Rusty Yarnall

Waldo Ward Yarnall

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
• School Dartmouth College, University of Vermont
• High School Swarthmore High School
• Debut June 30, 1926
• Final Game June 30, 1926
• Born October 22, 1902 in Chicago, IL USA
• Died October 9, 1985 in Lowell, MA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Rusty Yarnall was a pitcher for ten years (1924-1933) - one in college (1924), ten in the minors (1924-1933) and a cup of coffee in the majors in 1926. He was the youngest of three sons of Edwin and Julia (Cole) Yarnall. His father, a native of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, was part of an old and distinguished family that descended from Quakers who came to America in 1683. Yarnall's father headed a hospital supply company in Philadelphia and after World War I was an intermediary for several Philadelphia banks transporting checks to the New York Clearing House. On September 16, 1925, the New York Times reported that Yarnall's father was shot by bandits who tried to attack him on the job, but were unsuccessful in stealing the $500,000 in checks that Yarnall was transporting.

Born in Chicago while his father was working there, Yarnall grew up in Swarthmore, PA, an affluent suburb of Philadelphia, where he attended Swarthmore High School and where he starred in baseball, basketball and football, graduating in 1920 at age 18. While his older brother Russell went to local Swarthmore College and became a football star there, Yarnall then attended the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College and the University of Vermont (1921-1926), where he starred in baseball, basketball and football, graduating in 1926.

Yarnall played football at Vermont in the fall of 1923 and 1924, basketball during the winter of 1923-1924, and one year of baseball in the spring of 1924. He starred on the gridiron as a halfback, making less of a splash as a pitcher-outfielder for the baseball team. During the baseball team's Southern trip in April 1924, Yarnall pitched several victories, including the team's 9-6 win on April 8 against Swarthmore. Yarnall was less successful in Vermont's Northern schedule, which included a 5-0 loss to Dartmouth on May 21.

With opportunities in baseball exceeding his preferred sports, he broke into Organized Baseball in 1924 at age 21. He began his career with the York White Roses and went 5-2. In 1925, Yarnall went 3-10 for the Crisfield Crabbers.

Yarnall was 23 years old when he broke into the big leagues on June 30, 1926, with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he pitched one inning in one game and was 0-1. He also pitched that season for the Martinsburg Blue Sox (2-5) and the Jeannette Jays (2-4). In '27, Rusty had a 2-4, 3.50 campaign for the Portland Eskimos. He failed to win a game in 1928, dropping one for the Montreal Royals and five for the Waterbury Brasscos.

In 1929, Yarnall went 2-8 with a 3.73 ERA for the Nashua Millionaires. He married Lillian Ryder in 1930. He then turned to coaching and managing in the minor leagues until 1936, ending his baseball career at age 33. In 1933, he finished his pitching career by going 6-8 for the Lowell Lauriers. Overall in the minor leagues, he had a 21-47 record.

He was associated with Lowell Textile Institute (which later merged with Lowell State College to become University of Massachusetts Lowell), coaching football (1927-47), baseball 39 years, basketball 20 years and teaching economics (1935-60). He was athletic director from 1960 until he retired in 1973. Yarnall served in the U.S. Navy during World War II (BN).

He died at age 83 at St. Joseph Hospital in Lowell, MA on October 9, 1985 and is buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, MA. Surviving him were his widow Lillian Ryder Yarnall and four children - Dorothea, Jane, Virginia, and Raymond.

Awards and honors

• Member of the Athletic Hall of Fame at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
• Member of the Athletic Hall of Fame at his alma mater, the University of Vermont.
• Inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame in 1960
• Inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1970.

Sources

Principal sources for Rusty Yarnall include newspaper obituaries (OB), government Veteran records (VA,CM,CW), Stars & Stripes (S&S), Sporting Life (SL), The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (none) (WW), old Baseball Registers (none) (BR) , old Daguerreotypes by TSN (none) (DAG), Stars&Stripes (S&S), The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase (PD), The Baseball Library (BL), Baseball in World War II Europe by Gary Bedingfield (GB) ; The International League: Year-by-year Statistics, 1884-1953 by Marshall D. Wright; and independent research by Walter Kephart (WK) and Frank Russo (FR) and others.

Related Sites

• Rusty Yarnall at the SABR Bio Project
• Rusty Yarnall at wikipedia
• Rusty Yarnall on Retrosheet
• Rusty Yarnall at the Baseball Almanac
• Bio at Baseball Page
• Rusty Yarnall in Quebec
• and a full Bibliography from SABR's The Baseball Index (TBI)