Arthur Mahaffey Jr. (born June 4, 1938) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

starting pitcher, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (–) and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

(). He batted and threw right-handed. In a seven-season MLB career, Mahaffey posted a 59–64 record, with 639

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

, and a 4.17

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), in 999.0 innings pitched.Art Mahaffey

Baseball-Reference Baseball-Reference is a website providing baseball statistics for every player in Major League Baseball history. The site is often used by major media organizations and baseball broadcasters as a source for statistics. It offers a variety of advan ...

. Accessed July 6, 2009. Mahaffey was signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies on June 29, 1956, out of

Western Hills High School (Cincinnati, Ohio) Western Hills High School, or "West High," is a high school located in the Western Hills area of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Cincinnati Public Schools district. The school was the location used to film Airborne, a movie film ...

. He began his Minor League Baseball career that summer. After 4 seasons playing in the Phillies' farm system, he received his MLB call-up, playing in his first Phillies game on July 30, 1960; Mahaffey pitched the final two innings of a game against the

. He retired the three batters he faced in the eighth inning. In the ninth, Bill White led off with a single to right field and then was picked off by Mahaffey at first base. The next batter,

Curt Flood Curtis Charles Flood (January 18, 1938 – January 20, 1997) was an American professional baseball player and activist. He was a center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals, ...

, singled to center field, and he, too, was picked off by Mahaffey, who threw to first with Flood tagged out on a throw from first to second.Gordon, Robert
"Legends of the Philadelphia Phillies"
p. 97. Sports Publishing LLC, 2005. . Accessed July 6, 2009. He finished the season with a 7–3 record, an ERA of 2.31, 14 games played, while finishing third in the 1960

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) Rookie of the Year balloting (which was won by Frank Howard of the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

). Mahaffey set a club record with 17

in a game against the Chicago Cubs on April 23, 1961. Though he ended the season with an ERA of 4.10, and a record of 11–19 (leading the NL in losses), in 36 games, he was selected to represent the Phillies on the NL All-Star team. Mahaffey ended the season with a record of 19–14, and a 3.94 ERA, with a career high 177 strikeouts, in 41 games. He was selected again in 1962 for the NL All-Star team, finishing 26th in balloting for NL Most Valuable Player (MVP), despite leading the league in home runs allowed with 36, and earned runs allowed with 120. Mahaffey had a 7–10 record in 26 games with the Phillies, to go along with a 3.99 ERA. In , he finished the season with a record of 12–9, with an ERA of 4.52, in 34 games. The ill-fated 1964 team was in first place in the NL, with a 6-game lead, with just 12 games remaining in the season, before starting a 10-game losing streak that cost the team the pennant. Mahaffey pitched in two of the games in that infamous skid, losing a 1–0 game (the first of that losing streak) on a steal of home by

Chico Ruiz Hiraldo "Chico" Ruiz Sablón (December 5, 1938 – February 9, 1972) was a Cuban-American professional baseball player. An infielder, Ruiz played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds and California Angels from 1964 through 1971. He w ...

of the Cincinnati Reds, and was taken out while winning 4-3 in a game against the Milwaukee Braves, in which

Rico Carty Ricardo Adolfo Jacobo Carty (born September 1, 1939), nicknamed "Beeg Boy", is a Dominican former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1963 to 1979, most prominently as a member of the Atlanta Br ...

hit a ninth-inning bases-loaded

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

, plating all 3 runners, off of reliever

Bobby Shantz Robert Clayton Shantz (born September 26, 1925) is an American former professional baseball player. He played as a left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB) from through , and won the 1952 American League Most Valuable Player Award as a ...

, to win the game for the Braves, 6-4. was his last season in Philadelphia, which saw him finish with a 2–5 record, and an ERA of 6.21, in 22 games, mostly in relief. Mahaffey was traded by the Phillies on October 27, 1965, along with

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Pat Corrales Patrick Corrales (born March 20, 1941) is an American former professional baseball catcher, manager, and coach, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1964 to 1973, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds as well as the Philadelphia Phillies, S ...

, and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

Alex Johnson Alexander Johnson (December 7, 1942 – February 28, 2015) was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB), from to , for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, California ...

, to the Cardinals, in exchange for

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Dick Groat Richard Morrow Groat (born November 4, 1930) is a former professional baseball and basketball player who was an eight-time All-Star shortstop and two-time World Series champion in Major League Baseball. He rates as one of the most accomplished t ...

, catcher Bob Uecker, and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Bill White. In his only season with the Cards, he had a 1–4 record, in 12 games, with an ERA of 6.43. Mahaffey was the starting pitcher in his final big league game, on July 17, 1966, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs; that day, he gave up three hits, and three runs, in of an inning, in a game the Cubs won by a score of 7–2. The Cardinals traded Mahaffey on April 1, 1967, along with infielder Jerry Buchek, and shortstop Tony Martínez, to the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

, in exchange for shortstop

Eddie Bressoud Edward Francis Bressoud (born May 2, 1932) is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball who played from through for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1956–1961), Boston Red Sox (1962–1965), New York Mets (1966) and St. Louis Cardinals ...

, outfielder Danny Napoleon, and cash (though Mahaffey would never play for the Mets). As of 2014, Mahaffey resides in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Highlights

*Two time All-Star (1961–62) * Picked off the first three players who had

base hits In baseball statistics, a hit (denoted by H), also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches or passes first base after hitting the ball into fair territory with neither the benefit of an error nor a fielder's ch ...

against him:

and Bill White of the

(July 30, 1960) and Jim Marshall of the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

(July 31, 1960). *On April 23, 1961,

struck out In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is denote ...

17 Chicago Cubs to set a Phillies team record. He also tied the since-broken

record for most strikeouts in a day game. *In 1962, Mahaffey became the last pitcher to strike out at least 12 batters and hit a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in a game.

References

External links

Art Mahaffey
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Art Mahaffey
at Baseball Almanac
Art Mahaffey
at Baseballbiography.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahaffey, Art 1938 births Living people Baseball players from Cincinnati Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players High Point-Thomasville Hi-Toms players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Mattoon Indians players Mattoon Phillies players National League All-Stars Philadelphia Phillies players St. Louis Cardinals players Salt Lake City Bees players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Williamsport Grays players