$Unique_ID{BAS00037} $Title{Lives of the Players: Q-R} $Author{} $Subject{Quinn Quisenberry Radatz Radbourn Raines Randolph Redding Reese Reulbach Reuschel Rice Rickey Rixey Ripken Rizzuto Roberts Robinson Rogan Rommel Rose Rosen Roush Ruffing Rusie Ruth Ryan} $Log{ Rick Reuschel*0048001.scf Jim Rice*0048201.scf Eppa Rixey*0048801.scf Robin Roberts*0048901.scf Brooks Robinson*0049101.scf Frank Robinson*0049201.scf Jackie Robinson*0049301.scf Pete Rose*0050001.scf Edd Roush (right) and Gus Bell*0006701.scf Red Ruffing*0050401.scf Amos Rusie*0050601.scf Babe Ruth*0050701.scf Nolan Ryan's seventh no-hitter (with audio)*0050801.scf,59370077.aud} Total Baseball: The Players Lives of the Players: Q-R John Picus "Jack" Quinn Pitcher, NY (A) 1909-12, 1919-21, Bos (N) 1913, Bal (F) 1914-15, Chi (A) 1918, Bos (A) 1922-25, Phi (A) 1925-30, Bkn (N) 1931-32, Cin (N) 1933 An old spitballer, Quinn pitched almost 1,000 pro games in almost thirty years, 1907-1935. He hit his last home run in the majors at the age of forty-six and won his last game when he was forty-seven. Or maybe forty-seven and forty-eight--there's a disagreement as to when he was born. Anyway, he was old! Spitballers, like knuckleballers, tend to have long careers. Trapped in a coal mine fire as a youth, Jack had a checkered baseball career. He bounced around the Yanks (Highlanders) when they were down, 1909-1912, the minors, the Federal League, the Yanks again when they were rebuilding, 1919-1921, the Red Sox when they were down, 1922-1924, then caught the A's on the upswing, 1925-1930. He hurled two Series games in 1930 at the age of forty-six (or thereabouts)--the oldest man to do so. During all that time, he kept his spitball low and usually over the plate. His only 20-win season was with the Feds in 1914, which makes it a bit suspect, but he won 18 three times in the AL. Well, no one ever said he was great, just good for a long, long time. Dan Quisenberry Pitcher, KC (A) 1979-88, StL (N) 1988-89, SF (N) 1990 The submarine baller Quisenberry was baseball's premier reliever of the 1980s, leading the AL in saves five years out of six, 1980-1985. He was Fireman of the Year four times and was one of the top reasons Kansas City got into four playoffs in that period. Calling himself "just a garbage man," Quiz saved 45 in 1983, a record since topped by Dave Righetti (46) in 1986, and Dennis Eckersley (48) and Bobby Thigpen (57) in 1990. Dan has a dry sense of humor. "I have seen the future," he was fond of saying. "It is much like the present, only longer." As for his underhand style, he shrugged. "I found a delivery in my flaw." Dick Radatz Pitcher, Bos (A) 1962-66, Cle (A) 1966-67, Chi (N) 1967, Det (A) 1969, Mon (N) 1969 For nearly four years, 1962-1965, Fenway Park's leftfield wall was only the second-most-fearsome "Monster" in Red Sox land. Number one was the six-six, 250-pound fastballer who stomped in from the bullpen and turned batters to mush. Radatz won two Fireman of the Year Awards for the Red Sox, 1962 and 1964, when he led the AL in saves. He led in relief wins three straight years, 1962-1964. His 16 relief wins in 1964 set an AL record (since broken). The Monster intimidated hitters, averaging more than a strikeout an inning, and after every win he'd shove his fist triumphantly into the air. And just when they didn't think he could get any better, he lost it. As soon as he lost a foot off his fastball, he was done. He didn't have anything else to throw. His final figures: 52-43 and 122 saves--100 in four years. Charles "Ol' Hoss" Radbourn Pitcher, Buf (N) 1880, Pro (N) 1881-85, Bos (N) 1886-89, Bos (P) 1890, Cin (N) 1891 Radbourn was hardly a "hoss." He stood only five-nine and weighed 168. But he earned his name by winning 60 games in one year, 1884--that's 679 innings, 441 strikeouts, and a 1.38 ERA. He won the NL pennant for Providence. By season's end he was pitching every day until he could barely lift his arm to comb his hair. Then he won three more against the AA champs in the freezing cold in the championship series. Hoss had a great curveball. He also had an "in-shoot," or screwball. He delivered both underhand, although overhand pitching had been legalized that year. The pitching distance was only fifty feet, but batters could ask for a high or low ball, in effect cutting the strike zone in half. Charlie had already won 33 in 1882 and 48 in 1883 when the historic 1884 season with Providence began. The temperamental Radbourn resented young Charlie Sweeney trying to push him out as ace. He was suspended for loafing, but when Sweeney got drunk and jumped the club, they begged Rad to come back. The only pitcher on the roster, he pitched nearly every game until Providence clinched the flag. He pitched 30 of 32 remaining games, won 26 of them--18 in a row, including 5 shutouts and 4 one-run games. His winning streak was broken when he lost, 2-0. Rad had several more good years to bring his career record to 310-195. Then he bought a bar and retired. In 1894 he shot himself hunting, losing one eye and half his face. He ended his days in the back of a pool hall, refusing