Fred Toney (December 11, 1888 – March 11, 1953) was an American 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 dr ...

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for the

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and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

from 1911 to 1923. His career record was 139 wins, 102 losses, and a 2.69

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 numb ...

. Toney twice won 20 games in a season (1917, 1920) and also led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in saves in 1918.

Career

Minor leagues

Fred Toney was born in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

, on December 11, 1888. As a youth he reportedly developed arm strength while working on a farm, using his spare time to throw rocks across the

Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...

. Toney broke into baseball as a 16-year old in 1909, when he began pitching in the Blue Grass League, a newly formed circuit of semi-professional baseball clubs based in small

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

towns."Giant Fred Toney Doped to Start with Cub Team," ''Muncie Star Press,'' vol. 33, no. 332 (March 26, 1911), p. 11. While pitching for the Winchester Hustlers, Toney was spotted by Chicago Cubs scout George Huff, who signed him to a contract. Highlights of Toney's minor league tenure included a victory in a 16-inning no hitter during the 1909 season. On May 10, 1909, while pitching for the Hustlers, he defeated the Lexington Colts in 17 innings, 1–0, striking out 19 batters and walking only one, before Winchester finally scored a run on a squeeze play in the bottom of the 17th.

Rookie year

Toney made his major league debut in 1911, following an appearance in an exhibition game against

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

in which he faced nine batters and struck out six."New Idol for Cub Fans" ''Chicago Daily Socialist,'' vol. 5, no. 149 (April 19, 1911), p. 4. One sports journalist wrote of the rookie:

"Toney is from Tennessee, and he looks the part. He is long, lean, and as strong as some of the squirrel whiskey they make in the mountains of said state. What he did to the collegians was sinful."

The young Toney possessed a first-rate

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 thr ...

and was heralded by some observers as "a second Walter Johnson" upon his arrival in the league. He did not learn how to throw an overhand

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curv ...

until the spring of 1911, when he developed the pitch in Cubs training camp. Before he pitched a single major league game, Cubs team officials heralded the 6'2" Toney as a future star in the making. Club treasurer Charlie Williams said of the big rookie:

"I believe that Toney will prove to be the sensation in the National League the coming season. He shows up well so far and has all the earmarks of a great pitcher.... He is modest and as cool as a veteran when he is on the slab. His size is a great advantage to him, and he has speed enough to keep all the batters guessing, even if he had nothing else with it. I have been more impressed with the work of Toney than any young pitcher that has broken into the game with the Cubs for years."

Toney was unimpressive in his major league debut on April 15 against the

in a game ending after ten innings in a 3-3 tie.Fred J. Hewitt, "Cubs and Cardinals Battle Ten Innings; Contest Resulting 3-3," ''Chicago Inter Ocean,'' vol. 40, no. 23 (April 16, 1911), p. 23. Pitching on a windy day in front of 15,000 fans, Toney struggled with his control, giving up two extra-base hits and a walk before being lifted in the bottom of the third inning.

Highlights

On May 2, , at the ballpark now known as

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, Toney dueled with

Hippo Vaughn James Leslie "Hippo" Vaughn (April 9, 1888 – May 29, 1966) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. In a career that spanned thirteen seasons, he played for the New York Highlanders (1908, 1910–1912), the Washington Senat ...

of the Chicago Cubs during nine hitless innings. In the top of the tenth, the Reds scored on a couple of hits after Vaughn had retired the first batter, while Toney continued to hold the Cubs hitless in the bottom of the inning, winning the game for the Reds. With changes to the scoring rules in recent years, this game is no longer considered as a no-hitter for Vaughn; but it is still the only occasion in Major League history in which a regulation nine innings was played without either team logging a hit. On July 1, 1917, Toney pitched two complete-game, three-hitters for victories in a doubleheader against the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

, to set a record for fewest hits allowed in a double header by a Major League pitcher. Toney also holds the record for the longest no-hitter in organized baseball history.

References

External links