The Yankees most notable addition was manager Casey Stengel, who had run-up a successful record managing the Oakland Oaks in the Pacific Coast League.

Stengel relied on a four man pitching rotation - Vic Rashi, who was the Yankees' only 20 game winner, and 'Fire Chief' Allie Reynolds, Ed Lopat and Tommy Byrne. The pitching staff registered the second best ERA (3.69) in the league.

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1949 Baseball History

New York Yankees 1949 - Pitching Stats:

Allie Reynolds 17-6, 4.00 ERA in 35 Games... Vic Rashi 21-10, 3.34 ERA in 38G... Ed Lopat 15-10, 3.26 ERA in 31G... Joe Page 13-8, 2.59 ERA in 60G... Tommy Byrne 15-7, 3.72 ERA in 32G... Jack Sanford 7-3, 3.87 ERA in 29G...

Clarence Marshall 3-0, 5.11 ERA in 21G... Ralph Buxton 0-1, 4.05 ERA in 14G... Spec Shea 1-1, 5.33 ERA in 20G... Hugh Casey 1-0, 8.22 ERA in 4G... Frank Hiller 0-2, 5.87 ERA in 4G... Duane Pillette 2-4, 4.34 ERA in 12G... Erwin Bob Poterfield 2-5, 4.06 ERA in 12G... Wally Hood 0-0, 0.00 ERA in 2G...

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Tommy Byrne, Pitcher LH - a well-known, flame-thrower during this era, the southpaw pitcher led the Yankees staff in strikeouts with 129 and in walks with 179 in 1949. Byrne broke into the majors with the Yankees back in 1943, spent '44 and '45 in the US Military and returned to New York in 1946... and by 1948, blossomed into one of the AL's leading news-makers with his blazing fastball. In '48, Tommy Byrne rang up a 8-5 record in 31 games, complete 5-of-11 starts and complied 3.30 ERA in 133 2/3 innings.

In the 1949 World Series, Byrne started one game, yielded 2-hits, 1-run in 3 1/3 innings, 2.70 ERA.

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Clarence 'Cuddles' Marshall, Pitcher RH - he pitched 49 innings in 21 games in 1949 and chalked up a perfect record of 3-0 and picked up 3 saves, which helped the Yanks win the pennant.

The 6ft, 2inch, 175-pound right-hander debuted with the Yankees in 1946 and was used as a spot starter and long reliever. Cuddles Marshall went 3-4 in his rookie year, pitched in 23 games, 81 innings, GS 11, GC 1 and posted a 5.33 ERA... Career Stats: 7-7 record, 5.98 ERA, 73G, 15GS, 1GC, 185 innings, 216 hits, 8Hr yielded, 158Ws, 69Ks... Yankees 1946, 1948-50.

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Duane Pillette, Pitcher RH - the tall rookie was called up from Newark during the heat of the 1949 pennant battle and completed 2-of-3 starts, came on in relief in 9 other games and posted a 2-4 record.

The 6ft, 3inch, 195- pound Pillette pitched one more year in New York before being traded to the St. Louis Browns and became of one that team's most popular starting pitchers.

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