At 22 yeas, 88 days, Trey Yesavage became the second youngest pitcher to start Game 1 of a World Series – and that leads us to the question, who is the youngest pitcher to start Game 1 of a World Series?
Ralph Terry
Ralph Branca
Ralph Houk
Ralph Garr
Ralph Kramden
And the answer is Ralph Branca – he was 21 years, 267 days when he started for the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 1 of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. After throwing four shutout innings, he gave up 5 runs in the fifth inning without recording an out – the Yankees went on to win the game, 5-3. Of course, Branca is more famous for two huge events in baseball history. Check out the SABR entry on Branca, which includes this paragraph:
As a Brooklyn Dodger, the 6-foot-3, 220-pound right-hander was involved in two of the biggest moments in baseball history, which were also prominent moments in the fabric of American culture. One was the integration of baseball by Jackie Robinson in 1947, and the other was as the man who threw the pitch hit for a home run by Bobby Thomson that won the 1951 National League pennant for the New York Giants. In 1947 the 21-year-old Branca became the second youngest National Leaguer to win twenty games.