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 pitc ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

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) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

(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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

(1951–52),

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one o ...

(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 of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(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, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

, 1,487 hits allowed, 755 runs allowed, 656 earned runs allowed, 88 home runs allowed, 611 walks, 564 strikeouts, 44 hit batsmen, 30 wild pitches, 6,297 batters faced, 4 balks and a 4.13 ERA. 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) or as a result of an involuntary draft ( conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) requ ...

, 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 Henry Eugene Bearden (September 5, 1920 – March 18, 2004) was an American professional baseball pitcher, a left-hander who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1947 to 1953 for the Cleveland Indians, Washington Senators, Detroit Ti ...

(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 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 Ca ...

. 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 pickle ...

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.

Retirement

Following his playing career, Scarborough moved to Mount Olive, North Carolina, where he opened an oil and supply company. Later he

scouted ''Scouted'' is an American reality television series that chronicles the discovery process of the next big name in the modeling industry. The show premiered on Monday, November 28, 2011, on the E! cable network. Overview The series showcases lo ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles 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 American League's eight charter ...

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

and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. The Brewers are named for the city's association wi ...

organizations, and also helped establish a baseball program at Mount Olive College. 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.Brewers' scout dies
/ref>

References

External links

Ray Scarborough
- Baseballbiography.com

* {{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 Wake Forest University alumni American military personnel of World War II

Playing career

Retirement

See also

References

External links