Thomas H. "Toad" Ramsey (August 8, 1864 – March 27, 1906) was an American

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player who pitched in the majors from to . Ramsey spent his entire career in the American Association, split between playing for the

Louisville Colonels The Louisville Colonels were a Major League Baseball team that 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 ...

and St. Louis Browns. He is sometimes credited with inventing a pitch, the

knuckleball A knuckleball or knuckler is a baseball pitch (baseball), pitch thrown to minimize the spin of the ball in flight, causing an erratic, unpredictable motion. The air flow over a seam of the ball causes the ball to change from Laminar flow, lamin ...

, and was one of the top pitchers in the Association for more than two years, with statistics that put him in the top five in multiple pitching categories.

Career

Louisville

Born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, and a former

bricklayer A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsperson and tradesperson who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of maso ...

, Ramsey is credited as the inventor of the knuckleball pitch. He had severed the

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

in the index finger of his pitching hand with a

trowel A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel. A power trowel is a much larger ga ...

. The result was that Ramsey's pitches had a natural knuckleball motion. He threw with a fastball motion, holding the ball with his index finger retracted, since he could not straighten it, and with just his finger tip on the ball. Some historians have disputed he actually threw a knuckleball in the modern sense, in that his ball movement was like what is now known as a knuckle curve. While playing for the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

of the Southern League, Ramsey pitched a

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

on May 30, 1885, against the

Nashville Americans The Nashville Americans were a minor league baseball team that played in the Class B (baseball), Class B Southern League (1885–1899), Southern League from 1885 to 1886. They were located in Nashville, Tennessee, and played their home games at Su ...

in a road game where only three players reached base, two via walks and one on an

error An error (from the Latin , meaning 'to wander'Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “error (n.), Etymology,” September 2023, .) is an inaccurate or incorrect action, thought, or judgement. In statistics, "error" refers to the difference between t ...

. On August 29, Chattanooga traded him to Louisville Colonels of the American Association in exchange for

John Connor John Connor is a fictional character and the male protagonist of the Terminator (franchise), ''Terminator'' franchise. Created by screenwriter, writer/film director, director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film ''Th ...

and $750. He was brought in to spell star pitcher

Guy Hecker Guy Jackson Hecker (April 3, 1856 – December 3, 1938) was an American professional baseball pitcher and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball from 1882 to 1890, primarily for the Louisville Eclipse/Colonels. In 1884, he won the ...

, who had a sore arm, and made his major league debut on September 5, in a

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

4–3 loss to the St. Louis Browns. In that first season with the Colonels, he started nine games, completing them all with a 3–6 win–loss record. For the season, his first full season in the majors, Ramsey became the number one

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

for the Colonels, sharing starts with Hecker. Ramsey logged in a league leading innings and 66 complete games in 67 starts. In addition to his league leading statistics that season, his

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 ...

of 2.45 and 38 wins were good for third in the league. His 499

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s that season finished second behind

Matt Kilroy Matthew Aloysius "Matches" Kilroy (June21, 1866March2, 1940) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. During his rookie season in 1886, he had 513 strikeouts, which remains the MLB single-season record. Early life Kilroy was ...

's record setting total of 513. Ramsey's total is the second-highest total in major league history. Ramsey and Hecker's relationship steadily became more at odds the more Ramsey's status with the team grew. At one point, Ramsey stated Hecker was jealous of his success and it would be good for the team if Hecker were released. Ramsey had a similar season winning 37 games. His 355 strikeouts led the American Association, while his 561 innings pitched, 64 games started, and 61 complete games, were all second in the league to Kilroy. Unfortunately, his dominant years stopped after that season, and his fortunes changed for the worse beginning during the season. His win–loss record was 8–30 in 40 starts. On July 25, 1888, Ramsey was arrested for not paying an overdue bar bill.

St. Louis

His season began the way his 1888 season went, winning one game in his 18 starts with Louisville. On July 17, he was traded to the St. Louis Browns for Nat Hudson. He pitched in just five games the rest of season, but did go 3–1 and had an ERA of 3.95. He returned with St. Louis for the season, and pitched his last season in the majors. He had a record of 24–17, struck out 257 batters, and had an ERA of 3.69 in innings pitched. Ramsey was released by St. Louis on September 19, 1890, and he never returned to the majors.

Death

Ramsey died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in his hometown of Indianapolis at the age of 41, and is interred at

Crown Hill Cemetery Crown Hill Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located at 700 West 38th Street in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana. The privately owned cemetery was established in 1863 at Strawberry Hill, whose summit was renamed "The Crown", a high poi ...

References

External links