Guy Jackson Hecker (April 3, 1856 – December 3, 1938) was an American

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

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), ...

. He was born in

Youngsville, Pennsylvania Youngsville is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Warren County, Pennsylvania, Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,729 at the 2010 census. Geography Youngsville is located at (41.853460, -79.318614). According to ...

. His debut game took place on May 2, 1882. His final game took place on September 30, 1890. During his career he played for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels and

Pittsburgh Alleghenys The following is a history of the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball. Franchise beginnings (1870s-1899) Early baseball in Pittsburgh and the American Association The earliest mention of "base ball" in the region was found in the journal ...

. Hecker is considered by some baseball historians to be the best combination pitcher and

hitter In baseball, batting is the act of facing the opposing pitcher and trying to produce offense for one's team. A batter or hitter is a person whose turn it is to face the pitcher. The three main goals of batters are to become a baserunner, to driv ...

to play in the 19th century. He remains as one of the only two pitchers in major League history to hit three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s in one game, alongside

Jim Tobin James Anthony Tobin (December 27, 1912 – May 19, 1969), known as "Abba Dabba", was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Bees/ Braves and Detroit Tigers from 1937 to 1945. With the Boston Brav ...

, and the only pitcher to win a batting title. In addition, he is the only pitcher in baseball history to get six hits in a nine-inning game. Hecker was the second pitcher ever in the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

to pitch a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

. He did this as a rookie with Louisville on September 19, 1882. He narrowly missed becoming the first pitcher in the AA by a week, as his teammate

Tony Mullane Anthony John Mullane (January 30, 1859 – April 25, 1944), nicknamed "Count" and "The Apollo of the Box", was an Irish Major League Baseball player who pitched for seven teams during his 13-season career. He is best known as an ambidextrous pi ...

threw one. He also set a

WHIP A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

record of 0.77, which remained the MLB record until 2000, when it was broken by

Pedro Martínez Pedro Jaime Martínez (born October 25, 1971) is a Dominican-American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , for five teams—most notably the Boston Red Sox from to . At the time o ...

' mark of 0.74; yet Hecker's mark remains the rookie record. In 1884, Hecker won the pitching version of the

triple crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

by compiling 52 wins, a 1.85

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 ...

, and 385

strikeout 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 ...

s. In 1886, he won the batting title by hitting .341 for the season. He finished his career in 1890 by managing and playing for the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Hecker died in

Wooster, Ohio Wooster ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Wayne County. Located in northeastern Ohio, the city lies approximately south-southwest of Cleveland, southwest of Akron and west of Canton. The population was 27,232 at ...

, and was buried at Wooster Cemetery.

External links

Article on Hecker
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecker, Guy 1856 births 1938 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball player-managers Major League Baseball pitchers Louisville Eclipse players Louisville Colonels players Pittsburgh Pirates players Minor league baseball managers Springfield Champion City players Fort Wayne (minor league baseball) players Jacksonville Lunatics players Oil City Oilers players Baseball players from Pennsylvania

See also

External links