Minor leagues (1923–24) Bennett helped arrange for Ruffing to sign his first professional contract when he reached the age of 18. Ruffing signed with the
Danville Veterans of the
Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, a
minor league baseball team in the Class B designation level. With Danville, Ruffing had a 12–16
win–loss record. After pitching for Danville in the 1923 season, the
Boston Red Sox purchased Ruffing from Danville for $4,000 ($ in current dollar terms). He saw regular playing time with the Red Sox over the next few years but had limited success. He had a 9–18 win–loss record with a 5.01 ERA in the 1925 season, as the Red Sox finished in last place in the eight team
American League (AL). Ruffing had a 6–15 win–loss record and a 4.39 ERA in the 1926 season, and a 5–13 win–loss record with a 4.66 ERA in the 1927 season, with the Red Sox finishing in last place both years. His best season to date, in terms of earned run performance, came in 1928, when he posted a 3.89 ERA. However, he led the AL in
earned runs allowed, with 125, and had a 10–25 win–loss record, which led the AL in losses. On a positive note, he also led the AL with 25
complete games. During the 1929 season, he again led the AL in losses, with 22, and earned runs, with 135. He won only nine games. Ruffing often had difficulty pitching more than five innings in a game. The trade of Ruffing for Durst is now reckoned as one of the most lopsided trades in baseball history; Durst was a reserve outfielder who always batted at the bottom of the lineup when he was used. The 1930 season proved to be Durst's worst year in the majors. Ruffing had a 0–3 record with the Red Sox before the trade. He won 15 games for the Yankees after the trade, losing only five games. During the 1931 season, Ruffing had a 16–14 win–loss record with a 4.41 ERA. The Yankees finished the season in second place. On August 13, 1932, Ruffing threw a complete-game shutout and hit a home run in the tenth inning off of
Washington Senators' pitcher
Tommy Thomas to give the New York Yankees a 1–0 victory. Ruffing became the first pitcher in major league history to win a game 1–0, hit a home run in the game, and strike out ten or more batters. Three other pitchers have since achieved this feat:
Early Wynn in 1957,
Yovani Gallardo, who did it in 2009, and Noah Syndergaard, who did it on May 2, 2019. Ruffing won 18 games during the 1932 season. He had a 3.09 ERA, second in the AL only to
Lefty Grove's 2.84. Ruffing had 190 strikeouts, which led the AL. The Yankees won their first
pennant since 1928. Ruffing won his first
World Series game during the
1932 World Series against the
Chicago Cubs. Ruffing had a 9–14 win–loss record with a 3.91 ERA in the 1933 season, as the Yankees finished in second place in the AL. He threw a one-hitter on June 20, 1934, against the
Cleveland Indians. Two weeks later,
Joe Cronin selected Ruffing for the
1934 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. At that point, he had a 9–3 win–loss record on the season. He finished the season with a 19–11 win–loss record, as the Yankees finished second in the AL. Ruffing pitched to a 16–11 record in the 1935 season, as the Yankees again finished second in the AL. His 3.12 ERA was third in the league, behind only Grove and
Ted Lyons. Ruffing won 20 games during the 1936 season. In June of that year, Ruffing pitched the longest outing by a New York Yankees pitcher, logging 16 innings in a complete game win against the Cleveland Indians. His 3.85 ERA was the sixth-best in the league, and his 20 wins tied him for third place, with
Johnny Allen and
Wes Ferrell, behind
Tommy Bridges and
Vern Kennedy. He started Game One of the
1936 World Series against the
New York Giants, but lost. The Yankees defeated the Giants four games to two. In a salary dispute with the Yankees, Ruffing did not report to
spring training, and he held out at the start of the 1937 season, missing the first month. He signed in May, receiving a $15,000 salary ($ in current dollar terms). Ruffing had a 20–7 win–loss record for the Yankees in 1937. He finished with the fourth-best ERA in the league, 2.98, trailing
Lefty Gomez,
Monty Stratton, and Allen, and his 20 wins were second only to Gomez, who had 21. His performance earned him eighth place in
AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award voting. He started Game Two in the
1937 World Series, earning the victory, as the Yankees defeated the Giants four games to one. The Yankees started Ruffing on Opening Day for the 1938 season. He was again named an All-Star during the 1938 season. Yankees' manager
Joe McCarthy, who managed the AL team in the All-Star Game, chose teammate
Lefty Gomez as the starting pitcher. As McCarthy did not believe in pitching two players from the same team in an All-Star Game, Ruffing did not appear in the game. He led the AL with 21 wins in the 1938 season. He also tied for the AL lead in
shutouts with three, while his 3.31 ERA was third-best in the league, behind only Grove. Ruffing pitched the opening game of the
1938 World Series against the Cubs. He won two games in the series as the Yankees defeated the Cubs. Ruffing finished fourth in AL MVP voting for the 1938 season.