to come out. He died at the age of forty-two. Sweeney died five years later, reportedly in San Quentin on a murder rap. Radbourn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. Tim Raines Outfielder, Mon (N) 1979-90, Chi (A) 1991- Raines may have been the top player in the NL in the 1980s. A compact switch-hitter, his main weapon is blinding speed, but he also hits with occasional power. As a rookie in 1981, he stole 71 bases in only 88 games. He led the NL in steals in his first four seasons, with a high of 90 in 1983. Entering the 1988 season, he had the best base-stealing percentage in history for players with 300 or more steals: 511 out of 585 for 87 percent. He led the league in runs scored in 1983 and 1987. In 1986, he topped the NL with a .334 batting average. He opted for free agency in 1987, but no team made a legitimate offer, an absurd situation that was later ruled to have resulted from collusion on the part of owners. They couldn't have been more obvious if they'd held a meeting on "60 Minutes." Raines eventually re-signed with Montreal, but he missed spring training and the first month of the season. When he hit .330, he set a lot of people wondering about the need for spring training. Willie Randolph Second Baseman, Pit (N) 1975, NY (A) 1976-88, LA (N) 1989-1990, Oak (A) 1990, Mil (A) 1991, NY (N) 1992 Randolph was one of the sparkplugs who drove the Yankees to five titles in six years, 1976-1981. Solid defensively and excellent on double plays, he enjoyed his best year at bat in 1980 (.294). His worst was 1981 (.232, two HRs); however, his homer in the League Championship Series won the third game to clinch the pennant. Although held back by injuries for a couple of years, he hit .307 in 1987 and a career-high .327 in 1991. One of his strengths was that he walked about twice as often as he struck out. Dick Redding Pitcher, Negro League, 1911-38, Lincoln Giants, Lincoln Stars, Indianapolis ABCs, Chicago American Giants, Brooklyn Royal Giants, Bacharach Giants Cannonball Dick could knock the bat out of a man's hand back in the pre-World War One era. He is credited with twelve no-hitters, though this is unverified and probably mostly against semipro foes. From 1912 to 1914 Dick teamed with Joe Williams on the Lincoln Giants to form perhaps black baseball's strongest one-two pitching punch ever. Real old-timers insist the two were both faster than the younger and more famous Satchel Paige. Thereafter Dick and Joe became fierce rivals. In 1920 Redding beat Joe with a no-hitter at Ebbets Field in probably the finest game he ever pitched. An illiterate Georgian, he was credited with 17 straight wins as a rookie in 1911. In 1915 he reportedly won 20 straight. He pitched the Indianapolis ABC's to a championship in 1917, then spent 1918 seeing combat service in France. No stats were kept until the Eastern League was formed in 1923, when Dick was over the hill and managing the Brook Royals, one of the weakest clubs. He was a losing pitcher then. He often faced Ruth and Gehrig in exhibitions; his job was to groove soft pitches to them to please the customers. Harold "Pee Wee" Reese Shortstop, Bkn (N) 1940-42, 1946-57, LA (N) 1958 Reese was shortstop on seven pennant-winning Dodger teams, from 1941 to 1956. An average hitter, he nevertheless led the NL in runs scored in 1949 with 132 and totaled 1,338 for his career. A good baserunner, he played during a time when base stealing was not stressed. His 30 steals led the league in 1952, and his career total of 232 stolen bases is one of the better marks for the era. He was at his best in the field and in providing leadership as captain of the team. Reese once faked a splinter in his eye to give his reliever more time to warm up. The performance was so convincing that the hurler dropped the ball and came over to see if he could help. A Southerner, one of Pee Wee's greatest accomplishments was winning Jackie Robinson's acceptance on the team. His nickname stemmed not from his lack of size (five-ten, 160), but from the fact he was a marbles champion as a lad. Although he hit .300 only once and never amassed exceptional stats, he finished in the top ten in MVP voting in eight of his sixteen seasons. Reese was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984. Ed Reulbach Pitcher, Chi (N) 1905-13, Bkn (N) 1913-14, Nwk (F) 1915, Bos (N) 1916-17 Reulbach is the only man ever to pitch a doubleheader shutout, which he did in the stretch of the 1908 pennant race, won by the Cubs in a playoff of the Merkle game. When the Cubs' other starters came out of the hectic Giant series (that included the Merkle game) in September, exhausted, Ed agreed to pitch the doubleheader against the seventh-place Dodgers, whom he had already beaten seven times. He shut them out for eighteen innings, and the Cubs went on to win in a playoff. Ed had pitched marathons before--in 1905 he had won an eighteen-inning game, then went twenty innings to win another. For three years, 1906-08, Reulbach had a remarkable record--60-15. He led the league in winning percentage all three seasons (only Lefty Grove has