Tony Mullane
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| Tony Mullane | ||
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| Pitcher | ||
| Born: January 20, 1859 County Cork, Ireland |
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| Died: April 25, 1944 (aged 85) Chicago, Illinois |
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| Batted: Both | Threw: Both | |
| MLB debut | ||
| August 27, 1881 for the Detroit Wolverines |
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| Final game | ||
| July 26, 1894 for the Cleveland Spiders |
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| Career statistics | ||
| W-L | 284–220 | |
| ERA | 3.05 | |
| Strikeouts | 1,803 | |
| Teams | ||
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| Career highlights and awards | ||
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Anthony John Mullane (January 20, 1859–April 25, 1944) was a Major League Baseball player in the late 19th Century. He was nicknamed "Count" and "The Apollo of the Box". He is best known as a pitcher that could throw left-handed and right-handed, and for having one of the highest career win totals of pitchers not in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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[edit] Career
Born in County Cork, Ireland, Mullane emigrated to the United States in 1864. He made his major league debut with the Detroit Wolverines on August 27, 1881, picking up his first career win in a 9–1 victory over the Chicago White Stockings.
Like the present-day pitcher Billy Wagner, Mullane suffered an injury to his right arm and managed to teach himself to throw left-handed. Unlike Wagner, however, Mullane resumed throwing right-handed once the injury healed, and he would even alternate throwing right-handed and left-handed in the same game, which was easy for him since he did not wear a glove. Mullane would face the batter with both hands on the ball, and then use either one to throw a pitch. (Another ambidextrous pitcher of recent years, Greg A. Harris, even used a specially made ambidextrous glove, but he was prohibited by the Red Sox from pitching left-handed; Harris did get to switch-pitch in one game shortly before he retired with the Montreal Expos, becoming the only such pitcher in the 20th Century).
In 1882, Mullane moved to the American Association and joined the Louisville Eclipse, where he started 55 of the team's 80 games and compiled a record of 30–24 with a 1.88 ERA, the first of five consecutive thirty-win seasons. On September 11, he pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Red Stockings. He recorded 35 victories with the 1883 St. Louis Browns.
Mullane attempted to sign with the St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association, a new independent league, even though under the reserve clause the Browns still had rights to his services. Threatened with banishment for defying his contract, Mullane relented. The Browns then sold Mullane to the expansion Toledo Blue Stockings, with whom Mullane won a career-high 36 games. The Browns attempted to reclaim Mullane after the 1884 season when both the Union Association and the Blue Stockings folded, but before the Browns could re-sign him under the rules, Mullane managed to sign with Cincinnati. For this action, the American Association suspended Mullane for the entire 1885 season. Coming in the midst of his string of consecutive 30-win seasons, this likely cost Mullane a 300-win career.
Following the suspension, Mullane joined the Cincinnati Red Stockings for the 1886 season and remained there for the next seven and a half years, over which he won 163 games. At the plate, in 1889 he recorded career-highs with 24 stolen bases, a .296 batting average, and a slugging percentage of .418 in 196 at-bats.
The 1893 season brought several rules changes, most notably the moving of the pitcher's mound an additional five feet from home plate. Mullane began the season a mediocre 6–6, and was traded to the Baltimore Orioles on June 16. He staggered to an 18–25 record with the Orioles in a little more than one full season over 1893 and 1894. Mullane set a dubious record on June 18, 1894, by allowing 16 runs in the first inning of a game with the Boston Beaneaters. A month later he was traded once again, this time to the Cleveland Spiders, for whom he played only four games.
Mullane retired after the 1894 season with a record of 284–220 and an 3.05 ERA over a 13-year career. He also worked five games as an umpire. His 284 wins tie him with Ferguson Jenkins for 27th on the all-time list; he is fourth among eligible pitchers not in the Hall of Fame, behind only Bobby Mathews (297), Tommy John (288), and Bert Blyleven (287).
After his career, Mullane went on to join the Chicago Police Department, from which he retired in 1924.
Tony Mullane died in Chicago in 1944, aged 85 years. He is buried in an unmarked grave in Alsip, Illinois.
[edit] Career highlights
- Helped the Orioles to win the 1894 NL Pennant.
- Led the American Association in Games (55), Strikeouts (170), Games Started (55) and Walks Allowed (78) in 1882.
- Led the American Association in Won-Loss Percentage (.700) and Saves (1)in 1883.
- Led the American Association in Shutouts (7) in 1884.
- Led the American Association in Home Runs Allowed (11), Hits Allowed (501), Earned Runs Allowed (218), Wild Pitches (51) and Games Finished (7) in 1886.
- Led the American Association in Shutouts (6) in 1887.
- Led the American Association in Saves (1) in 1888.
- Led the American Association in Saves (5) and Games Finished (9) in 1889.
- Led the National League in Hits Allowed per 9 Innings Pitched (6.77) in 1892.
- Led the National League in Saves (2), Wild Pitches (29) and Games Finished (10) in 1893.
- Led the National League in Saves (4) in 1894.
- Holds Cincinnati Reds single season record for most Hits Allowed (501 in 1886).
- Holds Cincinnati Reds single season record for Losses (27 in 1886).
- Holds Cincinnati Reds single season record for most Earned Runs Allowed (218 in 1886).
- Holds Cincinnati Reds single season record for most Wild Pitches (51 in 1886).
- Holds Cincinnati Reds single season record for most Walks Allowed (187 in 1891).
- Cincinnati Reds Career Leader in Complete Games (264) and Wild Pitches (126).
- Ranks 27th on the MLB All-Time Wins List (284).
- Ranks 24th on the MLB All-Time Innings List (4,531 ⅓)
- Ranks 79th on the MLB All-Time Strikeouts List (1,803).
- Ranks 40th on the MLB All-Time Games Started List (504).
- Ranks 10th on the MLB All-Time Complete Games List (468).
- Ranks 15th on the MLB All-Time Walks Allowed List (1,408).
- Ranks 29th on the MLB All-Time Hits Allowed List (4,195).
- Ranks 26th on the MLB All-Time Losses List (220).
- Ranks 30th on the MLB All-Time Earned Runs Allowed List (1,537).
- Ranks 17th on the MLB All-Time Wild Pitches List (165).
[edit] See also
- List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
- List of Major League Baseball strikeout champions
- List of Major League Baseball saves champions
- Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time
- List of players from Ireland in Major League Baseball
- List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
[edit] External links
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
- Playing statistics at Retrosheet
- BaseballLibrary.com profile
- Mullane's obituaries in The New York Times and Chicago Daily News
- Tony Mullane at Find-A-Grave
| Preceded by Ollie Beard |
Detroit Tigers Manager 1898 |
Succeeded by George Stallings |
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