19 to 21

No, that’s not exactly the age of the youngest no-hit pitcher, it’s,

Baseball... Then and Now

Volume 6, #17, May 23, 2008

News Item: May 23, 1991 – Ira “Tommy” Greene no-hits the Montreal Expos in his 15th major league start, six weeks after his 24th birthday.

The stories on the Red Sox’ Jon Lester’s no-hitter all had one thing in common, besides the obvious. While Lester was rightfully praised for his determination in coming back from a rare form of cancer to throw his gem against the Royals, just about every story also made some sort of reference to his relative youth and/or inexperience. After reading enough of these missives, you might get the impression that Lester was watching Sesame Street in the clubhouse between innings. Pretty much everyone had something to say along these lines… either commenting that the Sox now had two young pitchers (Clay Buchholz being the other) who had thrown no-hitters and were thus destined for greatness, or that Lester was the youngest lefty since Bud Smith (who?) to pitch a no-hitter, or that he was the second coming of Nick Maddox (who?) or even invoking such previous no-hit youngsters as Anibal Sanchez (who?) or Wilson Alvarez. Some even brought up Bumpus Jones and Bobo Holloman, who threw no-hitters in their first major league starts, although this comparison was clearly off-base since Lester’s no-hitter came in his 37th start.

While the “youth and greatness” angle made a nice little sidebar to the Lester no-hit story, there’s a little problem with it… Jon Lester isn’t particularly young for a no-hit pitcher, and really young pitchers who throw no-hitters are far from guaranteed greatness. Actually, there were a few other problems with many of the stories as well, like, just who was the youngest pitcher to throw a major league no-hitter? Or, who really holds the record for catching the most no-hitters? (Jason Varitek only tied Ray Schalk’s record of four, by the way.) Let’s look at some of the facts, as usual, supplied primarily by the Retrosheet and Baseball Reference websites.

First, Jon Lester is no all that young for a no-hit pitcher. Yes, he’s just 24 years and four months old, but there have been a lot of younger pitchers who have visited the No-Hit Hall of Fame. A very, very cursory study on major league no-hitters, with no attempt to check out the entire list, quickly produces no less than 10 pitchers who no-hit a major league team prior to their 22nd birthday. That would be…

1 – Amos Rusie – 20 years/2 months

2 – John Lush – 20/8

3 – Nick Maddox – 20/10

4 – Christy Mathewson – 20/11

5 – Vida Blue – 21/2

6 – Bob Feller – 21/5

7 – Wilson Alvarez – 21/9

7 – Smoky Joe Wood – 21/9

9 – Bud Smith – 21/10

10 – Bob Moose – 21/11

Now here is a truly interesting list. Let’s take them one-by-one.

Rusie, the Hoosier Thunderbolt, is actually the youngest person to throw a major league no-hitter, as well as being a factor in the pitching distance being moved back to 60’6” prior to the 1893 season. A major league pitcher at the age of 18 (his first game was actually three weeks before his 18th birthday), and a remarkable major league pitcher at the age of 19, Rusie was, quire simply, the 19th Century Bob Feller. The National League Indianapolis Hoosiers signed the Mooresville, Indiana, native prior to the 1889 season and immediately (well, on May 9) put him in the pitcher’s box where he went 12-10 with a 5.32 ERA and 109 strikeouts and 116 walks in 225 innings. However, it was the next year, 1890, that he started his legend (and started baseball on the path to moving the pitcher back… possibly to keep him from accidentally killing someone). In 549 innings he struck out 341 and walked 289 – an all-time single season record that is probably pretty safe (he has three of the top four all-time walk seasons as well) for all time. In other words, he threw like a thunderbolt… really hard and not too well controlled. His no-hitter came during the next season, when he went 33-20 for the New York Giants with 337 strikeouts and 262 walks in 500 innings. Despite having thrown his arm out by the age of 27, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977.

Lush’s real claim to fame is that he was the youngest regular player of the 20th Century. Not pitcher, player. A graduate of Philadelphia’s Girard College, Lush was splitting his time between first base and the outfield for the 1904 Phillies, starting at the age of 18 years and seven months. Although he would become primarily a pitcher starting in 1906 (when he threw the no-hitter and went 18-15), he ended up splitting his seven year career between the three positions, compiling a 66-85 pitching record (with just a 96 ERA+) and a .254/.307/.322 batting record (with just a 96 OPS+). In other words, he was mediocre at both hitting and pitching. But, he did throw a no-hitter four months before he turned 21.

Maddox is sometimes given credit for authoring the youngest MLB no-hitter, however, he was 20 years and 10 months “old” when he threw one for the Pirates at the height of the Deadball Era in 1907. It was Maddox’ second start in the major leagues and without a doubt the pundits must have predicted great things for him, since he finished 1907 5-1 with an 0.83 ERA, and then went 23-8 in 1908. However, he went just 15-11 over the next two seasons combined, and was never heard from again. (At least not in the majors.) Even “The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers” has virtually nothing to say about him.

