The Journal of San Diego History
Winter 1995, Volume 41, Number 1
Contents of This Issue

Pacific Coast League Padres ~ Index to Players ~ Hall of Famers

Xavier Rescigno, pitcher Born: 10-13-13 Padres: 1948-49 Xavier Rescigno, pitcher. Born: 10-13-13. Padres: 1948-49 "Mr. X" pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1943 through 1945 where he posted a 19-22 career record. In 1944, Rescigno led the National League with eight victories in relief appearances. He was the ace of the Padres staff in 1948 while notching an 18-14 mark during 221 innings of work. A self-described "bad loser" and character, "Terrible Tempered Mr. X" was known to act up on the field when he was behind in a game.

[Xavier Rescigno, letter to Bill Swank, 30 January 1995.]

I recall one game in Oakland against Casey [Stengel]. Billy Martin was playing second base for the Oaks and was always looking for a fight. About the third inning, Al Rosen singled and promptly stole second base. He slid into Martin pretty hard and knocked Billy down. Billy got up and pushed Al who was a pretty good boxer and he promptly decked Billy.

Two innings later, Minnie [Minoso] reached first base and stole second base on the next pitch. Same situation happened. Billy pushed Minnie and Minnie decked Martin for the second time. Out of the dugout came Stengel who took Billy out of the game. Stengel told Billy he was doing it for his own good. I quote Stengel, "Get into the clubhouse before you get killed!"

On another occasion, I recall Minnie, who couldn't speak English very well, reached first base. Our first base coach was Red Corriden who was always a little tipsy. He liked to drink. Minnie called "Time" to talk to Red. They were jawing for about two minutes. Bucky [Harris, San Diego manager], who had a sense of humor, said, "Look out there. One guy can't speak English and the other guy is half loaded. What a combination!"