matched that)--as the Cubs swept three pennants. In the 1906 Series against the Hitless Wonder White Sox, Ed pitched a one-hitter in Game Two. Reulbach died July 17, 1961, the same day as Ty Cobb. Rick Reuschel Pitcher, Chi (N) 1972-81, 1983-84, NY (A) 1981, Pit (N) 1985-87, SF (N) 1987- Reuschel was an outstanding starter for the Cubs' throughout the 1970s, winning 20 in 1977 and 18 in 1979 for so-so teams. Traded to the Yankees in 1981, he was expected to thrive with the Yankees' bats behind him. Instead, his career was nearly ended by a sore arm. He tried a comeback with the Cubs and finally signed a minor league contract with the Pirates in 1985. He made a remarkable comeback with the last-place Bucs, 14-8. Traded to the Giants in 1987, he helped them win their division and continued with an outstanding season in 1988, winning 19 and contending for Cy Young honors. "Big Daddy"--he's a well-upholstered six foot three--throws with a deceptively easy motion; he almost seems to be lobbing the ball. But he has surprising velocity, good movement, changes speeds well, and has fine control. Jim Rice Outfielder, Bos (A) 1974-89 Rice was made for Fenway Park and took advantage of it. He and Fred Lynn enjoyed splendid rookie seasons in 1975 to lift the Red Sox from ninth to the flag. An injury kept Rice out of the World Series, which Boston lost to the Reds in seven games. Jim's best season was the thrilling 1978 pennant race with New York, won by the Yankees in a playoff. Rice led the league in homers (46), RBIs (139), triples (15), and hits (213), with a .315 batting average. He was voted MVP over New York's Ron Guidry in a hotly debated vote. Rice led in home runs three times and RBIs twice. On the downside, he was also among the all-time leaders in hitting into double plays. But you know who the leader is? Hank Aaron. Not bad company to be in. Edgar "Sam" Rice Outfielder, Was (A) 1915-33, Cle (A) 1934 Rice stopped only 13 hits short of 3,000, hit .322, topped .300 fourteen times, stole 351 bases, had good range in the outfield and a strong arm, and played on all three Washington pennant winners. He rarely struck out; in 1929 Sam came to bat 616 times and whiffed only 9 of them. He had no power; he once hit 182 singles in one season; most batters don't get that many hits. A victim of a tragic killer tornado that killed most of his family, Sam wandered aimlessly, joining a shipping concern. As a sailor in Mexico, he began to play baseball. Rice joined the Senators as a pitcher in 1915. When Detroit hurler Hooks Dauss tripled off him, Sam cut his toe plate off forever. In 1924 Rice put together a thirty-one-game hit streak, led the AL with 216 hits, and batted .334 as the Senators won their first pennant. In 1925 he hit .350 and cracked 227 hits to lead the Senators into the World Series, then slapped 12 hits in the Series, a record (later broken by Bobby Richardson of the Yankees). In Game Three he made the most famous play of his life; he chased down Pirate Earl Smith's drive but fell into the stands as he reached the ball. An out or a home run? Rice would never answer directly. "The ump called him out." He would smile mysteriously. He left a letter to be opened at his death. In it, he at last answered the question. He caught the ball. Rice was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963. Branch Rickey Executive. Manager, StL (A) 1913-15, StL (N) 1919-25 Rickey invented the farm system and integrated the game. One would have been enough to put him among the five most influential men in baseball history. Rickey's decision to sign Jackie Robinson to a Dodger contract took great courage. His motives were not completely pure. Robinson, Roy Campanella, and Don Newcombe, and other black stars helped win seven pennants for the Dodgers. Rickey had powerful fundamentalist religious scruples against playing ball on Sunday. As a player and manager, he was not available on Sundays. He wasn't missed that much as a player. He was a catcher, but he hit only .239 in 120 major league games and once was victimized for 13 stolen bases in a game. He was however a brilliant teacher and innovator. After a period as both field manager and business manager of the Browns, he joined the Cardinals as president of the club in 1916. After 1925 he concentrated on his front office job. In 1919 Branch conceived the farm system. Unable to outbid the rich clubs for players, he decided to grow his own, and his minor league chain was one reason for the Cardinals' five flags in nine years, 1926-1934. Eventually he had eight hundred players under contract on fifty teams. Rickey had taken over a team $175,000 in debt and made it a champ. He also instituted ladies' day, the Knothole Gang to get kids interested in the game, the batting cage, and the sliding pit. After the season in 1942, he moved to the Dodgers and laid the groundwork for the champions of 1947 to 1955. He eventually sold his stock in the club for a cool million. He moved on to Pittsburgh in 1951. There Rickey left a legacy that produced a flag in 1960 after he had gone. His trial balloon of a Continental League pushed baseball to expand in the 1960s. