YORK, Pa. — York's Ken Raffensberger was born on Aug. 8, 1917.
The southpaw pitcher's reputation grew while at York High and as part of the City & County Leagues in York and Lancaster.
He signed his first minor league deal in 1937 to play in the Cardinals organization in Cambridge, Maryland, eventually making his MLB debut with the Cardinals for one game in 1939.
In 1940 and 1941, he joined up with the Chicago Cubs and saw real big league playing time in 1940, going 7-9.
He returned to the Keystone State in 1943, as a member of the Phillies.
In 1944, not only did he make the All-Star game, but he was the winning pitcher.
A season later, it wasn't injuries that sidelined Raffensberger, but the tail end of World War II.
The York native then returned to the Phillies. After four seasons, he was dealt to Cincinnati, where he played eight more seasons.
Over a 12-year MLB career, Raffensberger went 119-154, with a 3.60 ERA, 806 strikeouts and 2,000 innings pitched. He never had much in the way of run support, as his teams never finished closer than 21 games out of first.
After the bigs, he played in Cuba and back home—and even managed in Louisiana—before hanging it up in 1957.
He pitched against Jackie Robinson, Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider, Gill Hodges, Roy Campanella and Stan Musial, who called Raffensberger the toughest pitcher he faced.
Raffensberger lived out the rest of his life in York, passing at the age of 85 in 2002.