Saul Rogovin
Encyclopedia
Saul Walter Rogovin was a professional baseball player.
Rogovin was a pitcher
over parts of 8 seasons (1949–57), with the Detroit Tigers
, Chicago White Sox
, Baltimore Orioles
, and Philadelphia Phillies
. For his major league
career, he compiled a 48–48 record in 150 appearances, with a 4.06 ERA
, 10 shutout
s, and 388 strikeout
s.
, where he played baseball as an infielder
, winning the Public League title for his school when he hit a game-winning homer. Soon after graduation, he tried out for the Dodgers, but was not signed.
, where he was paid $60 a month, but the club soon folded. In 1941, he took a job as an assembly-line worker with Brewster Aircraft
, and played with the plant team. Dolly Stark
, a National League
umpire, saw him and recommended him to the Giants' manager, Mel Ott
.
At a tryout Ott was impressed with Rogovin's power, and signed him to a contract with Jersey City as an outfielder. After appearing in just two games, he was sold to Chattanooga of the Southern Association
, where he played third base
. Red Lucas
, a coach there, suggested Rogovin try pitching. On the last day of the 1945 season he started and threw a four-hit shutout against the Birmingham Barons
.
He was then traded in 1946 to Pensacola
. Buffalo next signed him to a contract for the 1947 season. He then went to the Venezuela
n winter league. When he refused to pitch one game because of a sore arm, the team owner had him carted off to jail for a brief stay.
. Prior to the start of the 1947 season, he was sent by the Senators to the Detroit Tigers. In 1950, he developed a sore arm after pitching on a cold, damp night in spring training
. Even though it was only an exhibition, manager Red Rolfe
refused to take him out. During the regular season Rogovin pitched in 11 games, with a 2–1 record and a 4.50 ERA.
Rogovin hit a grand slam in 1950 off Eddie Lopat
of the NY Yankees. The next grand slam by a Jewish pitcher was not hit until Jason Marquis
hit one in 2008.
On May 15, 1951, he was traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Bob Cain
. He led the American League
with a 2.78 ERA
in 1951 while playing for Detroit
and Chicago
. He compiled a 12–8 record that season, and was 4th in the league in hits allowed per 9 IP (7.85), and 5th in complete games (17) and shutouts (3). Seven of his eight losses were by one run, and the eighth by two runs.
He was 14–9 in 1952, when he struck out 14 Red Sox
in a 15-inning game. He was 7th in the league in innings (231.7; a career high), 8th in shutouts (3), 9th in games started (30) and wins, and 10th in strikeouts (121). But his arm still gave him intermittent problems.
On December 10, 1953, he was traded by the White Sox with Rocky Krsnich and Connie Ryan
to the Cincinnati Reds
for Willard Marshall
. In December 1954 he was sent from the Cincinnati Redlegs to the Baltimore Orioles. On July 9, 1955, he was released by the Orioles and signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies. He posted a 3.08 ERA with the Phillies to go with a 5–3 record. Milton Richman wrote in Sport Magazine that Rogovin had acquired a sinker and a change-up to supplement his fading fastball. Rogovin remarked, "Somebody cracked that I now throw with three speeds – slow, slower, and stop. But who cares, as long as I'm winning? They can have the fastball."
A classic Rogovin remark concerns the time Dolly Stark attempted to make another "Hank Greenberg
" out of him early in his career. Rogovin said, "I have a strong arm, but I never could hit like Greenberg. The only thing we have in common is that we're Jewish."
Through 2010, he was 10th all-time in career wins (directly behind Larry Sherry
) among Jewish major league baseball players.
long after his teammates had showered and dressed. Some felt he was lazy; according to an article by Saul Wisnia in the Washington Post, however, Rogovin suffered from a sleep disorder
.
Rogovin was a pitcher
Pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
over parts of 8 seasons (1949–57), with the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
, Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
, Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
, and Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
. For his major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
career, he compiled a 48–48 record in 150 appearances, with a 4.06 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
, 10 shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....
s, and 388 strikeout
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....
s.
Early life
Rogovin attended Abraham Lincoln High SchoolAbraham Lincoln High School (New York)
Abraham Lincoln High School is a public high school located at 2800 Ocean Parkway, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, and is part of Region 7 in the New York City Department of Education...
, where he played baseball as an infielder
Infielder
An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...
, winning the Public League title for his school when he hit a game-winning homer. Soon after graduation, he tried out for the Dodgers, but was not signed.
Minor league career
Rogovin then played with a Class D team in Beaver Falls, PennsylvaniaBeaver Falls, Pennsylvania
Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,987 at the 2010 census. It is located 31 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, and on the Beaver River, six miles from its confluence with the Ohio River...
, where he was paid $60 a month, but the club soon folded. In 1941, he took a job as an assembly-line worker with Brewster Aircraft
Brewster Aeronautical Corporation
The Brewster Aeronautical Corporation was a North American defense contractor that operated from the 1930s until the end of World War II.It started existence as an aircraft division of Brewster & Co., a company that originally sold carriages and had branched into automobile bodies and airplane parts...
, and played with the plant team. Dolly Stark
Dolly Stark
Monroe Randolph Stark was a professional baseball player who played shortstop for the Cleveland Naps and Brooklyn Dodgers from 1909-1912. He later served as an Umpire....
, a National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
umpire, saw him and recommended him to the Giants' manager, Mel Ott
Mel Ott
Melvin Thomas Ott , nicknamed "Master Melvin", was a Major League Baseball right fielder. He played his entire career for the New York Giants . Ott was born in Gretna, Louisiana. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed...
