Ray Lucas

For over a century, the veterans service organization known as the American Legion has sponsored a nationwide amateur youth baseball program. Early Hall of Famers who participated in the program include Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, and Roy Campanella. However, the very first graduate of the Legion program to reach the major leagues was a journeyman pitcher from Ohio named Ray Lucas.

Lucas spent parts of five National League seasons (1929-31; 1933-34) in New York City. He appeared in just 22 games and won just once at the top level. His record doesn’t necessarily make one think of a baseball lifer. Yet that was just the start of Ray Lucas’s legacy in the game. Lucas became a minor-league manager and then a scout of note. He was also a pathfinder who spearheaded a multi-generational family spanning over a century of professional baseball.

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Ray Wesley Lucas was born on October 2, 1908, in the southwestern Ohio community of Springfield. Genealogical records show that he was the second of five sons born to Thomas Wesley Lucas and his wife, Elizabeth (née Wildison). According to Lucas’s great-nephew and great-niece, however, Ray grew up in a middle-class Catholic household headed by Ralph Donahue May, a foundry worker, and his wife Mary. Ray’s brothers were named Roy, Earl, Ralph, and Richard.

Ray’s thletic talents became apparent at an early age. Any Springfield sandlot team roster that included Ray or Roy Lucas had a psychological advantage before the first pitch. Years later, after his death, Ray’s former adversaries described him during his sandlot days as “grim visaged on the mound with a strong pitching arm. He was always able to get the first strike past you.”1

In 1925, the American Legion began its involvement in youth amateur baseball by scheduling state tournaments around the country and inviting their local posts (affiliates) to sponsor teams to participate in these tournaments. Springfield was no different: the George Cultice Post #6 decided to participate in 1926. Initially, Ray was not among the 12 young men selected for the team, though a cousin, Earl Lucas, was. Most players were 18-year-old high school graduates – e Ray was a year younger. However, Ray’s play was in such demand that he was added to the roster along with future Ohio governor James A. Rhodes, who was known more for his athletic abilities on the basketball court.2

The American Legion tournament experience became life-changing and historic for Lucas. The Springfield team was very successful, winning the state tournament.3 Lucas was Springfield’s star pitcher. One of the spectators at the state finals was Casey Stengel, then managing the Class AA Toledo Mud Hens. Casey made note of Springfield’s ace.4

The Springfield team thus advanced to the first American Legion World Series, held in Philadelphia. Afterwards, it was back to high school for his senior year and playing the sports of the seasons. In the spring, however, Lucas returned to the sandlots, because Springfield High would not field a baseball team for two more years. He remained much in demand as an amateur pitcher for two additional seasons with local teams such as Millard Clothing, Robbins and Myers, and Orange Crush.

In 1929, Stengel was still skipper of the Toledo team. Sorely in need of pitching, he remembered the teenager from Springfield and invited Lucas, by then 20 years old, to spring training with the Mud Hens. At the end of camp, Lucas was offered a Toledo contract, which he quickly signed.

Lucas spent one season pitching 126 innings in 28 games and winding up with a 3-10 record and 4.29 ERA. They weren’t distinguished numbers, yet he showed substantial promise.5 In August, his contract was sold to John McGraw’s New York Giants; he joined the club in September.

Lucas made his major league debut on September 28, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning in a 5-1 loss to the Brooklyn Robins. He thus became the first American Legion baseball player to graduate to the majors. Lucas pitched eight scoreless innings in three of the final six contests for the third-place Giants. He earned a four-inning save (as recorded retroactively) against the Boston Braves in the season finale on October 6. He also began to develop what turned into a lifetime social and professional friendship with future Hall of Fame pitcher Carl Hubbell.

Lucas pitched in six games for the Giants in April and May of 1930, recording a 6.97 ERA over 10 1/3 innings, fueled by 10 walks. He was then sent to the Newark (New Jersey) Bears of the Class AA International League, where he pitched in only three games while battling extended periods of arm ailments.

His arm recovered enough for Lucas to make the Giants roster in 1931. However, after giving up a run in two innings on April 15, he was sent down. He spent most of the year with the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Bears of the Class A Eastern League, where he posted a 3-5 mark in 62 innings spanning 15 games.

On the home front back in Springfield, Ray married his high school sweetheart, Marian Dunn. The Lucas family eventually included four daughters: Monica, Sally, Mary, and Ann.

For 1932, Lucas was out of organized baseball. Instead, he pitched in local adult amateur leagues around Springfield while working with his baseball contacts to seek other, more profitable pitching opportunities. Such an opportunity transpired with Brooklyn, which purchased his rights from the Giants.

