Les Scarsella
| Les Scarsella | |
|---|---|
San Francisco, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Left Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 15, 1935, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 19, 1940, for the Boston Bees | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .284 |
| Home runs | 6 |
| Runs batted in | 109 |
| Teams | |
| |
Leslie George Scarsella (November 23, 1913 – December 16, 1958) was an American
Scarsella was born in
After a torrid start to the
During the offseason, Scarsella was traded to the Boston Bees for pitcher Jim "Milkman" Turner, a former 20-game winner. He had three three-hit games during the season's first month and was still batting .300 for Boston on May 20, when his contract was sold to another International League club, the Buffalo Bisons. The transaction marked the end of Scarsella's major league career, during which he collected 255 hits, with 34 doubles, 16 triples and six homers. He knocked in 109 runs.
Scarsella returned to the West Coast in 1941 and launched a successful nine-year tenure in the top-level Pacific Coast League, hitting over .300 six times and winning MVP honors in 1944 (when he was the league's batting champion) and 1946. According to his obituary, Scarsella spurned the opportunity to return to the majors during the World War II manpower shortage, saying he preferred to remain in his native California rather than return to the East or Midwest to play in the majors.[2] Charlie Metro was Scarsella's teammate with the Oakland Oaks in 1946. He said this of Scarsella: "Les Scarsella was my roommate at Oakland. Les was a great hitter. He had great years in the Pacific Coast League. He could have played more in the big leagues, but he could make more in the Coast League. At the time, he was making $1,500 a month and playing six months, making $9,000 a year in the Coast League, plus a chance at more money in the playoffs. He told me Cincinnati had offered him a contract for $5,000, but he wouldn't take it. He didn't want to take a cut to go to the big leagues."[3]
He was a member of the 1948 Oakland Oaks, who won the Pacific Coast League championship. The team was known as the "Nine Old Men", as Ernie Lombardi was 40, Billy Raimondi, Cookie Lavagetto, Floyd Speer, and Nick Etten were 35, Scarsella and Jack Salveson were 34, Dario Lodigiani was 32, and Mel Duezabou was 30.[4][5]
Scarsella died from a heart ailment[2] in San Francisco nine years after his career ended. He was 45 years of age.
References
- ^ Career statistics and history at Baseball-Reference.com
- ^ a b The Sporting News (31 December 1958). "Les Scarsella's Obit". The Sporting News. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ISBN 0-8032-8281-8.
- ^ Newhouse, Dave (1998-07-22). "Former Yankee great saves career in Oakland". Ukiah Daily Journal. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-12-30 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Jackson, Josh (2021-01-25). "PCL's historic Oaks reclaimed glory under Stengel: Charter club climbed back to top before graduating skip to Yankees". MiLB.com. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference, or Baseball Reference (Minors)