.
At a tryout Ott was impressed with Rogovin's power, and signed him to a contract with Jersey City as an outfielder. After appearing in just two games, he was sold to Chattanooga of the Southern Association
Southern Association
The Southern Association was a higher-level minor league in American organized baseball from 1901 through 1961. For most of its existence, the Southern Association was two steps below the Major Leagues; it was graded Class A , Class A1 and Class AA...
, where he played third base
Third Base
is a 1978 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Higashi.-External links:...
. Red Lucas
Red Lucas
Charles Fred Lucas born in Columbia, Tennessee was a pitcher for the New York Giants , Boston Braves , Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates ....
, a coach there, suggested Rogovin try pitching. On the last day of the 1945 season he started and threw a four-hit shutout against the Birmingham Barons
Birmingham Barons
The Birmingham Barons are a minor league baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox major-league club....
.
He was then traded in 1946 to Pensacola
Pensacola
Pensacola is a city in the western part of the U.S. state of Florida.Pensacola may also refer to:* Pensacola people, a group of Native Americans* A number of places in the Florida:** Pensacola Bay** Pensacola Regional Airport...
. Buffalo next signed him to a contract for the 1947 season. He then went to the Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
n winter league. When he refused to pitch one game because of a sore arm, the team owner had him carted off to jail for a brief stay.
Major league career
Before the 1944 season, Rogovin signed as a free agent with the Washington SenatorsWashington Senators
There have been several baseball teams that have played as the Washington Senators, including:*an American League baseball team based in Washington, D.C. from 1901 to 1960, that moved to Minneapolis-St...
. Prior to the start of the 1947 season, he was sent by the Senators to the Detroit Tigers. In 1950, he developed a sore arm after pitching on a cold, damp night in spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...
. Even though it was only an exhibition, manager Red Rolfe
Red Rolfe
Robert Abial "Red" Rolfe was an American third baseman, manager and front-office executive in Major League Baseball. A native of Penacook, New Hampshire, he is one of the most prominent players to come from the Granite State...
refused to take him out. During the regular season Rogovin pitched in 11 games, with a 2–1 record and a 4.50 ERA.
Rogovin hit a grand slam in 1950 off Eddie Lopat
Eddie Lopat
Edmund Walter ""The Junkman"" Lopat was a Major League Baseball pitcher.Lopat was born in New York, New York. His Major League debut was on April 30, 1944, playing for the Chicago White Sox....
of the NY Yankees. The next grand slam by a Jewish pitcher was not hit until Jason Marquis
Jason Marquis
Jason Scott Marquis is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He previously pitched for the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks....
hit one in 2008.
On May 15, 1951, he was traded by the Tigers to the Chicago White Sox for Bob Cain
Bob Cain
Robert Max Cain [Sugar] was a left-handed pitcher who played Major League Baseball from 1949 to 1954. Cain was born in Longford, Kansas and raised in Salina....
. He led the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
with a 2.78 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
in 1951 while playing for Detroit
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
and Chicago
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...
. He compiled a 12–8 record that season, and was 4th in the league in hits allowed per 9 IP (7.85), and 5th in complete games (17) and shutouts (3). Seven of his eight losses were by one run, and the eighth by two runs.
He was 14–9 in 1952, when he struck out 14 Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
in a 15-inning game. He was 7th in the league in innings (231.7; a career high), 8th in shutouts (3), 9th in games started (30) and wins, and 10th in strikeouts (121). But his arm still gave him intermittent problems.
On December 10, 1953, he was traded by the White Sox with Rocky Krsnich and Connie Ryan
Connie Ryan
Cornelius Joseph Ryan was an American second baseman, third baseman, coach and manager in Major League Baseball....
to the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
for Willard Marshall
Willard Marshall
Willard Warren Marshall was a right fielder in Major League Baseball. From 1942 through 1955, Marshall played for the New York Giants , Boston Braves , Cincinnati Reds and Chicago White Sox...
. In December 1954 he was sent from the Cincinnati Redlegs to the Baltimore Orioles. On July 9, 1955, he was released by the Orioles and signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Phillies. He posted a 3.08 ERA with the Phillies to go with a 5–3 record. Milton Richman wrote in Sport Magazine that Rogovin had acquired a sinker and a change-up to supplement his fading fastball. Rogovin remarked, "Somebody cracked that I now throw with three speeds – slow, slower, and stop. But who cares, as long as I'm winning? They can have the fastball."
A classic Rogovin remark concerns the time Dolly Stark attempted to make another "Hank Greenberg
Hank Greenberg
Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...
" out of him early in his career. Rogovin said, "I have a strong arm, but I never could hit like Greenberg. The only thing we have in common is that we're Jewish."
Through 2010, he was 10th all-time in career wins (directly behind Larry Sherry
Larry Sherry
Lawrence Sherry was an American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers...
) among Jewish major league baseball players.
After baseball
After retiring from baseball, he went back to college to get his teaching certification in his fifties, and became a teacher in the N.Y.C. school system.Personal
He sometimes fell asleep on the bench, and after one night game was found asleep in the dugout at Comiskey ParkComiskey Park
Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games...
long after his teammates had showered and dressed. Some felt he was lazy; according to an article by Saul Wisnia in the Washington Post, however, Rogovin suffered from a sleep disorder
Sleep disorder
A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder of the sleep patterns of a person or animal. Some sleep disorders are serious enough to interfere with normal physical, mental and emotional functioning...
.
See also
- List of Major League Baseball ERA champions
- List of select Jewish baseball players