1939–1946 McCarthy named Ruffing to be the starting pitcher for the Yankees on Opening Day in 1939. McCarthy, managing the AL All-Star team that year, also selected Ruffing as his starter for the
1939 MLB All-Star Game. He missed several weeks late in the 1939 season due to an arm injury, Ruffing won 21 games during the 1939 season. His four shutouts in the 1939 season again tied him for the AL lead, He finished fifth in the balloting for the AL MVP. Ruffing was the Yankees' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1940. He was named to the
1940 All-Star team, and Cronin, acting as manager, selected Ruffing as his starting pitcher. Ruffing finished the season with a 15–12 win–loss record. Ruffing was a member of the
1941 All-Star team as well, but he did not pitch in the game. He had a 15–6 win–loss record during the 1941 season, and was named the starting pitcher for Game One of the
1941 World Series against the
Brooklyn Dodgers. Ruffing defeated the Dodgers, as the Yankees won the series four games to one. baseball uniform during
World War II. Ruffing pitched for the Yankees during Opening Day of the 1942 season. That year, he compiled a 14–7 win–loss record. He was again named an All-Star, and again did not pitch in the
All-Star Game, which was started by teammate
Spud Chandler. Though teammate
Tiny Bonham had a better season, pitching to a 21–5 win–loss record, McCarthy again chose Ruffing as his Game One starter for the
1942 World Series, setting a record with six World Series Game One starts that stood until
Whitey Ford started his seventh Game One in the
1963 World Series. Ruffing defeated the
St. Louis Cardinals in Game One, his seventh World Series victory. This set a record that was surpassed by Ford in 1960. After the 1942 season, Ruffing took a job with
Vultee Aircraft, a defense contractor. Despite his age (37) and missing toes, a United States Army doctor certified Ruffing as Class 1-B in the
Selective Service System, overruled Ruffing's personal physician, who had ruled Ruffing unfit for service. The Army decided that Ruffing could serve in a non-combat role. Ruffing missed the 1943 and 1944 seasons due to his service during World War II. He served in the Sixth Ferrying Group of the
Air Transport Command of the
United States Army Air Forces at the rank of
private. However, he did pitch for the Air Transport Command's baseball team, throwing a
perfect game against
Joe DiMaggio's team, and leading his team to the championship against
Ted Lyons' team. In 1944, he played with an All-Star team for troops stationed in
Hawaii. He rejoined the Yankees that month, signing for the same $20,000 salary ($ in current dollar terms) he earned in 1942. He made his first appearance with the Yankees since the 1942 season in July 1945. Pitching for the Yankees as a spot starter in 1946, he had a 5–1 win–loss record and a 1.77 ERA when he suffered a broken kneecap from a
line drive hit by
Hank Majeski, and missed the remainder of the season. He remains the winningest right-handed pitcher in Yankees' history. but continued to be limited by his knee. In May, the White Sox removed Ruffing from their active roster after he was hit in his bad knee with another line drive. He rejoined the White Sox' active roster in July. He pitched to a 3–5 win–loss record and a 6.11 ERA in nine games pitched on the season. Ruffing retired after the 1947 season. According to AL
umpire Bill Summers, "[O]n account of Red Ruffing, the slider got to be the thing." A combination of his extensive career workload, the offense-heavy era he pitched in, poor early ERAs prior to a mid-career change in his delivery, and the fact he pitched his entire 22-year career in a single league, Ruffing holds the AL record for most runs and earned runs allowed. This belies the fact that he finished in the Top 10 in the AL in ERA for eight consecutive years after mastering his new delivery, finishing 2nd twice and 3rd and 4th once each between 1932 and 1940. This two second-place finishes were to Hall of Famer
Lefty Grove, who dominated the 1930s with seven league leads during the decade en route to his all-time AL record of nine. So high were ERAs during the 1932-1940 span that three times Grove was the only pitcher to better a 3.00 ERA, and once, in 1938, no AL pitcher did, Grove leading the league a 3.08. Ruffing was an excellent hitter for a pitcher, good enough to frequently be called on to
pinch hit His 36
home runs rank fourth in MLB history among pitchers behind Ferrell and
Bob Lemon. He hit over .300 in eight different seasons, batting .269 overall with 521 hits in 1,937 career at-bats. ==Coaching career==