Little can be said about Matty that everyone doesn’t already know, except that he threw two no-hitters in his glorious Hall of Fame career, the first coming on July 15, 1901, about a month before his 21st birthday. So there was one young no-hitter that served as a portend to a pretty good career. (Although it is interesting to note that Matty, who was traded even-up for the washed up Rusie early in his career, was washed up himself at the age of 35.)

More modern fans will certainly remember the fuss when Vida Blue threw his no-hitter against the Twins at the tail end of the 1970 season… after which he went 24-8 with 301 strikeouts the next year. Of course, if you recall that, you may also realize that Blue NEVER had another year to match 1971. Although he would have two more 20-win seasons, he would never again even strike out 200 batters in a year, and finished his career with a somewhat disappointing 209-161 record. A good record, but also one of the “what might have been” careers. Maybe it could be said that his career, like the Bird of Paradise, went up his nose.

If Rusie was the 19th Century Feller, then Feller was the 20th Century Rusie, right? Both came up real young and real wild and throwing real hard. And both had no-hitter stuff and were done relatively young. Rusie was pitching in the majors three weeks before his 18th birthday and was done at 27. Feller, who had three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters, was pitching for the Indians three-and-a-half months before his 18th birthday and pitched his last game before he was 38, although, in reality, he was pretty much done before he turned 36 after the 1954 season.

Alvarez’ name has also been invoked in the aftermath of Lester’s gem, since, like Buchholz and Maddox, he threw a no-hitter in his second major league start. In Maddox’ case, he threw a shutout in his first start. In Alvarez’ case, he didn’t get anybody out in his first start for the Rangers in 1989, at the age of 19. Five batters, three hits (two of them home runs), two walks and a quick shower. Two years later, with the White Sox, he threw a no-hitter in his second start, and went on to a decent career… 102-92, 112 ERA+. He lasted until he was 35, by the way.

Which is better than Smoky Joe Wood did, at least as a pitcher. Another true pheenom, Wood debuted for the Red Sox in August 1908, some two months before his 19th birthday. After three seasons of effective pitching (103, 114, 152 ERA+ for those years) but so-so results (1-1, 11-7, 12-13), he became more popular in Boston than Old Ironsides, going 23-17 with a 162 ERA+ and a no-hitter in 1911. And he was just warming up. For 1912, he had one of the great pitching seasons in major league history, going 34-5 with a 1.91 ERA and 16 consecutive wins, leading the Sox to the World Series title (and winning three more games there as well.) Then, in 1913, he broke his thumb and apparently wrecked his shoulder coming back too soon from the injury. Although he would pitch effectively for the next three years, going 36-13 and leading the AL in ERA in 1915, he was done as a pitcher before his 26th birthday. So he became an outfielder and ended up with a career 111 OPS+ (although not the consideration for the Hall of Fame that he merits.)

In some ways the exact opposite of Joe Wood was Bud Smith. Wood threw hard. Smith was a soft-tosser. Wood should be considered for the Hall of Fame, Smith… you’ve got to be kidding. Wood could hit. Smith had seven hits in the majors. However, they both had no-hitters at a young age, and then threw their arms out. Wood at least made a successful comeback with the Indians. Smith was foisted by the Cardinals upon unsuspecting Phillies GM Ed Wade in the Scott Rolen “deal” (a typical Wade quality for quantity trade) and was never heard from again.

Finally, there’s Bob Moose. Although he died young (on his 29th birthday) in an auto accident, he was never going to live up to the promise of his September 20, 1969 no-hitter. Although he’d gone 14-3 with a 2.91 ERA that year, and had not yet reached his 22nd birthday, Moose would never again win as many as 14 and was, in fact, banished to the bullpen by the Pirates for his final three seasons.

While it’s a small sample size, it should be clear that a no-hitter at a young age neither guarantees greatness, nor a long career. For instance, the aforementioned Tommy Greene also threw his arm out, finishing his eight year career with a 38-25 record at the age of 30… and he lasted longer than some on this list. And then there are some of the others who just missed the under 22 list – Burt Hooton, Juan Nieves, Mike Warren and Steve Busby (to say nothing of Anibal Sanchez). It’s not likely any of them are going to make a big time comeback anytime soon. True, Rusie, Mathewson and Feller are in the Hall of Fame, and cases can be made for Wood and Blue, but Lush, Maddox, Alvarez, Smith and Moose sure aren’t going to Cooperstown, at least, not in the Hall (though they may well be in the Museum somewhere.) Whether or not either scenario is true for Jon Lester is still to be decided.

-- John Shiffert