Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 188

season, he had a 2.54 ERA. In 28 games, 26 starts, he had a 13–6 record and 76 strikeouts. He ranked among the AL leaders in winning percentage - .684, and ERA - 3.33.

For the fourth time in his career, Raschi and the Yankees faced the Dodgers in the World Series. In Game 3, he and opposing pitcher Preacher Roe allowed their opponents just two runs until the eighth inning, when Raschi gave up a solo home run to Roy Campanella that made the difference in a 3–2 score. "It wasn't quite a strike, but I just didn't get it quite high enough, and Campy belted it," he said of the home run pitch. Raschi made no

further appearances in the series but became a World Series champion for the sixth time and fifth year in a row as the Yankees defeated the Dodgers in six games.

In 1954, the Yankees tried to cut Raschi's salary by 25%. The pitcher held out in spring training, seeking more money, but so did 11 other Yankees. Wanting the holdouts to accept his offers, general manager George Weiss decided that one needed to go. He also was trying to develop a younger ball club and planned to trade either Raschi or Reynolds. On February 24, 1954, Raschi was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for $85,000. He found out about the trade from a photographer, and the only notification

he had from the Yankees was a telegram. "It's baseball, I guess," he told reporters about the trade. "What hurts me most