Xavier Rescigno

Xavier Frederick Rescigno (October 13, 1912 – December 24, 2005) was an American professional baseball pitcher who appeared in Major League Baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1943 through 1945. A right-hander listed at 5 feet 10½ inches and 175 pounds, he was a native of New York, New York. Rescigno reached the majors late, making his debut as a relief pitcher at age 30 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on April 22, 1943. He was one of many players whose major league careers fell entirely within the World War II years, when wartime military service thinned major league rosters and opened opportunities for older players. He had come up through the New York Yankees farm system and was a member of the 1937 Newark Bears, a minor league club often cited among the strongest in the sport's history, but he was unable to break into the deep Yankees roster of that era. He pitched three seasons for the wartime Pirates before his major league career ended. He lived to age 93, dying in 2005.