Today on the
blog we celebrate Jim Maloney's 10-inning no-hitter of 1965 with a
"missing" 1971 "Baseball's Greatest Moments" card:
The
fire-balling Cincinnati Reds righty was truly a beast on the mound, and
on August 19th of 1965 he was unstoppable when he tossed 10 innings
against Chicago, keeping them hitless until his own team finally got him
a run in the top of the 10th inning when shortstop Leo Cardenas homered
of starter Larry Jackson. Yep, BOTH starters went the full distance
that day, with Jackson on the short end of history.
For
Maloney, he tossed 10 innings, allowed zero hits, while also (gulp!)
walking TEN batters and striking out 12, facing 40 batters in his
"masterpiece".
He also would put in a decent day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two singles to try and help his own cause.
Incredibly,
earlier in the very same season Maloney held the New York Mets hitless
through nine innings, only to lose in extra innings after striking out
18 Met batters before allowing a Johnny Lewis homer in the 11th frame to
take the heartbreaking loss.
Four
years later in 1969, Maloney would toss his second "official" no-hitter
when he beat the Houston Astros 10-0 at Crosley Field, striking out 13
while walking five.
He tends to get overlooked as far as pitching stars of the 1960’s go.
Granted when you’re up against guys like Koufax, Marichal, Drysdale and Gibson, it’s easy to see why.
Nevertheless, in Maloney’s seven full seasons of Major League ball, he posted five seasons of sub-3.00 ERA, four 200+ strikeout years, and six 15+ win seasons, with two of them topping 20.
The guy was a machine! 29 of his 30 lifetime shutouts were in those seven years, with four seasons of five or more.
And consider this: until Major League officials changed the rules of what a no-hitter was years later, Maloney was considered as one of the few to throw THREE or more such gems.
Granted when you’re up against guys like Koufax, Marichal, Drysdale and Gibson, it’s easy to see why.
Nevertheless, in Maloney’s seven full seasons of Major League ball, he posted five seasons of sub-3.00 ERA, four 200+ strikeout years, and six 15+ win seasons, with two of them topping 20.
The guy was a machine! 29 of his 30 lifetime shutouts were in those seven years, with four seasons of five or more.
And consider this: until Major League officials changed the rules of what a no-hitter was years later, Maloney was considered as one of the few to throw THREE or more such gems.
By the time Maloney wrapped up his career after the 1971 season because
of injuries at the young age of 31, he finished with a very nice 134-84
record, with a 3.19 ERA and 1605 strikeouts over 302 games and 1849
innings pitched, and a reputation as one of the hardest throwing
pitchers in the game during the 1960’s.