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Raymond Lee "Pop" Prim
Pitcher
Los Angeles Angels
1936-38; 1938-1942; 1944; 1947

Raymond "Pop" Prim was the backbone of the Angels' pitching staff during the lead up and early days of World War II.

"An' that's the truth," as Prim would have probably told reporters in his deep Southern drawl.

A refurb Southpaw, Prim batted righty but threw lefty because of an bad burn on his right hand suffered during childhood that stiffened it up.

The 6'0", 175lb (or so) native son of Salitpa, Alabama, was born in 1909. Of Scottish-Irish descent, he had twinkling blue eyes and black hair. He threw what reporters of the day referred to as a "hopping" fastball, a screwball, and a wicked curve, all with enough attitude to intimidate many a batter.

His schooling was in Jackson, Alabama, and he attended college at Alabama Polytechnic Institute (Auburn), where he lettered in baseball and football.

Prim's professional baseball debut was in 1928 with Alexandria of the Cotton States League, while still a student at Auburn. He was cut by Alexandria later that year. He did not play pro ball in 1929.

In 1931 he played with Greensboro of the Piedmont League. He went 17-8 in what was a pretty competitive league that year. He also played for Durham that year, performing well at 16-6 on a last place team.

In 1932 Prim's contract was sold to Baltimore, where he spent part of the season with the Youngstown club. He was moved to the York farm team in the New York-Penn League where he had a modest 8-8 season which was affected by a freak injury. Covering for a first baseman thrown out of a game, a runner stepped on his ankle and fractured a bone.

He started 1933 with Albany in the International League, where he went 14-10. The Chicago Cubs wanted him, but the Boston Braves argued that they had first dibs on Albany players, which tied up his rights. Kennisaw Mountain Landis, the Commissioner of Baseball, ruled that Albany was free to sell him to the highest bidder, which turned out to be the Washington Senators. In his major league debut, he fanned both Mickey Cochrane and Jimmy Foxx, his first two major league batters. Ray was in pain, though, from the injury to the foot, and had to undergo surgery to remove a bony growth from his foot, which sidelined him most of the rest of that year. When he was better, in 1934, he was shipped back to Albany where he went 4-2. The Philadelphia Nationals bought his contract. In 1935 he got a shot with the renamed Phillies who worked him sporadically for a 3-4 season. Even though was his first, and only losing season, he credited the help that he received from Jimmy Wilson for changing his career for the better.

"He's a sma't man, that Mr. Wilson," Prim told reporters in the late 1930s.

The Phillies dispatched him to the Minneapolis Millers in 1936. Ray pitched one inning there before his contract was sold to Los Angeles.

From 1936 through 1942, Prim found his groove in the Pacific Coast League, pitching for the Los Angeles Angels. His first season he went 16-9, racking up 130 strikeouts.

with over 150 winning games in a PCL career that rolled out over 2,062 innings pitched.

Ray had his best year, both career and in the majors, with a 13-8 record, an a ERA of 2.40 and pair of shut-outs.  Prim's pitching was one reason that the Chicago Cubs made it to the World Series that year.

Prim pitched in two outings against the Detroit Tigers, but lost his only decision.

The L.A. lefty helped the Angels capture a PCL title in 1947 when he was 41 years old.

 

Special thanks to the fan at http://thomasvilleramblers.com who keeps the shrine of press clippings of Ray Prim.