffing used his body more. This helped Ruffing save his arm strength for the later innings of the game. The trade of Ruffing for Durst is now reckoned as one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history; Durst was a reserve outfielder who always batted at the bottom of the lineup when he was used. The 1930 season proved to be Durst's worst year in the majors. Ruffing had a 0–3 record with the Red Sox before the trade. He won 15 games for the Yankees after the trade, losing only five games.
The Yankees chose Ruffing as their starting pitcher for Opening Day in 1931. During the 1931 season, Ruffing had a 16–14 win–loss record with a 4.41 ERA. The Yankees finished the season in second place. On August 13, 1932, Ruffing threw a complete-game shutout and hit a home run in the tenth inning off of Washington Senators' pitcher Tommy Thomas to give the New York Yankees a 1–0 victory. Ruffing became the first pitcher in major league history to win a game 1–0, hit a home run in the game, and strike out ten or more batters. Three other pitchers have since achieved this feat: Early Wynn in 1957, Yovani Gallardo, who did it in 2009, and Noah Syndergaard, who did it on May 2, 2019. Ruffing won 18 games during the 1932 season. He had a 3.09 ERA, second in the AL only to Lefty Grove's 2.84. Ruffing had 190 strikeouts, which led the AL. The Yankees won their first pennant since 1928. Ruffing won his first World Series game during the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs. He started Game One, and the Yankees swept the Cubs four games to zero.
Ruffing had a 9–14 win–loss record with a 3.91 ERA in the 1933 season, as the Yankees finished in second place in the AL. He threw a one-hitter on June 20, 1934, against the Cleveland Indians. Two weeks later, Joe Cronin selected Ruffing for the 1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. At that point, he had a 9–3 win–loss record on the season. He finished the season with a 19–11 win–loss record, as the Yankees finished second in the AL. Ruffing pitched to a 16–11 record in the 1935 season, as the Yankees again finished second in the AL. His 3.12 ERA was third in the league, behind only Grove and Ted Lyons.