How Jim Maloney Almost Had 4 No-No's in 1965, Part 3: Going Extras And Going Wild!

Maloney took the hill on August 19, 1965 in Wrigley Field in Chicago. The first game of a doubleheader. 

Do I bother mentioning it was a day game? Oh, and a fast one. Around 2 hours and 51 minutes. Enough time to get to the second game! But the opener, it was a classic!

Anyways, it was Maloney (13-6) VS Larry Jackson (11-14). Jackson was actually one hell of a pitcher, winning 194 games over his career and posting 4 shutouts of his own in 1965.

Jackson retied Larry Harper and Pete Rose on grounders to start the game, and after Vada Pinson singled, Jackson picked him off first. Pretty good start by Jackson.

But Maloney was more than equal to the task, as he fanned the first two batters, Don Landrum and Doug Clemens. Billy Williams put the ball in play as he popped out to Rose at second.

Frank Robinson connected for the second hit of the game by the Reds. So the leadoff man was aboard to start the second. But Gordy Coleman grounded into a double play and Deron Johnson grounded out. Just like that, a promising inning was over.

In the bottom of the frame, the Cubs again failed to get the ball out of the infield as Ernie Banks grounded out to shortstop Leo Cardenas, Ron Santo popped out to Rose, and Ed Bailey, the Cubs catcher, because Maloney’s third strikeout victim of the afternoon.

Cardenas and Johnny Edwards, the Red catcher, made quick outs to start the top of the third, but Maloney prolonged it by hitting a single to right. But Harper would force Jim at second to end the inning.

Then came one agonizing inning for Maloney.

He started off the bottom of the third by walking Glenn Beckert and Don Clemens, then settled down (or appeared to) by fanning Jackson and getting Landrum to force Kessinger at second.

But Clemens walked.

The bases were filled.

And Billy Williams, the Hall Of Famer (one of three Hall Of Famers in this game. Oh, plus Pete Rose, right?) was up.

Nowhere to put someone who went downtown 426 times.

But Maloney got him to ground out to Rose.

Rose blooped at single to start the 4^th and Pinson sacrificed him to second. Robinson grounded out to Kessinger at short, Rose holding. Coleman ended the Reds’ chance by grounding out to Johnson at third.

Banks and Santo were retired on a pop out and ground out to start bottom of the inning.

But the B’s (Bailey and Beckert) drew Maloney’s 4^th and 5^th walk of the game. Two on, two out.

But Maloney fanned Kessinger.

So after 4 innings Maloney had 5 strikeouts, and five walks.

And no hits against. Is this blogger going to jinx him?

Jackson then came out smoking in the 5^th as he fanned both Johnson and Edwards. Cardenas grounded out to end the inning. Those were Jackson’s first two K’s of the game.

But it Maloney that had the real smoke in the 5^th.

Jackson fanned.

Landrum fanned.

Clemens fanned.

5 innings, 8 K’s for Maloney.

Oh, and still no hits, but 5 BB’s.

Now where was I? Oh, the top of the 6^th.

Maloney fanned.

Harper fanned.

Rose grounded out.

Now, I know what you are thinking: that was just like the top of the 5^th. Actually, it wan't. You see, I have found a big difference. Cardenas grounder went to his counterpart at short, Kessinger. Rose’s grounder went to Ernie Banks at first, who fielded it and tossed it to Jackson covering first.

See, big difference there!

Bottom of the 6^th.

Maloney got Billy Williams to pop out to Rose, Banks to ground out to Johnson and Santo to K. Maloney was up to 9 strikeouts in only 6 innings.

The Reds almost won the game in the top of the 7^th as Robinson tripled to left, but the next two batters, Coleman and Johnson, failed to get the ball out of the infield. Robinson held on Coleman’s grounder to Banks, who made the play unassisted this time.

Bailey and Beckert grounded out to start the bottom of the frame. Maloney then reached double figures in K’s when he fanned Kessinger.

And he still had the no-no going!

After Edwards and Cardenas were retired on infield outs to start the top of the 8^th, Maloney got his second hit (and the Reds’ 6^th overall) of the game. Harper then became Jackson’s 5^th K victim.

In the bottom half, Jackson helped out his own cause by drawing the 6^th walk of Maloney.

The Reds moved the infield in, expecting a SH.

And Landrum laid down a beaut, as Maloney fielded it and tossed to Rose covering first.

Clemens flied out to center, which brought up Williams.

The Reds decided to walk him intentionally.

And the strategy worked as Maloney got his 11^th K as he rung up Banks.

Ron Santo made an error on Rose’s ground ball to start the 9^th frame. And when Pinson reached first on a bunt to third, there was two on and nobody out.

Jackson retired Robinson on a fly to left, both runners not advancing. Gordy Coleman flied out to Billy Williams in right, with Rose taking third. Johnson ended the threat by grounding out to Santo.

