Yankees Birthday of the Day: Bob Turley

Turley grew up in Illinois. A baseball prodigy from an early age, he was banned from pitching in his youth league at the age of 12. Young Bob drew the attention of the Yankees after attending a tryout camp with his uncle, Ralph. The club was reportedly impressed enough to sign "R. Turley" but offered a contract to the wrong one. While Ralph briefly joined the Yankees organization, his nephew signed with the St. Louis Browns on the night of his high school graduation.

Turley immediately displayed the double-edged sword of his dominant stuff, allowing 71 free passes in 97 innings as a 17-year-old but going 9-3 nonetheless. Over four minor-league seasons, he'd post a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 411:481 in 817 innings, a harbinger of what would come in his big-league career.

Turley got the call in 1951, 10 days after his 21st birthday, starting just one game before season's end. After that brief cup of coffee, he'd spend nearly two years serving in the Army. Returning in August of '53, he made 10 strong appearances for a Browns team on its last legs. When the team moved to Baltimore the following year, Turley was squarely entrenched in their rotation, pitching the home opener for the first MLB game in Baltimore since 1902.