In 1933, Lucas pitched in two early-season games for the Dodgers, allowing four runs over five innings. He thus joined a lengthening list of players (then 73) who had played for both New York National League teams. In May, Lucas was sent to AA Buffalo, managed by a future Hall of Famer, former White Sox catcher Ray Schalk. Lucas regained his fastball and went 9-7 for the Bisons, albeit with a 4.71 ERA. Control remained an issue: he walked 73 batters in 128 innings.

Brooklyn maintained the rights to Lucas, by then 25 years old. However, the Dodgers did not bring back manager Max Carey for the 1934 season. His replacement was a familiar face to Lucas: Casey Stengel. Under the rules of the time, teams were allowed to keep three extra players on their active roster until May 15. Lucas made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster but was one of the players on the bubble as cutdown day approached.

In late April, the Dodgers’ schedule brought them to Philadelphia for the first time that season. At that time, the city was home to the national American Legion offices. Lucas was honored as the first American Legion baseball participant to play in the major leagues.6

That visit was part of an extended road trip that lasted through mid-May, during which Brooklyn faced each of the other seven teams in the National League. On the last leg of the trip, the Dodgers traveled to the NL’s westernmost city, St. Louis, to meet the eventual World Series champions: the “Gas House Gang.”7 On May 15, in Brooklyn’s 19th consecutive away game, starter Ray Benge lasted five innings. He was replaced by Lucas, who retired the Cards on two hits and no runs in the sixth and seventh innings. the top of the eighth, Dizzy Dean relieved for St. Louis with two runners on and the Cardinals up, 5-4. Immediately, Dean gave up a bunt single to load the bases. A forceout scored the tying run; then Lonny Frey stole home to put Brooklyn up for good, 6-5. It would mark the only blown save by Dean in his 34-win season – and Lucas’s only major league victory.

Lucas survived the cutdown to 23 players, but in June, he was traded to the Mission Reds of the Class AA Pacific Coast League (along with cash and a player to be named later) for Johnny Babich. He had posted a poor 6.75 ERA over 10 games. His last appearance in the majors came on June 6. He finished his big-league career with a 1-1 record, one save, and a 5.79 ERA.

Lucas finished the 1934 season with Mission and remained with the Reds for half the season in 1935 before being sold to the Seattle Indians of the same league. His last season of affiliated ball, 1936, would result in a 7-12 record with a 4.42 ERA in 161 innings for Seattle.

As of 1939, Lucas was still trying to resurrect his pitching career. He was also serving as a coach for the Kinston (North Carolina) Eagles of the Class D Coastal Plain League, to try to get back in shape. In May, team manager Snake Henry was suspended for 120 games for striking an umpire. Lucas was named acting manager, a position he kept for a couple of months until he was replaced by Bill Herring.8

Though his professional playing career was at an end, Lucas was still pitching in some amateur leagues back home. Around 1942, he joined the United States Navy and spent the next four years in the service. His main Navy job was with the Bainbridge, Maryland Naval Training Station’s outstanding baseball team, coaching and later managing. The Commodores’ roster in 1944 and 1945 boasted numerous major leaguers; the most prominent among them was Stan Musial. The experience would benefit Lucas in Phase Two of his pro baseball life.

Spending so much time away from Springfield because of baseball and the Navy put a strain on Lucas’s marriage, which came to an end. He was discharged from the service in November 1945.9 His search for employment was affected by never holding a regular job outside baseball. He decided to contact his old friend and teammate – Carl Hubbell, who had become the New York Giants’ minor league director.

Lucas was hired and assigned to the Oshkosh (Wisconsin) Giants, a member of the Class D Wisconsin State League. While World War II was raging, the Wisconsin State League suspended operations from 1943 through 1945. In 1946, the circuit resumed play and Lucas was named Oshkosh’s manager. The team finished in second place with a record of 66-42.

Oshkosh was a perfect location for Lucas, who had two loves – “baseball and hunting”10 – and got the opportunity to enjoy both. It was also about this time that Ray met a young woman, Elaine Sorenson, which sparked a romance.

The 1947 season in Oshkosh began the second generation of Lucas professional ballplayers. Outfielder Ralph “Flip” Lucas – son of Ray’s brother Roy – was assigned to his uncle’s team. It wasn’t a case of nepotism, however – Flip’s 354 batting average led the team. The Giants finished third with a 60-59 record.

In 1948, Lucas’s last year in uniform, his Oshkosh roster featured another player with a Springfield, Ohio and Navy connection, lefty pitcher Dick Fearn. According to Fearn, Lucas was distracted during the season as his romance with Elaine heated up.11 The 1948 team dropped to sixth place (51-74).

