Loading ...July 27, 1960: In his major league debut, Jim Maloney allows only one run in seven innings, but loses, 2-0, to the Dodgers and Don Drysdale in Los Angeles.
Maloney was the most dominating pitcher in Reds history. Before he was traded after the 1970 season, Maloney was 134-81 in Cincinnati with a 3.16 ERA. He struck out 1,592 batters with the Reds, the most in club history, pitched 30 shutouts, and won more games than any Reds pitcher since WWII. During his career, Maloney authored three no hitters, five one hitters, and nine two hitters.
All “Reds trivia” posts come from Greg Rhodes and John Snyder’s fabulous book, “Redleg Journal” (see link for purchasing) and are used with Greg’s permission.
Thanks again to Greg Rhodes for permission to use his material.
I always wondered what if Maloney hadn’t torn the achilles tendon. Might the Reds have won the 1970 and 1972 WS? Maybe win the 1973 NL Playoffs? How much more dominant could they have been?
Amazing pitcher..and a nice man. My grandparents managed an apartment complex in the early-mid 60’s that many of the Reds lived in (Rose, Maloney, Deron Johnson, Coker, Pavletich, Shamsky)…I remember Maloney, nice man.
Jim,
I always was under the impression that Maloney had an arm problem. I’d never heard about the achilles.
Blew his Achilles early in the ‘70 season, I believe that’s when Gullett was called up..
Maloney tore his Achilles running the bases.
Take this story a bit further; think how good the Big Red Machine if starting pitchers were treated then the way they are now.
What if Gary Nolan hadn’t blown his arm (twice, well three times) at ages 19, 25, and 29?
What if Jim Merritt had not blown his arm at age 26 (during his 20 win season)?
What if Wayne Simpson had not blown his arm at age 21?
What is Jim McGlothlin had not blown his arm at age 28?
Imagine, how impressive the Reds would have been with that rotation pitching in their primes in the mid-70’s?
Also, affecting the Reds pitching were these deals….
What if the Reds had kept Milt Wilcox (instead of trading for Ted Uhlaender)?
What if the Reds had not traded Joaquin Andujar for a PTBNL (Luis Sanchez and Carlos Alfonso)?
What if the Reds had not traded Ross Grimsley for Merv Rettenmund?
I mean, for all the good Bob Howsam did (and he was a legend); he traded quite a rotation for spare parts.
I should have included Gullett, too. He wasn’t the same after his age 23 season in 1974. I always think of him as blowing his arm with the Yankees, but after ‘74 he didn’t pitch over 160 innings again.
You know Bobby Tolan never was the same after he blew out his achilles. I guess its a testiment to medical science, you never hear of an achilles as being the career ending injury that it once was.
Either ‘75 or ‘76 was the year Gullett missed a couple months because he barehanded a line drive off the bat of Larvell Blanks. Did Gullett mess up his arm in ABC’s Superstars competition?
Tolan made one of the coolest catches I have ever seen against San Francisco in 1970. Basically climbed the fence to catch the ball.
Thank God Dusty wasn’t the manager then, or I wouldn’t have made it to ‘75 and ‘76 at all.