Rae Wilson Scarborough (July 23, 1917 – July 1, 1982) was a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

who played for the Washington Senators (1942–1943 and 1946–1950),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1950),

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

(1951–52),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

(1952–53) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

(1953). Scarborough batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Mount Gilead, North Carolina.

Playing career

In a ten-season career, Scarborough posted an 80–85 win–loss record in 318 games, 168 games started, 59 complete games, 9 shutouts, 75 games finished, 12 saves,

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

, 1,487 hits allowed, 755 runs allowed, 656 earned runs allowed, 88 home runs allowed, 611 walks, 564

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s, 44 hit batsmen, 30 wild pitches, 6,297 batters faced, 4 balks and a 4.13

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

. A Wake Forest graduate, Scarborough was used sparingly by the Washington Senators before World War II. After spending two years in the

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

, he developed into a reliable starter. His most productive season came in 1948, when he had a 15–8 mark and recorded a 2.82 ERA, being only surpassed by Gene Bearden (2.43). In 1949 he won 13 games with the Senators, and again won 13 in 1950 for Washington (3) and the Chicago White Sox (10), a season in which he made his only

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

appearance. On September 28, 1949, Scarborough ended Ted Williams' streak of most consecutive games reaching base safely at 84 games. After winning 12 games for the Boston Red Sox in 1951, Scarborough was purchased by the New York Yankees in the 1952 midseason, as he went 5–1 during New York's successful pennant drive en route to the

1952 World Series The 1952 World Series featured the 3-time defending champions New York Yankees beating the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. The Yankees won their 4th consecutive title, tying the mark they set in 1936–1939 under manager Joe McCarthy, and Cas ...

. He played for the Yankees and Detroit Tigers in 1953, his last major league season. Scarborough often received attention from the press in New York and Boston due to his off-season work as a pickle salesman for the

Mt. Olive Pickle Company The Mount Olive Pickle Company is an American food processing company located in Mount Olive, North Carolina. The company's primary product is pickled cucumbers, but it is also a large supplier of pepper, mixed pickle, relish, and other picklin ...

in Mount Olive, N.C. One newspaper called him the "Pickle Peddling Pitcher", and others ran cartoons showing him dunking opposing players in pickle barrels.http://www.digitalnc.org/blog/scrapbooks-from-baseball-star-and-pickle-salesman-ray-scarborough-now-online/ DigitalNC Blog: "Scrapbooks from Baseball Star and Pickle Salesman Now Available Online"

Retirement

Following his playing career, Scarborough moved to

Mount Olive, North Carolina Mount Olive is a town in Duplin and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,198. It is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is home to the M ...

, where he opened an oil and supply company. Later he scouted for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

organizations, and also helped establish a baseball program at

Mount Olive College The University of Mount Olive (UMO or Mount Olive) is a private university in Mount Olive, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1951, the university is sponsored by the Original Free Will Baptist Convention and accredited by the Southern ...

. He spent the first part of the 1968 season on the Orioles' MLB

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

staff. Scarborough's grandson Garrett Blackwelder played basketball at East Carolina University from 1996 to 2000 and holds several shooting records. Scarborough died at his home in Mount Olive, North Carolina, at the age of 64.

References

External links

The Deadball Era
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scarborough, Ray 1917 births 1982 deaths American League All-Stars Baltimore Orioles coaches Baltimore Orioles scouts Baseball players from North Carolina Boston Red Sox players California Angels scouts Chattanooga Lookouts players Chicago White Sox players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball scouts Milwaukee Brewers scouts New York Yankees players People from Mount Gilead, North Carolina People from Mount Olive, North Carolina Selma Cloverleafs players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players 20th-century American sportsmen Wake Forest University alumni American military personnel of World War II

Playing career

Retirement

See also

References

External links