| Fred Toney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1888-12-11)December 11, 1888 Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | |
| Died: March 11, 1953(1953-03-11) (aged 64) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 15, 1911, for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 29, 1923, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 139–102 |
| Earned run average | 2.69 |
| Strikeouts | 718 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Fred Toney (December 11, 1888 – March 11, 1953) was an American right-handedpitcher inMajor League Baseball for theChicago Cubs,Cincinnati Reds,New York Giants andSt. Louis Cardinals from 1911 to 1923. His career record was 139 wins, 102 losses, and a 2.69earned run average. Toney twice won 20 games in a season (1917, 1920) and also led theNational League insaves in 1918.[1]
Fred Toney was born inNashville,Tennessee, on December 11, 1888. As a youth he reportedly developed arm strength while working on a farm, using his spare time to throw rocks across theCumberland River.[2]
Toney broke into baseball as a 16-year old in 1909, when he began pitching in theBlue Grass League, a newly formed circuit of semi-professional baseball clubs based in smallKentucky towns.[3] While pitching for theWinchester Hustlers, Toney was spotted byChicago Cubs scout George Huff, who signed him to a contract.[3]
Highlights of Toney's minor league tenure included a victory in a 16-inningno hitter during the 1909 season.[3] On May 10, 1909, while pitching for the Hustlers, he defeated theLexington Colts in 17 innings, 1–0, striking out 19 batters and walking only one, before Winchester finally scored a run on asqueeze play in the bottom of the 17th.[4]
Toney made his major league debut in 1911, following an appearance in an exhibition game againstNotre Dame University in which he faced nine batters and struck out six.[5] One sports journalist wrote of the rookie:
"Toney is from Tennessee, and he looks the part. He is long, lean, and as strong as some of the squirrel whiskey they make in the mountains of said state. What he did to the collegians was sinful."[5]
The young Toney possessed a first-ratefastball and was heralded by some observers as "a secondWalter Johnson" upon his arrival in the league.[6] He did not learn how to throw an overhandcurveball until the spring of 1911, when he developed the pitch in Cubs training camp.[7]
Before he pitched a single major league game, Cubs team officials heralded the 6'2" Toney as a future star in the making. Club treasurer Charlie Williams said of the big rookie:
"I believe that Toney will prove to be the sensation in the National League the coming season. He shows up well so far and has all the earmarks of a great pitcher.... He is modest and as cool as a veteran when he is on the slab. His size is a great advantage to him, and he has speed enough to keep all the batters guessing, even if he had nothing else with it. I have been more impressed with the work of Toney than any young pitcher that has broken into the game with the Cubs for years."[3]
Toney was unimpressive in his major league debut on April 15 against theSt. Louis Cardinals in a game ending after ten innings in a 3–3 tie.[8] Pitching on a windy day in front of 15,000 fans, Toney struggled with his control, giving up two extra-base hits and a walk before being lifted in the bottom of the third inning.[8]
On May 2,1917, at the ballpark now known asWrigley Field, Toney dueled withHippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs during nine hitless innings. In the top of the tenth, the Reds scored on a couple of hits after Vaughn had retired the first batter, while Toney continued to hold the Cubs hitless in the bottom of the inning, winning the game for the Reds. With changes to the scoring rules in recent years, this game is no longer considered as a no-hitter for Vaughn; but it is still the only occasion in Major League history in which a regulation nine innings was played without either team logging a hit.[9]
On July 1, 1917, Toney pitched twocomplete-game, three-hitters for victories in adoubleheader against thePittsburgh Pirates, to set a record for fewest hits allowed in a double header by a Major League pitcher.[10][11]
Toney also holds the record for the longest no-hitter in organized baseball history.
| Preceded by | No-hitter pitcher May 2, 1917 | Succeeded by |
