James William Maloney (born June 2, 1940) is a former right-handed

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), ...

who played with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

(1971). One of the hardest-throwing pitchers of the 1960s, Maloney boasted a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

clocked at threw two won ten or more games from 1963 to 1969, and recorded over 200

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 ...

for four consecutive seasons

Early years

Born and raised in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, makin ...

, his parents were Earl and Marjorie (née Kickashear) Maloney, and he has a sister, Jeanne. His father Earl was a sandlot and semi-professional baseball player on the west coast in the 1930s, who later opened one of the largest

used car A used car, a pre-owned vehicle, or a secondhand car, is a vehicle that has previously had one or more retail owners. Used cars are sold through a variety of outlets, including franchise and independent car dealers, rental car companies, buy ...

dealerships A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive mainten ...

in Fresno. After playing

Little League Little League Baseball and Softball (officially, Little League Baseball Inc) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

baseball, Maloney built a reputation as one of the finest athletes in the history of

Fresno High School Fresno High School is a four-year secondary school located in Fresno, California. Fresno High is the oldest high school in the Fresno metropolitan area and one of the few International Baccalaureate schools. As of 2021, Linda Laettner is the 29th a ...

. Though he starred on the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

teams, his passion was baseball. As a shortstop, he batted .310, .340, and .500 in his sophomore through senior seasons while leading the team to three consecutive undefeated seasons and Northern Yosemite League championships from 1956 to 1958. He was scouted by all 16 Major League teams as a shortstop. Maloney attended

Fresno City College Fresno City College (FCC or "Fresno City") is a public community college in Fresno, California. It is part of the State Center Community College District within the California Community Colleges system. Fresno City College operates on a semester ...

and the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California * George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer ...

; he was signed by scout Bobby Mattick to the Cincinnati Reds in 1959 for a reported $100,000.

Career

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, Maloney was and struck out 265 batters; in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, he was and struck out 244; in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, he was and struck out 216; and in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, he was and struck out 181. At age 21 in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, Maloney had one appearance in relief in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

, hurling of an inning early in the fifth and final game as the Reds fell to the Injuries shortened his career, robbing him of the chance to pitch for the "

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division titl ...

"—the fabled Cincinnati NL dynasty from

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

– 79. Maloney was able to pitch in only seven games for the Reds in 1970, due to a ruptured

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus (h ...

, and he was winless in just three starts. He was traded from the Reds to the Angels for Greg Garrett on December 15, 1970. With the Angels in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

, he was winless in four starts and made nine other appearances in relief. Over his career, he won 134 games (all with the Reds) and lost 84, with an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 3.19. In

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, he was elected to the

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame The Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum is an entity established by Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds franchise that pays homage to the team's past through displays, photographs and multimedia. It was instituted in 1958 to recognize th ...

. As a hitter, Maloney was better than average, posting a .201

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(126-for-628) with 51 runs, 7

home runs 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 ...

, 53 RBI and 33

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

. Defensively, he was about average, recording a .957

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

No-hitters

Maloney pitched two games in which he gave up no hits through nine innings in

, while going on to win 20 games that year. His first hitless nine-inning performance was on June 14 against the This Monday night game lasted through ten scoreless innings, with Maloney striking out 18 with just But rookie right fielder

Johnny Lewis Jonathan Kendrick Lewis (October 29, 1983 – September 26, 2012), also credited as Johnny K. Lewis, was an American film and television actor. He played Kip "Half-Sack" Epps in the first two seasons of the FX (TV channel), FX series ''Sons of A ...

led off with a home run to center in the top of the 11th and Maloney lost the game 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 had given up a second hit in the 11th inning; at the time he had three one-hitters to His second no-hitter (and first official no-hitter under current rules), was two months later on August 19 and also required ten innings, but he won that one over the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. of a Thursday doubleheader, Maloney out-dueled

Larry Jackson Lawrence Curtis Jackson (June 2, 1931 – August 28, 1990) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, and Philadelphia Phillies from to . In , ...

, with the Reds winning on a

Leo Cárdenas Leonardo Lazaro Cárdenas Alfonso (born December 17, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball shortstop, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to for the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, California Angels, Cleveland Indians, an ...

home run with one out in the top of the tenth, which struck the left field foul pole. This was only the third no-hitter since 1901 in which the pitcher who threw it went more than nine innings. Maloney gave up 10 walks and hit a batter, the most baserunners allowed in a no-hitter since 1901. He threw 187 pitches in the game while striking out 12. With the win, he got another raise of a thousand dollars. His second official no-hitter was on April 30, 1969, in which he beat the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

Crosley Field Crosley Field was a Major League Baseball park in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League's Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970, and the original Cincinnati Bengals football team, members of the second (1937) an ...

in Cincinnati, caught by 21-year-old Maloney's pitching line that Wednesday night included 13 strikeouts and Incidentally, the next night Don Wilson of the Astros returned the favor to the Reds, pitching ''his'' second career no-hitter in a Astros The double no-hitters in consecutive games was the second such occurrence in major league history.

Gaylord Perry Gaylord Jackson Perry (September 15, 1938 – December 1, 2022) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher for eight different teams from 1962 to 1983. During a 22-year baseb ...

and

Ray Washburn Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (gra ...

had accomplished the same feat several months earlier in

Personal

Maloney and his wife Lyn reside in Fresno, where he was director of the city's Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Council. three children with his

References

External links