During a June 12 home game against Janesville, Lucas and catcher Sid Greenspan were ejected for disputing several decisions. The incensed Oshkosh fans started throwing rocks at the umpires. No one was struck or injured, but local police were called to quell what was called a minor riot.12

However, that was not the low point of Lucas’s year. Following the season, Ray’s second passion – hunting – changed his life. While shooting ducks with his brother-in-law, Axel Sorenson, Sorenson’s shotgun accidentally discharged, blowing off all four fingers on Lucas’s left hand.13 The Oshkosh team announced that it would be looking to find a playing manager, while never mentioning the riot or Lucas’s handicap.14 The Giants announced that Lucas would stay with the organization in another, unspecified position.

Meanwhile, Lucas – who’d remained upbeat after the accident – took a job as publicity director for the Oshkosh All-Stars professional basketball team.15 The rebound continued as a job with the Giants as a scout was offered and accepted. Phase Three of Lucas’s baseball career began.

For long-time baseball men, scouting was changing with the introduction of Black players to affiliated (organized) baseball. The Giants were particularly aggressive in scouting and signing men of color, both in the U.S. and Latin America. Lucas made two significant signings of such men before the 1954 season: Leon “Daddy Wags” Wagner and Willie Kirkland, both residents of Detroit.16

Like many scouts, Lucas utilized local tryout camps as a primary means of finding talent. The Springfield native never forgot where he came from, holding a camp in his hometown every year that he was a scout, well into the 1960s. Lucas spent the final 21 years of his life scouting for the Giants, staying with the organization after it moved from New York to San Francisco. Another of his notable signings was Ohioan pitcher Steve Stone.

At some point, Elaine and Ray moved to Harrison, Michigan (in the central part of the state’s lower peninsula). They had two children: son James and daughter Diana. The heavily forested area around Harrison was a perfect location for hunting, which he pursued even after his life-changing accident.

Ray Lucas died of a heart attack on October 9, 1969, in Harrison. He was 61 and had been in deteriorating health for months. Lucas was buried in Harrison’s Maple Grove Cemetery.17

However, this did not end the Lucas family’s baseball legacy. His nephew Flip’s son Mark played at Wright State University and was drafted in 1978 by the Atlanta Braves, playing three years in their system. As of 2026, Mark served as a hitting coach and assistant general manager for Springfield’s team in the collegiate Prospect League, the Campion City Halftracks.18

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Darren Gibson and Rory Costello and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Photo credit: Ray Lucas, Trading Card Database.

Sources

Personal interviews

Richard Fearn, Springfield native, Ray Lucas’s friend, 1948 Oshkosh Giant

Ralph “Flip” Lucas, Ray Lucas’s nephew, 1947 Oshkosh Giant

Mark Lucas, Ray Lucas’s great-nephew

American Legion Research Dept., Indianapolis, Indiana

Books

James A Rhodes, Ohio Colossus by Tom Diemer, Lee Leonard and Richard Zimmerman; Kent State University Press; 2014

Newspapers

Springfield (Ohio) Daily News; Cox Publishing Springfield, OH; various articles, various reporters; 1925 to 1969.

The Sporting News, Spink Publishing, St. Louis, Mo.

Websites

Baseball-Reference.com

SABR BioProject

Statscrew.com (statistic and historical references)

Familysearch.org (genealogical records)

Chevronsanddiamonds.org

Notes

1 Ken Wurtzbacher, “Ray Lucas, Baseball Figure, Dies at 61,” Springfield (Ohio) Daily News, October 10, 1969: 3.

2 Diemer/Leonard/Zimmerman, James A Rhodes, Ohio Colossus: 6.

3 “Lagonda Indians Beat West End Yankees and Clinch Senior Pennant,” Springfield Daily News, August 15, 1926: 15.

4 Wurtzbacher, “Ray Lucas, Baseball Figure, Dies at 61.”

5 “This May Be His Year,” The Sporting News, February 22, 1934: 7.

6 American Legion Research Dept., Indianapolis, Indiana.

7 “Local Player Retained,” Springfield (Ohio) Daily, May 16, 1934: 12.

8 Statscrew.com, 1939 Kinston Eagles.

9 “Four Balnbrldge Baseballers Get Discharges,” Richmond (Virginia) News Leader, November 6, 1945: 16.

10 Wurtzbacher, “Ray Lucas, Baseball Figure, Dies at 61.”

11 Interview, Dick Fearn.

12 “Hofferth to Pilot Cambridge,” The Sporting News, June 23, 1948: 36.

13 “Ray Lucas Hunting Victim,” The Sporting News, November 3, 1948: 24.

14 Art Daley, “Minor Loops’ Convo Is Haven for Jobless; Lawson Hunting,” Green Bay (Wisconsin) Press Gazette, December 10, 1948: 13.

15 Orv Wonser, “Ray Lucas Signs with All-Stars as Publicity Man after Mishap,” Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent, January 4, 1949: 14.

16 Jay Berman, “Leon Wagner,” SABR BioProject.

17 Wurtzbacher, “Ray Lucas, Baseball Figure, Dies at 61.”

18 Interview, Mark Lucas.