Jim Maloney

James William Maloney (born June 2, 1940 in Fresno, California) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Cincinnati Reds (1960–70) and California Angels (1971). One of the hardest-throwing pitchers of his era, Maloney boasted a fastball clocked at 99 miles per hour, threw two no-hitters, won 10 or more games from 1963 to 1969, and struck out more than 200 batters for four consecutive seasons (1963–66).

Maloney's four best seasons were ones in which he won 16 or more games. In 1963, his won-lost record was 23-7, and he struck out 265 batters. Then, in 1965, Maloney was 20-9 and struck out 244; in 1966 he was 16-8 and struck out 216; and in 1968 he was 16-10 and struck out 181. Unfortunately for Maloney and the Reds, in the rest of the 1960s, the National League was dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the pennants in 1963, '65, and '66; and by the St. Louis Cardinals, who won the pennants in 1964, '67, and '68.

But Maloney was overshadowed by eventual Baseball Hall of Fame pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale of the Dodgers, Bob Gibson of the Cardinals, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants, Tom Seaver of the Mets, Ferguson Jenkins of the Cubs, and other prominent National League contemporaries like Jim Bunning. Arm injuries definitely shortened his career, thus robbing him of the chance to pitch for the "Big Red Machine" -- the fabled Cincinnati NL dynasty from 1970 though '76. Maloney was able to pitch in only seven games for the 1970 Reds, and he was winless in just three starts.

Maloney attended Fresno City College and the University of California at Berkeley before signing on with the Cincinnati Reds. Over his career, he won 134 games (all with the Reds) and lost 84, with an ERA of 3.19. In 1973, he was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

No-hitters

Maloney pitched two games in which he gave up no hits through nine innings in 1965, while going on to win 20 games that year. His first hitless nine-inning performance in 1965 was on June 14 against the New York Mets. This game lasted through 10 scoreless innings, including a combined 18 strikeouts, but Johnny Lewis led off with a home run in the 11th inning. Hence, Maloney lost the game 1-0. At the time, that game was officially recognized as a no-hitter, but the rules were later changed to omit no-hit games that were broken up in extra innings.

Maloney's first official no-hitter came on August 19, 1965, against the Chicago Cubs, which he won 1-0. This was the first no-hitter in major league history where the pitcher who threw it went more than nine innings. His second one came on April 30, 1969, in which he beat the Houston Astros 10-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. On the very next day, Don Wilson of the Astros returned the favor to the Reds, pitching his second career no-hitter in a 4-0 Astro victory. The double no-hitters in consecutives games was the second such occurrence in Major League history. Gaylord Perry and Ray Washburn had accomplished the same feat in September 1968.

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

Sources

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference