Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 191

had a slight psychological edge." "He’d keep his eyes on their eyes, like a boxer before a fight," Berra said.

Raschi appeared on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot nine times, and never came close to being elected. One could fill pages with less significant, less talented, less winning players who were voted in. "He was our bread and butter guy," said teammate Jerry Coleman. "Allie Reynolds had a better arm, but Raschi was a great competitor. Off the field he was shy and unassuming, nothing like he was on the mound. There he was a beast.” Casey Stengel considered him our best starter. "I thought Raschi was

the best pitcher I had on the team for nine innings. Boy, he was the best on the club in the eighth and ninth inning." "If there was only one game I had to win, the man I’d want out there on the mound for me would be Vic Raschi," explained teammate Tommy Henrich. With Reynolds and Lopat, Raschi was the keystone of one

of the most acclaimed pitching staffs in the history of major league baseball.

Raschi met his future wife, Sally Glen, while both were students at William and Mary. They were married in 1949 and had three children; Victoria, William, and Mitje. Sally earned her degree from William and Mary in 1944. Vic, after returning from the war,

took classes from October to February, finally graduating in 1949. While Vic played for the Yankees, he and Sally lived in