Matthew Aloysius "Matches" Kilroy (June21, 1866March2, 1940) was an American left-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

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 ...

. During his rookie season in 1886, he had 513

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, which remains the MLB single-season record.

Early life

Kilroy was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1866. He was one of 13 children of Mary Ann and Patrick Kilroy.Faber, Charles F
"Matt Kilroy"
sabr.org. Retrieved October 30, 2016. He started his professional baseball career with the Southern League's Augusta Browns in 1885. That season, he pitched 447 innings and had a

win–loss record Win–loss may refer to: * Win–loss analytics, analysis of the reasons why a visitor to a website was or wasn't persuaded to engage in a desired action * Win–loss record, also winning percentage * Win–loss record (pitching), the number of ...

of 29–22 with a 0.97

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 ...

and 363 strikeouts."Matt Kilroy Register Statistics & History"
baseball-reference.com. Retrieved October 30, 2016.

Rookie season

Kilroy starred as an MLB rookie during the season for the last-place

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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) East Division. As one of the America ...

. He started 68 games, completing 66 of them while throwing 583

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...

. Although he had a disappointing record of 29 wins and 34 losses, he set a mark that was unequalled in major league pitching. Kilroy struck out 513 batters that season, the most ever in a single season and far ahead of second-place Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn's total of 441 in . During this period there were many differences in game play from the modern rules, such as a

base on balls A base on balls (BB), better known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches during a plate appearance that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The bas ...

being awarded after six balls rather than the modern four, and the pitcher being located 50 feet from home plate rather than the modern 60 feet 6 inches; it was also the last season in which batters could request either a high pitch or a low pitch. Because of these numerous subsequent rule changes, pitching records from that era are not officially compared to those of the modern era, which is variously regarded as beginning in 1893 (when the modern pitching distance was established) or 1901. On August 20, Kilroy and Cyclone Miller of the Philadelphia Quakers hurled opposing one-hitters, the first time this ever occurred, though it has since been duplicated four times. Baltimore won that game 1–0 on first-inning errors‚ but did not get a hit until the ninth. During this remarkable rookie season, he hurled 5

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s, 3 one-hitters, and 4 two-hitters, but on October 6 he pitched the only 9-inning

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 ...

of his career. He pitched his gem against the

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, a 6–0 victory.

Second season

Kilroy followed the success of his rookie season with another productive year in . Baltimore began to score more runs, finishing in a respectable third place; in addition, Kilroy lowered his

from 3.37 to 3.07, resulting in an outstanding win–loss record of 46–19. During his sophomore year he started 69 games, completing 66 while throwing 589 innings with 6 shutouts. He led the league in wins and shutouts. He had this success even though his strikeout total dropped dramatically to 217. Kilroy pitched and won both games of a doubleheader twice during the 1887 season, once on July 26 and the other on October 1. His 46 wins is still the most ever by a left-handed pitcher in a season. On September 2, he umpired his only game.

Later career

After opening his career with two outstanding seasons, he pitched fewer innings and had less success in . Baltimore finished in fifth place, and Kilroy had a 17–21 record in only 40 games. He did complete 35 of those starts and recorded 2 shutouts. Earlier, before the season started and after signing his contract with the team, he married Fanny Denny, although he did spend the honeymoon training with the Orioles. The season was Kilroy's comeback season and his last productive season as a pitcher. He completed 55 of his 56 starts, while also pitching in 3

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

appearances, the first of his career. He had a 29–25 record and 5 shutouts in 480 innings. On July 29 of that season, he pitched his second no-hitter, this time a 7-inning affair against 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 ...

that ended in scoreless tie. It was Kilroy's own baserunning error that negated the only run scored, when he missed third base in the 3rd inning and was called out. That season was his last for Baltimore, as he jumped to the new

Players' League The Players' National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs, popularly known as the Players' League (PL), was a short-lived but star-studded American professional baseball league of the 19th century. The PL was formed by the Brotherhood of Pr ...

for the season. He had a disappointing season, winning only 9 games against 15 losses in 217 innings. He only completed 18 of 27 starts for the Boston Reds, and only struck out 48. After the Players' League folded, he traveled around, playing for three teams during the next four seasons, never pitching more than 45 innings. After the season he disappeared from the majors until returning in , when he played his final season with the Chicago Orphans. He finished his career with 141 wins and 133 losses in 303 games pitched.

Later life

After his baseball career ended, Kilroy lived in Philadelphia and owned a saloon. He and his wife had seven children. Kilroy died at the age of 73; he was buried at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in

Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania Cheltenham Township is a home-rule township located in the southeast corner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders Philadelphia to the south and east, Abington Township and Jenkintown to the north, and Springfield Tow ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilroy, Matt 1866 births 1940 deaths 19th-century baseball players 19th-century American sportsmen Major League Baseball pitchers Baltimore Orioles (AA) players Boston Reds (PL) players Burials at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery Cincinnati Kelly's Killers players Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Louisville Colonels players Chicago Orphans players Augusta Browns players Philadelphia Athletics (minor league) players Syracuse Stars (minor league baseball) players Hartford Indians players Baseball players from Philadelphia