Bottom of the ninth!

Santo then was struck by a Maloney pitch. Bailey coaxed Jim’s 8^th walk of the game. The winning run was on second base.

But Maloney reached a dozen K’s as he fanned Beckert.

Jimmy Stewart, pinch hitting for Kessinger, flied out to Pinson in center.

But Jackson kept the inning going as he walked.

For the second time this day, Maloney had walked the bases loaded. And Jim Maloney was now up to 9 walks.

He still had the no-hitter, but now he must retire Landrum, or it’s all over.

Landrum popped up to Cardenas, and the inning was over. It was time for extra innings.

Under the old baseball record book, Maloney now had a no-hitter no matter what happened. But in 1991, it was ruled a no-hitter must consists of no hits against, regardless of the innings played.

Jimmy Stewart stayed in the game at short, while Jim Maloney hoped his team could get him a run.

Edwards grounded out to Banks, who made the play himself.

And then Cardenas took Jackson deep. 1-0, Cincinnati!

Maloney, the next batter, must have felt great! But he grounded out to the new shortstop, Stewart.

Harper kept the inning alive with the Reds’ 9^th hit. But it had taken them 9 2/3 innings to get those. Rose grounded to Banks, who made the toss to Jackson covering first.

Clemens walked, leading off. The 10^th walk given up by Maloney. The tying run was at first, and the winning run was at the plate.

And it was Billy Williams.

Maloney had walked 5 of the last 12 batters here.

He got Williams out on a fly to Harper in left.

Ernie Banks then grounded to the man who gave the Reds a 1-0, Cardenas.

Cardenas, the shortstop, tossed to Rose to eliminate Clemens.

And when Rose fired to first to get Banks, Maloney had his first no-hitter of the season.

Third time is really a charm.

Well, Maloney had charmed the Cubs. 10 IP, 0H, 10BB, 12K.

For those wondering about the nightcap? The Reds led 4-0 going into the bottom of the eighth. But 3 runs in the bottom of that inning, plus two more in the 9th, gave the Cubs a 5-4 win. Cubbies only got 2 walks, but 10 hits was enough.

10 hits? Well they were due for some, yes?


References

Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. (DVD Insert).

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

How Jim Maloney Almost Had 4 No-No's in 1965, Part 2: Jim Never Met John Lewis

On June 14, 1965, Jim Maloney took the hill to take on the lowly Mets.

The Mets had a histoy of being no-hit. Sandy Koufax threw one against them in their inaugural campaign back in 1962. Then Jim Bunning threw a perfect game against them in 1964. Now it was 1965, and the Mets were 21-39, in 10th place again.

Maloney got Billy Cowan to bunt foul for strike three, then he fielded Chuck Hiller's ground ball for the second out. Charlie Smith flied out to end the inning.

Ed Kranepool broke up the perfect game bid by leading off the second with a walk, but Maloney got the next three batters in order, two via the K.

The third inning was easy as Maloney K'd the side. He now had 6 strikeouts.

Smith was the 7th strikeout with one out in 4th. The ball got away from Johhny Edwards and it was scored a wild pitch. Jimmy beared down and got Kranepool to hit into a double play.

In the fifth, Johnny Lewis took a called strike three, and then Ron Swoboda also fanned. His bid for anothing inning of strikeouts ended when Roy McMillan flied out. The sixth would bring no strikeouts. However, a pair of infield outs and a lineout to center brought Maloney to within nine outs of a no-hitter.

Gord Coleman took Chuck Hiller's grounded for an unassisted putout to open the top of the seventh. After Smith became Maloney's 10th strikeout victim, Kranepool ended the frame by flying out to Tommy Harper in left.

Lewis, Swoboda and McMillan went down swinging in the 8th, as Maloney still had the no-no, not to mention 13 strikeouts. It was still only the eighth inning, but now only 3 more outs remained.

The ninth inning started with a pinch hitter. Catcher Chris Cannizzaro had no luck with Maloney, so Jesse Gonder was sent in to bat for him. But all he could do was fly out to Frank Robinson in right.

Joe Christopher batted for pitcher Frank Lary and struck out swinging. One out to go!

The batter was Cowan.

Strike three called!

Alas, this didn't end the game. The Reds had their own hands full all night with Lary, managing 5 hits but no runs. Maloney must have felt like Harvey Haddix.

The Reds could get a run off of reliver Larry Bearnarth in the bottom of the ninth. Robinson walked, and that was all the Reds could muster.

In the top of the 10th, Maloney continued his mastery by getting Hiller to line out to right. Smith and Kranepool both fanned. 17 strikeouts and a no-no through 10!

Could the Reds finally put this one on ice?

Edwards opened with a single, and Chico Ruiz came in to pinch run. Leo Cardenas laid down a bunt to advance Ruiz to second. Jim Maloney then batted himself and grounded out to shortstop McMillan, but Ruiz

still made it to third. The inning ended however, as Harper grounded out to Smith at third.

