New York Yankee’s hotel room was looted during the World Series on this week in Philly history
At some point during the Oct. 4, 1950, game, someone broke into Vic Raschi's ninth-floor room at the Warwick hotel.
Vic Raschi was raiding the strike zone.
It was Game 1 of the 1950 World Series, and the New York Yankees ace was tossing a shutout against the upstart Phillies in front of 30,746 fans at Shibe Park.
But at some point on that Wednesday afternoon of Oct. 4, between Raschi’s angry scowls into the batter’s box and his barrage of wobbly fastballs, a prowler crept into the Warwick hotel and Raschi’s ninth-floor room.
Hit and run
Around 4 p.m., shortly after the Yankees finished off the “Whiz Kids,” a 16-year-old boy passed an alley near Girard College and spotted something out-of-place: an aluminum suitcase.
He took it home and showed his mother, who called police.
More than an hour later, Raschi and his wife returned to the Warwick in Rittenhouse Square, and panicked.
Two suitcases were missing. Combined, they contained more than 120 World Series tickets and assorted jewelry valued at more than $1,000 (more than $13,000 today).
At a police station at 19th and Oxford Streets, detectives opened the aluminum suitcase and found two ties, a pair of pajamas, and a white envelope marked “Vic Raschi.” Inside were 80 box-seat tickets for the three Series games scheduled at Yankee Stadium.
The pitcher went to the station, and told police an additional 20, reserved-seat tickets were missing from the baggage.
And Sally’s black-leather suitcase, which was arguably more valuable, was unaccounted for. Her suitcase contained 20 more box-seat tickets, a blouse, jewelry, and a diamond-studded wristwatch that featured an intricate inscription: “New York Yankees — World Champions, 1949.”
The 11th-floor room of the Yankees’ traveling secretary, Frank Scott, was also burglarized.
Raschi, however, was the only player hit.
He was most concerned with the World Series tickets, which he had bought for friends and relatives for $465 ($6,000 today).
His wife was “heartbroken” over the loss of her World Series watch, which was presented to her by MLB Commissioner A.B. (Happy) Chandler after Raschi’s inspired performance in the final game of the ’49 series.
Through sobs, Sally Raschi said: “You couldn’t buy that watch from me for love or money.”
Inside job
Detectives believed the thief entered both rooms with keys.
Newspapers reported that two men slinked through a fire escape earlier that day and tripped an interior burglar alarm, but a watchman claimed the two men were empty-handed.
Ultimately, investigators couldn’t locate Sally’s missing suitcase — or any suspects.
Some news reports rhetorically wondered whether the thief was a Phillies fan who executed the pro-sports equivalent of stealing a rival school’s mascot before a big game.
The Yankees swept the series, and the thief gained a fan base, with one newspaper quipping, “Who knew: the Phillies cleanup hitter was back at the team hotel.”