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. Cal Ripken, Jr. Shortstop, Bal (A) 1981- Ripken is the best power-hitting shortstop since Ernie Banks. Originally a third baseman, he was switched to short in 1982, his first full year with the Orioles. When he slugged 28 home runs and batted in 93 runs, he was named Rookie of the Year. His second season was even better. He led the AL in hits (211), doubles (47), and runs (121), while hitting .318, with 27 homers and 102 RBIs. The Orioles were World Champions and Ripken was named MVP. Although he's been chosen on the AL All-Star team each year since 1983, his batting average and RBIs slipped, until he put together another MVP season in 1991. Extremely durable, he's on track to surpass Lou Gehrig's consecutive game streak in 1995. Eppa Rixey Pitcher, Phi (N) 1912-17, 1919-20, Cin (N) 1921-33 The winningest National League lefthander until Warren Spahn--and still the losingest--Rixey was a control artist who seldom walked anyone and seldom whiffed anyone. If Spahn hadn't broken his record, he said, nobody would have known about him. That's an exaggeration, but he seldom pitched for teams that were likely to make him a household name at World Series time. Straight off the University of Virginia campus, Rixey began on the 1912 Phillies in the shadow of Pete Alexander. He was 11-12 on the 1915 champs and lost his only World Series game. He was 22-10 for the second-place Phils in 1916, lost 21 for them in 1917, then went into the Army for a year in France. He lost 22 in 1920 as the Phillies finished last. Switching to the sixth-place Reds, Rixey won 20-plus three times, including a league-leading 25-13 in 1922, when they rose to second. The six-five stringbean with a big sweeping motion was voted the Reds' all-time lefthander in a 1969 fan vote. He pitched for twenty-one years, amassing a career record of 266-251. His home run ratio, one per forty-eight innings, was the best in the Ruthian era. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1963. Phil "Scooter" Rizzuto Shortstop, NY (A) 1941-42, 1946-56 Rizzuto played on ten Yankee pennant winners and in nine World Series. A superior fielder, he led AL shortstops in fielding in 1949 and 1950. Those were his best offensive years, too, as he scored over 100 runs each season. His 1950 season won him the MVP, as he hit .324, fifty-one points above his career average. A Yankee broadcaster, the five-foot-six Rizzuto has remained highly visible in New York, and his "Holy cow!" has become his trademark. As a rookie in 1941, he was called to the mound by Lefty Gomez. "Kid, is your mother in the stands?" Lefty asked. "Yes, sir, Mr. Gomez," Phil replied. "Well, stay here and talk to me a little; she'll think you're giving advice to the great Lefty Gomez." That day Phil hit his first home run and circled the bases with his face wreathed in smiles. Robin Roberts Pitcher, Phi (N) 1948-61, Bal (A) 1962-65, Hou (N) 1965-66, Chi (N) 1966 Roberts had great control and a fastball. He came close to a rare 30 wins with 28 in 1952, and came within 14 of winning 300 games. His moment supreme came in October 1950, when he hurled the Whiz Kids to their first flag in thirty-five years. After pitcher Curt Simmons was drafted, the Phils lost their comfortable lead and went into the final game--against the Dodgers--only one game ahead. Robin, taking up the slack, was making his third start in five days. He battled Don Newcombe into the tenth inning, 1-1, before Dick Sisler's home run finally won it for Robin. In the Series a weary Roberts started Game Two, but this time he was the loser, 2-1, in the tenth on a home run by Joe DiMaggio. It was his only World Series. Though he won 20-plus for six years in a row and led the league in five of them, the Phils never got closer than third again. He was voted MVP in 1952, when he was 28-7 with a fourth-place team. He was 6-0 against the champion Dodgers. Roberts had excellent control--1.7 walks per game lifetime. In 1953-1954 he had the least walks and most strikeouts per game in the NL. But he gave up more than 500 home runs, including a then-record 46 in 1956, as hitters knew they could dig in on him. Roberts was a workhorse, leading the league in complete games and innings pitched five times each. It finally cost him the snap in his fastball. Roberts was 10-22 in 1957, 1-10 in 1961. But he learned to pitch with finesse, went to the AL, and won another 52 games. In 1976 he was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Brooks Robinson Third Baseman, Bal (A) 1955-77 Robbie led AL third basemen in fielding average a record ten times, he won sixteen straight Gold Gloves, and he set the existing career records in assists, putouts, double plays, and fielding average. And he made some postseason plays that brought millions of viewers to their feet, cheering. His best year at bat was 1964, when he hit .317 and led in RBIs and all the fielding categories for his position. The BBWA named him MVP. In twenty-three seasons, he had 268 homers, 1,357 RBIs, and a .267 batting average. The postseason brought out the best in Brooks at bat as well. He hit .429 in the 1970 Series, sparkled in the field, and was named Series MVP. The next year he hit .364 in the ALCS and .318 in the Series. Personable and extremely popular with Oriole fans, he could have been elected King of Baltimore during his playing days. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. Frank Robinson Outfielder, Cin (N) 1956-65, Bal (A) 1966-71, LA (N) 1972, Cal (A) 1973-74, Cle (A) 1974-76. Manager, Cle (A) 1975-77, SF (N) 1981-84, Bal (A) 1988- From 1956, when he blasted 38 home runs to tie the rookie record, until 1976, when he hit his last, Robbie was one of the best-hitting outfielders of all time. His career marks include 586 homers, 1,812 RBIs, 1,829 runs, 2,943 hits, and a .294 batting average. In 1970 he hit two grand slams in a single game. Frank is also the Jackie Robinson of managing, the first black man to lead a white big league team. He managed the Indians to two fourth-place finishes and a fifth from 1975 to 1977, and later managed San Francisco and Baltimore. An aggressive, intelligent leader, he's the first man to win MVPs in each league--1961 with the Reds and 1966 with the Orioles. He led them both to pennants, and in the latter year, his first in the AL, won the Triple Crown as well. The two Robinsons, Frank and Brooks, provided the punch for four Oriole champions: 1966, 1969, 1970, and 1971. In 1982 he was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jackie Robinson Infield, Negro League, 1945, Kansas City Monarchs, Bkn (N) 1947-56 Aggressive, exciting, driven with an inner fire, Robinson battled his opponents, history, and himself. He made integration succeed, and in doing so helped the Dodgers win six flags. Historian David Q. Voigt calls him one of the five most pivotal men in baseball history--and he ranks right up there in American history as well. He could drop a bunt, line a homer, or steal a base--whatever was needed to win. "If it wasn't for him," the Cards' Red Schoendienst once remarked, "the Dodgers would be in the second division." Jack's story is familiar: football star at UCLA, an Army court martial (and acquittal) for refusing to sit in the back of the bus, a year with the Kansas City Monarchs (hitting .345), the surprise announcement that he would be the first black to sign in the white majors, the promise to Branch Rickey to turn the other cheek to insults, the jockeying, the knockdown pitches, the threat of a strike, and the triumphant rookie year of 1947. Robinson was not the best black prospect, Negro Leaguers agree. But he was college-educated and had played with whites, two intangibles that Rickey sought above sheer talent. Jackie was twenty-eight before he reached the white majors, his athletic peak behind him. Yet he revolutionized the game with his running, dancing off base to rattle the pitcher, and 19 steals of home--5 in one year. It was a new brand of ball, and blacks who followed Robinson's footsteps perfected it. Jack's best season was 1949. He led the league in batting and stolen bases, knocked in 124 runs, and won the MVP, as the Dodgers won the pennant by a single game. In 1951 the Dodgers were fighting to stave off the Giants' amazing drive. On the final day, against the Phils, with the bases loaded, Jack made a spectacular catch of Eddie Waitkus' drive up the middle to preserve the tie. In the fourteenth he walloped a homer to win it and end the season all tied up. The Giants, however, won the three-game playoff for the pennant, somewhat obscuring one of Robinson's greatest seasons. Robinson played for only ten years. He finished with a .311 career batting average, but more important, he led his team to six pennants. After retiring, Robinson became active in politics and spoke out militantly on civil rights. He was one of the first to denounce the game for not hiring black managers. At last, the tensions took their toll, the fires burned out, and he died at the age of fifty-three, leaving the game unalterably changed. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Wilbert Robinson Catcher, Phi (AA) 1886-90, Bro-Bal (AA) 1890, Bal (AA) 1891, Bal (N) 1892-99, StL (N) 1900, Bal (A) 1901-02. Manager, Bal (A) 1902, Bkn (N) 1914-31 Uncle Wilbert was chubby and cherubic, a former catching star with the great Orioles, later the lovable manager of Brooklyn's Daffiness Boys and winner of two pennants. He's one of only two men to get seven hits in a nine-inning game--he drove in 11 runs that same day in 1892. A lifetime .273 hitter, Robbie had three .330-plus years with the Orioles. In 1911 he joined his old teammate and friend John McGraw as Giant coach. His patient handling helped make an $11,000 beauty out of the former "$11,000 lemon," Rube Marquard. But the friendship with McGraw broke up in an argument over a missed sign in the 1913 World Series, and Robbie went to manage the crosstown Dodgers. He raised attendance, started a Bonehead Club for stupid plays, and became its first member when he handed the wrong lineup card to the umpire. He agreed to catch a baseball dropped from a plane; the ball turned out to be a grapefruit and splattered all over his chest, and thinking the wet was blood Robbie though he'd been killed. He once benched a player because he couldn't spell his name for the lineup card. Incredibly lax as a disciplinarian, Robbie nevertheless had a knack for developing pitchers. Robbie won Brooklyn's first twentieth-century flag in 1916. He finished fifth in 1919, hired hunchbacked Eddie Bennett as batboy, and finished first in 1920. He left Bennett home and lost the last four games of the World Series in Cleveland. He fired Eddie and fell back to fifth in 1921. He almost won again in 1924 but lost to McGraw by one and a half games. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Wilbur "Bullet Joe" Rogan Pitcher, Negro League, 1917-46, Los Angeles White Sox, Kansas City Monarchs Little (five-six) Rogan pitched for the Kansas City Monarchs a decade before Satchel Paige, and most black vets who saw them both believe that Joe was the better. Monarch second baseman Newt Allen said, "Satchel had the stuff, but Rogan had the brains." Joe's 109 wins are second best for the black leagues. Satch is fourth with 100, though several of Paige's seasons have not yet been compiled, and he won 63 more in the white majors and minors. On the other hand, Rogan did not begin pitching in the big time until he was thirty. Satch was languid and loose, Bullet Joe stocky and dour. Paige threw his fastball in a cup, Rogan threw a farago of curves, sliders, and palm balls all over the plate. Satchel was a comedian at bat, Joe hit cleanup on one of the greatest murderers' rows in blackball annals. Casey Stengel also called Rogan "one of the best, if not the best, pitchers that ever lived." He discovered Rogan in the Arizona desert with a black cavalry team on the Mexican border in 1918. Stengel, a Kansas City native, tipped off the Monarch owner, and Joe's pro career was launched at the age of thirty. He pitched and batted the Monarchs to three straight flags, 1923-1925, hitting .426, .450, and .355. On the mound he was 12-9, 19-10, and 12-2 in the 100-game Negro League seasons. He was probably the MVP in 1924 or 1925--if not both. His postseason record was .421 at bat, 8-4 on the mound. In fifteen games against white big leaguers, Joe hit .389. In one 1929 game, Al Simmons went 0 for 5 against Joe, and struck out three times. Eddie Rommel Pitcher, Phi (A) 1920-32 In 1922 Rommel had one of the finest seasons of all time--27-13 for the seventh-place A's (they were a last-place team without him), a feat almost as amazing as Carlton's 27-10 with the last-place Phils of 1972. The next year he led the league in losses, 18-19 with the sixth-place A's. In five roller coaster years, 1921-1925, Ed and his knuckler led the league in victories two times and in losses twice. By the time the A's dynasty blossomed, Ed was past his prime. Nevertheless, he was 28-11 during the pennant-winning seasons of 1929 to 1931. He later became an outstanding AL umpire. Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose Outfielder/First Baseman/Third Baseman/Second Baseman, Cin (N) 1963-78, 1984-86, Phi (N) 1979-83, Mon (N) 1984. Manager, Cin (N) 1984-89 The most exciting player of his age, Charlie Hustle monopolized center stage with his unsuccessful pursuit of Joe DiMaggio's hit streak in 1978 and his successful pursuit of Ty Cobb's lifetime hit record in 1985. Rose played more games than any other man (3,562), batted more times (14,053), made more hits (4,256), stands second in doubles (746), and fourth in runs (2,165). He had fourteen .300 years and ten 200-hit seasons (Cobb had only nine), won three batting titles, and made the NL All-Star team in seventeen seasons at five positions. He was Rookie of the Year in 1963, MVP in 1973, and played in his last World Series in 1983. He was a hell-for-leather baserunner who wasn't very fast. He was a great hitter who lacked home run power. On any given day in his career there were probably a couple of hundred players in the majors with more talent. None made as much out of his talent as Rose. He didn't drink or smoke and kept himself in perfect shape. He worked and he hustled. In an exhibition game with the lordly Yankees in the early 1960s, he ran out a walk. "Charlie Hustle," they sneered. Rose turned the putdown into a compliment. He played hard every day. He played wherever he was needed. And he loved every inning. Long after some of those Yankees who sneered had retired, in part because they disdained conditioning as much as Pete's gung-ho style, Rose was winning games with head-first dives and key hits. Above all, Rose was a winner. Pete played on four pennant winners in Cincinnati during the 1970s, then he signed a lucrative contract with the Phillies in 1979 and helped them to two more pennants in the 1980s. The Sporting News voted him Player of the 1970s, then Man of the Year in 1985. "There are a lot of players better than me," Rose said, "but I do the same thing day in and day out, year in and year out." Rose's post-playing career has been marked by disappointment, controversy