Anthony John Mullane (January 30, 1859 – April 25, 1944), nicknamed "Count" and "The Apollo of the Box", was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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), ...

player who pitched for seven teams during his 13-season career. He is best known as an

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

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 The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

Career

Born in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Ireland, Mullane emigrated to the United States in 1864. He made his major league debut with the

Detroit Wolverines The Detroit Wolverines were a 19th-century Major League Baseball team that played in the National League from 1881 to 1888 in the city of Detroit, Michigan. In total, they won 426 games and lost 437, taking their lone pennant (and winning the pre ...

on August 27, , picking up his first career win 9–1 over the Chicago White Stockings. Mullane suffered an injury to his right arm and managed to teach himself to throw left-handed. He resumed throwing right-handed once the injury healed, and he even alternated throwing right-handed and left-handed in the same game, which was easy for him since he did not wear a glove. Mullane faced the batter with both hands on the ball, and then use either one to throw a pitch. It was over 100 years before another ambidextrous pitcher, Greg A. Harris, using a specially made ambidextrous glove, got to switch-pitch in one game shortly before he retired with the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

. Harris was the only pitcher to do so in the 20th century. He had spent most of his career prohibited by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

from pitching left-handed. In , Mullane moved on to 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 ...

and joined the

Louisville Eclipse The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that also played in the American Association (AA) throughout that league's ten-year existence from 1882 until 1891. They were known as the Louisville Eclipse from 1882 to 1884, and as th ...

, where he started 55 of the team's 80 games and compiled a record of 30–24 with a 1.88

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 ...

, the first of five consecutive 30-win seasons. On September 11, he pitched 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 ...

against the

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867� ...

. He recorded 35 victories with the

St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...

. In , Mullane attempted to sign with the St. Louis Maroons of the

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

, 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 him to the expansion

Toledo Blue Stockings The Toledo Blue Stockings formed as a minor league baseball team in Toledo, Ohio, in 1883. They won the Northwestern League championship in 1883. Their home ballpark was League Park. The following year, they joined the major league American Assoc ...

, with whom he won a career-high 36 games. That season, Mullane was teamed up with catcher

Moses Fleetwood Walker Moses Fleetwood Walker (October 7, 1856 – May 11, 1924) was an American professional baseball catcher who, historically, was credited with being the first black man to play in Major League Baseball (MLB). A native of Mount Pleasant, Ohio, an ...

, one of the first black men to play in Major League Baseball. Mullane stated Walker "was the best catcher I ever worked with, but I disliked a Negro and whenever I had to pitch to him I used to pitch anything I wanted without looking at his signals." This helped contribute to Mullane's league leading 63 wild pitches that season. 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 him for the entire season. Coming in the midst of his string of consecutive 30-win seasons, this may have cost Mullane a 300-win career. Following the suspension, Mullane joined the Cincinnati Red Stockings for the season and remained there for the next seven and a half years, over which he won 163 games. At the plate, in he recorded career-highs with a .296

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 ...

, a

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

of .418, and 24

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 196 at-bats. The 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 The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

on June 16. He staggered to an 18–25 record with the Orioles in a little more than one full season over 1893 and . Mullane set a dubious record on June 18, 1894, by allowing 16 runs in the first inning of a game against the

Boston Beaneaters Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

. A month later he was traded again, this time to the

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

, for whom he played only four games. Mullane retired after the 1894 season with a record of 284–220 and a 3.05 ERA over a 13-year career. He also worked five games as an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

. His 284 wins tie him with

Ferguson Jenkins Ferguson Arthur "Fergie" Jenkins CM (born December 13, 1942) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher and coach. He played Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1965 to 1983 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers and ...

for 27th on the all-time list; he is fourth among eligible pitchers not in the Hall of Fame, behind only

Roger Clemens William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962), nicknamed "Rocket", is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the Boston Red Sox. Clemens was one of the most dominant pi ...

(354),

Bobby Mathews Robert T. Mathews (November 21, 1851 – April 17, 1898) was an American right-handed professional baseball pitcher who played in the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, the National League of Major League Baseball and the ...

(297) and

Tommy John Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943), nicknamed "The Bionic Man," is an American retired professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, ...

(288). Mullane still holds the record for the most

wild pitch In baseball, a wild pitch (WP) is charged against a pitcher when his pitch is too high, too short, or too wide of home plate for the catcher to control with ordinary effort, thereby allowing a baserunner, or the batter (on an uncaught third stri ...

es in major league history, with 343.

Post-career

After his baseball career, Mullane went on to join the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

, from which he retired in 1924. Mullane died at the age of 85 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and is interred in grave 2, lot 48, block 5, section 58 at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery located in

Worth, Illinois Worth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,970. Geography Worth is located at (41.688827, -87.792659). According to the 2010 census, Worth has a total area of , o ...

. He was inducted into 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 ...

in 2010.

References

External links

Playing statistics at RetrosheetTony Mullane
- Baseballbiography.com

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullane, Tony 1859 births 1944 deaths 19th-century baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Ireland Major League Baseball players from the United Kingdom Detroit Wolverines players St. Louis Browns (AA) players Toledo Blue Stockings players Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Cincinnati Reds players Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Cleveland Spiders players Butte (minor league baseball) players St. Paul Apostles players St. Paul Saints (Western League) players Detroit Tigers (Western League) players Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Spokane Smoke Eaters players Minor league baseball managers Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) Sportspeople from Cork (city)

Career

Post-career

See also

References

External links