Milton Ralat

Milton Ralat
(Milt)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 156 lb.

• Born June 18, 1924
• Died September 27, 2005 in Carolina P.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Puerto Rican pitcher Milton Ralat played in the minor leagues from 1948 to 1954. In his first professional season, he split his time between the Palatka Azaleas of the Florida State League and the Lakeland Pilots of the Florida International League, finishing at 7-7, 3.33 in 32 games. He was with Lakeland the next two seasons, going 4-5, 3.58 in 1949 and also appearing with the Wilson Tobs of the Coastal Plains League the second year, when he was a combined 11-6, 4.84.

In 1951, he went 17-12, 4.50 in 38 games for the Suffolk Goobers of the Virginia League and in 1952 was a combined 10-10, 3.86 in 24 games between the Roswell Rockets of the Longhorn League and the St. Augustine Saints of the Florida State League. He moved around again in 1953, appearing with three different teams - the Rock Hill Chiefs of the Tri-State League and the Big Spring Broncs and Odessa Oilers, both of the Longhorn League, finishing at 5-7 between the three stops. In 1954, he was back with Rock Hill, which was now an affiliate of the Washington Senators, making it the only time of his career that Milton pitched for a team that was part of a minor league farm system. However, he was nearing the end of his career by that point and only pitched in 8 games, going 1-2.

While his minor league career was relatively undistinguished, he was a high-profile player in the winter leagues, playing in the Puerto Rican League, with the Santurce Crabbers where he was a teammate of future Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, among others. It was with the Crabbers that he was involved in the most famous incident of his career, on January 11, 1955. He was pitching batting practice to Clemente before an exhibition game when Ruben Gomez and Mays got into a dispute over whose turn to bat was next. Gomez sat on the plate to stake his position, and Mays stepped to the side and asked Ralat to pitch to him there. When Ralat lobbed a very slow pitch there, Mays caught it with his bare hand and began walking back towards the pitcher while exchanging harsh words, at which point, Gomez, brandishing a bat, attempted to intervene. Mays punched him out. The two main protagonists later apologized, but the incident received a lot of publicity.