and personal tragedy. In his first five years as Cincinnati manager, he was unable to lift his team above second place. But there was worse to come. In 1989, Commissioner Bart Giamatti suspended him from baseball for life, after investigating accusations that Rose had bet on baseball games, including those involving the Reds. And 1990 brought more ugly headlines, as Rose was sentenced to five months in prison for tax evasion. A hot talk-show topic was whether Rose--in spite of his playing record--should be denied entrance into the Hall of Fame. Al Rosen Third Baseman, Cle (A) 1947-56 For a few years, Al Rosen was one of the most feared hitters in the American League. He played thirty-five games for the Indians from 1947 to 1949, but couldn't move Ken Keltner off third base until 1950. That year his 37 homers set an AL rookie record not broken until 1987. In 1953 he was AL MVP, narrowly missing the Triple Crown with a .336 batting average, while leading the league with 43 homers (still the record for AL third basemen) and 145 RBIs. In 1954 he was on his way to an equally impressive season when he suffered a broken finger. The injury permanently affected his grip on the bat. He returned to the lineup and helped the Indians set the AL record with 111 victories in winning the pennant, but his batting stats fell off badly. He retired two years later. From 1950 to 1954, he averaged .298, 31 home runs, and 114 RBIs. Edd Roush Outfielder, Chi (A) 1913, Ind (F) 1914, Nwk (F) 1915, NY (N) 1916, 1927-29, Cin (N) 1916-26, 1931 Roush was the Tris Speaker of the NL. He made circus catches and won batting titles--.341 in 1917, his first year as a Cincinnati regular, and .321 in 1919. He just missed the one in between, losing by two points to Brooklyn's Zach Wheat. Edd's 1919 title helped the Reds win the flag, but he hit only .214 in the Series. Not that it mattered; that was the year the Black Sox decided to lose the Series. Roush swung the heaviest bat in the league, a 48-ounce club, but he wasn't a home run hitter; only 67 of his 2,376 career hits went the distance. He was a singles hitter, but darned consistent. In both 1921 and 1922 he hit .352; then in 1923 he slumped to .351. Roush was an independent cuss who held out year after year just so he could miss spring training. When he really got into a money dispute in 1930, he held out the entire season. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Charles "Red" Ruffing Pitcher, Bos (A) 1924-30, NY (A) 1930-42, 1945-46, Chi (A) 1947 Mired with the bottom-of-the-barrel Red Sox of the late 1920s, Ruffing seemed to go with the flow, compiling a 39-96 record with appropriate sky-high ERAs. In 1928 he was 10-25; the next year 9-22. Traded to the Yankees in 1930, he became the new improved version. Buoyed by better defense and far more hitting, Ruffing's pitching "became much better," as though a weight had been lifted. His victories shot up as his ERA dropped. Four straight years (1936-1939), he won 20, and he had eight other seasons of at least 14 wins. His total Yankee record was 231-124. In six World Series he was 7-2, with a 2.63 ERA. The burly redhead was primarily a fastball pitcher, but though he was often lauded for his "pinpoint" control, he walked more than 100 in three different seasons and finished his career with a total of 1,541 free passes. Ruffing had hoped for a career as an outfielder, but a childhood accident cost him four toes on his left foot. No longer able to run, he became a pitcher. However, he remained an excellent hitter for a pitcher, averaging .269 with 36 career home runs. He was often used as a pinch-hitter. He was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967. Amos Rusie Pitcher, Ind (N) 1889, NY (N) 1890-95, 1897-98, Cin (N) 1901 Rusie helped revolutionize the game. The Hoosier Thunderbolt was the fastest pitcher of the 1890s. In 1893 they moved the pitching distance back five feet (and six inches) to its present distance because of him and a few others. At the old fifty-foot distance (measured from the front of the box, not the back), Rusie had struck out 341, 337, and 288 from 1890 to 1892. After they moved it back, his whiffs dropped to 208--and everyone's batting average jumped up. Rusie was as wild as he was fast. He whiffed 1,934 batters and walked 1,704. His 289 walks (in 549 innings) in 1890 is the record. In four seasons he led the league in both walks and strikeouts. Amos was a workhorse, often going over 300 innings pitched and twice over 500. In the eight years he pitched for the Giants, Rusie won 20 or more in each of those eight years. His top year was 1894, 36-13, plus 2 more wins in the Temple Cup playoff over Baltimore. His ERA that year of 2.78 was awesome compared to the NL average of 5.32. In 1895 he was 23-23, as the Giants finished twelfth. He sat out 1896 in a dispute with his owner, who tried to subtract a fine he had levied from the pitcher's salary for the coming year. Rusie went to court, and the other owners paid the fine and Rusie's 1896 salary rather than see the reserve clause tested. As the league's top box-office draw he