The top of the 11th saw Lewis lead off with...a homerun. There goes the no-no. After Swoboda went down on strikes for K #18 of the day for Jim, McMillan kept the inning going with a single to center. Maloney beared down and got Gonder (who had stayed in the game as the catcher) to ground out. The Reds needed a run.

But Bearnarth retired Pete Rose on fly to left. Vada Pinson swung and missed for strike three. Frank Robinson singled to keep Maloney off the hook. The game would end, however, as Coleman grounded out to McMillan.

Worst thing about all this? At the time the game was still considered a no-hitter, since Maloney had not given up a hit through 9 (and 10 for that matter). But in 1991 this game, among others, was removed from the no-hit list when a new ruling on no-hitters was created. For it to be considered a no-no a pitcher had to give up no hits, even if the game went past nine innings.

References

Buckley, James Jr. Unhittable: Reliving The Magic And Drama Of Baseballs Best-Pitched Games. Triumph Books, 2004. (DVD Insert).

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 3 Aug. 2011.

How Jim Maloney Nearly Had 4 No-No's In 1965, Part 1: Jim Overcomes A Brave New World!

Jim Maloney was known as a hard thrower. Some claimed he even threw harder than Koufax.

The big righthander was born in Fresno in 1940, and in 1959, The Cincinnati Redlegs (Their name from 1954 to 1959) signed him. By 1963 he was a twenty game winner (actually 23), and he went on to top that mark again in his famed 1965 season.

You can't be Juan Marichal, you can't be Bob Gibson and you can't be Sandy Koufax.

Yet there were four games in the 1965 season where Jim was every bit as good as them all combined!

He first start of that season was on April 19, 1965, ten days after the Houston Astros opened their brand new indoor stadium, the Astrodome. It was the Reds (now and forever their name) 6th game of the season.

He was opposed by the Milwakee Braves.

Maloney started out fast as he fanned Mack Jones and Ty Cline. Then the dangerous Eddie Mathews was retired on a fly ball to center field.

The Reds, meanwhile, wasted no time in getting him something to work with as they touched home twice in the top of the second. Could Jim make it stand up? It would be the only two runs the Reds would score.

Making the task somewhat easier, at least now, was that Hank Aaron was not in the lineup.

With that, Jimmy mowed 'em down in the second and third, although he managed just one strikeout in that time.

In the fourth, he faltered.

Jones was k'd and Cline went out on a fly to center.

Two away.

But then Mathews was walked and the batter was Joe Torre. Yes, that Joe Torre!

Wild pitch, Mathews to second.

Torre walked.

Lee Maye ended the inning by hitting a fly to left.

So the perfect game is gone, but the no-hitter is still intact!

The fifth inning was no problem, but then came the sixth.

It started out with Wade Blasingame, the opposing pitcher (himself an 8 inning 5-hitter on this day), striking out. However, back to the top of the order and back to another walk, this time to Mack Jones.

Further trouble was diverted when both Cline and Mathews were retired on a fly to right and a pop up to first.

Blasingame, despite some troubles of his own in the top of that inning, induced three grounders to third, short and second in the top of the 7th as this game was now a full fledged pitcher's duel.

In the bottom of the 7th, Torre popped out to second, Maye fanned and Felipe Alou fouled to the catcher.

Six more outs to go.

In the top of the eight, the Reds had a chance to put this game away. Pete Rose singled, and then with one out, Vada Pinson walked. However, Frank Robinson flied out and Deron Johnson forced Rose at third. So the score was still 2-0 Reds.

Dennis Menke led off the bottom of the eighth with a single. There goes the no-hitter at last!

Maloney, calmed down and perhaps a bit relieved, focused now on winning the game.

Pinch hitter!

Hank Aaron.

Aaron was the all-time leader in homeruns.

Now he's second to Bonds.

He was also the all time leader in grounding into double play.

Now he is third behind Ripken and Rodriguez.

Which would he do?

Grounder to Rose. Rose steps on second and fires to first. Double play!

Lou Klimchock batted for Blasingame and flew out to center.

In the top of the 9th, Dan Osinski took over on the mound. The Reds had a shot at him.

Tony Perez led off with a single, but was caught stealing. Don Pavletich, the team's second string catcher, then doubled. Maloney came to bat and no doubt got a standing ovation from the 2, 804 fans.

He couldn't help his own cause, however, as he grounded out to first. Still just 2-0.

Three outs to go, to still get the shutout.

Maloney wasted no time. Jones went down on strikes, as did Cline.

The Braves last hope was Mathews.

Rose took his grounder and fired to Perez at first to end the game.


References


Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 25 April 2011.

Total Baseball. 1994 Edition. CD-ROM. Chicago, Ill: Creative Media. 1994.

"Jim Maloney." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.