Archived Innings

On January 3, 1943, 37 year-old Yankee right-hander Red Ruffing was drafted in to the Army, despite his age and despite the fact that he had lost four toes on his left foot in a mining accident in Coalton, Illinois when he was fifteen years old.  The Army decided that Ruffing could serve in a non-combat role, where he pitched for the Air Transport Command’s baseball team and led the troops in physical fitness training.