Raymond Edmond Narleski (November 25, 1928 – March 29, 2012) was a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who played with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

(1954–58) and

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1959). He batted and threw right-handed. His father, Bill Narleski, was a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

from 1929 to 1930. Born in

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a city in and the county seat of Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Camden is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area and is located directly across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the 2020 ...

, Narleski pitched for

Collingswood High School Collingswood High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Collingswood in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the sole secondary school of Collingswood ...

. In a six-season career, Narleski posted a 43–33 record with 454

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s, a 3.60

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

, and 58 saves in 702

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

. He made the American League All-Star team in 1956 and 1958. Narleski was an overpowering pitcher with a blazing

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

which he mixed with a sharp-breaking

curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line (geometry), line, but that does not have to be Linearity, straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point (ge ...

and a

change-up A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball and fastpitch softball. The changeup is a staple off-speed pitch often used in a pitcher's arsenal, usually thrown to look like a fastball but arriving much more slowly to the plate. Its reduced speed c ...

that can kept hitters guessing. Unfortunately, Narleski had a simple problem: he was overshadowed by one of the greatest pitching staffs in major league history, the Indians ''Big Four''

Bob Feller Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "the Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Clevel ...

Bob Lemon Robert Granville Lemon (September 22, 1920 – January 11, 2000) was an American right-handed pitcher and manager (baseball), manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lemon was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, National Ba ...

Early Wynn Early Wynn Jr. (January 6, 1920 – April 4, 1999), nicknamed "Gus", was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, dur ...

and Mike Garcia. Nevertheless, in his rookie season Narleski posted 13 saves for the 1954 AL Champions. In 1955 he went 9–1 and led the league with 19 saves and 60 appearances, and in 1957 he finished 11–5 with 16 saves. At this time, he gradually joined the starting rotation. In 1958 Narleski went 13–10 in 44 games, 24 as a starter. At the end of the season he was sent to Detroit along with bullpen teammate

Don Mossi Donald Louis Mossi (January 11, 1929 – July 19, 2019) was an American major league pitcher from 1954 to 1965. He was a left-handed control pitcher whose strikeout-to-walk ratio was regularly among the league leaders (he led the league in 1961) ...

, in the same trade that brought

Billy Martin Alfred Manuel Martin Jr. (May 16, 1928 – December 25, 1989), commonly called "Billy", was an American Major League Baseball second baseman and manager who, in addition to leading other teams, was five times the manager of the New York Yan ...

to the Indians. Hampered by shoulder problems in 1959, Narleski finished 4–12 with a 5.78 ERA and five saves in 42 games. Narleski missed the entire 1960 season due to a ruptured disc that required surgery. Narleski went to Tigers spring training camp in 1961 but quit the club when Detroit wouldn't tell him whether he would make the roster or not. Narleski saying "I won't go back to the minors", because it "means another year out of my arm and I'm too old for that." Narleski was selected to the Top 100 Greatest Indians Roster as part of the club's 100th Anniversary Celebration in . After his retirement, Narleski lived in

Laurel Springs, New Jersey Laurel Springs is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast ...

. A resident of

Gloucester Township, New Jersey Gloucester Township is a township in Camden County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township had a total population of 64,634, reflecting an increase of 284 (+0.4%) from the 64,350 counted in the 2000 census. The township ranke ...

at the time of his death, Narleski died at the age of 83 on March 29, 2012. He is buried in Eglington Cemetery, Clarksboro, New JerseyPeticca, Mike
"Ray Narleski, 2-time all-star and part of Indians' great bullpen in historic 1954 season, dies at age 83"
''

The Plain Dealer ''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday. As of Ma ...

'', April 2, 2012. Accessed November 22, 2013. "Narleski died of natural causes, his wife of 63 years, Ruth, said through the funeral home near the Narleski home in Gloucester Township, New Jersey."

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Narleski, Ray 1928 births 2012 deaths American League All-Stars Baseball players from Camden, New Jersey Collingswood High School alumni Cedar Rapids Indians players Cleveland Indians players Dallas Eagles players Detroit Tigers players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers People from Gloucester Township, New Jersey People from Laurel Springs, New Jersey Wilkes-Barre Indians players

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References

External links