Eddie, Allie & Vic

I am not a Yankees fan, yet it impossible not to be impressed by their record of success, peaking in the five seasons from 1949 through 1953 when the Bronx team won five AL pennants and five World Series, a stretch never matched before or after.

That team was anchored by three remarkable starting pitchers, none of them a member of the Hall of Fame, Allie Reynolds (182-107), Eddie Lopat (166-112) and Vic Raschi (132-66).  Reynolds and Raschi were noted for their fastballs, with Vic's nickname, The Springfield Rifle, reflecting this skill (Vic was born in Springfield, MA, home of the famous government arsenal).  Allie's nickname was Superchief, born in Oklahoma and 3/16 Creek Indian.  Lopat was known as The Junkman for his variety of offspeed deliveries (Ted Williams called him one of the five toughest pitchers he ever faced; "Lopat had as fine a collection of junk as you'll ever see.").

All three came to the Yankees (Reynolds and Lopat via trade) as experienced and mature, Reynolds and Lopat were 30, Raschi 27.  Each pitched eight seasons with the squad, Raschi (1946-53), Reynolds (1947-54) and Lopat (1948-55) and for six seasons they formed the core of the team's rotation.

I took a closer look at the five World Champion seasons.  During those years, the threesome went 255-117 and breaking down their record compared to the rest of the Yankee staff reveals they were substantially better than the others each season.

1949     53-26   .671       44-31   .587

1950     55-28   .663       43-28   .606

1951     59-27   .687       39-29   .574

1952     46-19   .708       49-40   .551

1953     42-17   .712       57-35   .620

The trio also won 15 of the 20 World Series victories by the Yankees, and their ERA's show it was not just because of the offense - Lopat at 2.60, Reynolds 2.79 and Raschi 2.24.

Manager Casey Stengel was known for not having a regular rotation and he certainly did not overwork the three starters; Reynolds and Lopat never pitched as many as 250 innings a year and the most starts either had was 32.  Raschi worked a bit harder, three times exceeding 250 innings and starting 37 times one year and 34 another.

In 1949 and 1950 the fourth starter was Tommy Byrnes who started 61 games but no other Yankee started more than 12 in either year.

In 1951 and 1952 no one started more than 16 games except Lopat, Reynolds, and Raschi.

In their final year together Whitey Ford was fourth starter (30) and Johnny Sain made 19 starts.

There were also three Yankee regular starting position players throughout those five seasons, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, and Hank Bauer.

During their playing days, Lopat, Reynolds, Raschi and their wives became close friends, a friendship they maintained over the decades.  All three passed away between 1988 and 1994.