returned in 1897 and went 28-10, as he lifted the Giants from seventh to second. His wins fell to 20 in 1898, and he blamed it on the wear on his arm. When the club tried to cut his pay again, from $3,000 to $2,000, Rusie sat out for two years. In 1901 he was traded to Cincinnati, but his arm was gone and he retired after three games. The Giants did better on their end of the trade, picking up a kid pitcher named Christy Mathewson. Rusie, who compiled a 245-174 mark in only nine full seasons, was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977. Babe Ruth Outfielder, Bos (A) 1914-19, NY (A) 1920-34, Bos (N) 1935 There has never been another figure in American sports like the Babe. Gargantuan--nay, Rabelaisian--in his appetites, prodigious in his production, he is the most famous athlete this nation has ever produced. Maris and Aaron topped some of his records, but they can never top him in American mythology. Ruth revolutionized the game. Authorities disagree whether his home runs gave birth to the lively ball or vice versa. They also disagree on whether Babe created attendance records with his homers or whether the postwar Roaring Twenties prosperity created them. But Babe gave the game a lift after the Black Sox scandal and personified his time as no other American has. No one has dominated the game as the Babe did. He began as a lefthanded pitcher with the Red Sox. He went 18-8 in his first full season, 23-12 as a sophomore, and 24-13 in 1917, his third year. He led the AL in ERA in 1916. Yet his hitting was so impressive that he became a part-time outfielder in 1918 and won his first home run crown, with 11 in ninety-five games. In 1919, still batting against the dead ball, he crushed 29 homers, breaking a record that had stood for thirty-five years. In 1920 he was sold to the Yankees for an announced figure of $100,000 (in truth it was far more). He arrived in New York the same year the lively ball arrived in baseball. They hit a new record 54 homers (in only 458 at bats!), batted .376, and led in RBIs with 137. The next year the Babe had arguably the greatest season any batter ever had: 59 home runs, 171 RBIs, 177 runs, a .378 batting average, and an otherworldly slugging percentage of .846. Only one batter was able to top his 59 homers during the next forty years--the Babe with 60 in 1927. All told, he led in home runs twelve times, in RBIs six, in runs scored eight, in walks eleven, in slugging percentage thirteen times, and in batting average only once (in 1924 with .378). His career totals: 714 homers, 2,209 RBIs, 2,174 runs, a record 2,056 walks, a record .690 slugging average, and a .342 batting average. Equally important to the Ruthian Mystique was the Public Ruth, the hefty child-man the fans loved. The Private Ruth ate too much, drank too deeply, partied too long, womanized too indiscriminately, cursed like a wounded Marine, held petty grudges, and sometimes bullied lesser mortals. The Public Ruth signed autographs, was naughty but nice, hit home runs for hospitalized boys, grinned on cue, and even "called his shot" before a home run in the 1932 World Series. The "called shot" illustrates how pervasive was the Ruthian Mystique; any other batter would have been merely pointing and yelling at the Cubs' pitcher, as the Chicago players always insisted he did. But the public chose to believe The Ruth had pointed to the center field bleachers moments before hitting his fifteenth and final World Series home run out there. The fans believed he could do anything, so they let him. In 1936, a year after he retired, he was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nolan Ryan Pitcher, NY (N) 1966, 1968-71, Cal (A) 1972-79, Hou (N) 1980-88, Tex (A) 1989- There's no way to know if Ryan threw faster than any of the great fastballers of the past, but no one has ever thrown so fast for so long as Ryan. In his twenty-fourth major league season, at the age of forty-three, he can still strike out batters with heat. As a sheer athlete, he is the greatest pitcher who ever lived. No one else has pitched six no-hitters. His 383 strikeouts in one year (1973) stands as the record--and that was accomplished in the first year of the DH, so he had no patsies in his opposing lineups. His total K's are over 4,700, more than 600 past his nearest rival. His 300-plus wins were accomplished with mostly average or less support. "My job is to give my team a chance to win," he said. "I have no control over how many runs they score." Actually, Ryan's control was for many years the only flaw in his pitching. He led his league eight times in walks. In 1977 he walked 204 in 299 innings (he also struck out 341). His career total of walks will probably stand as the record as long as his strikeout total--perhaps well past the time this page has turned to dust. But, as his fastball has slowed--relatively--his control has improved. Surprisingly, he's never won a Cy Young Award. But consider his 1974 season: most innings pitched, 333; fewest hits per nine innings, 5.97; most strikeouts per nine innings, 9.92; and a 22-16 record with a last-place team.