Editor’s note: Throughout this year, Press Room Pass will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1969 baseball season with a variety of stories from the covering personal accomplishments, unique moments, major league expansion and the amazing New York Mets. This is the latest installment of that series.
There were a total of six no-hitters during the 1969 season with Cincinnati’s Jim Maloney tossing the second one against Houston at Crosley Field on April 30.
One day later, Don Wilson of the Astros returned the favor as he blanked the Reds. (A story about Wilson will appear on pressroompass.com May 1, 2019.)
Maloney struck out 13 and walked five as he recorded what is now the second no-hitter of his career.
Bobby Tolan led the Reds as he knocked in four runs in the 10-0 victory.
A play by Reds shortstop Darrel Chaney in the sixth inning saved the no-hitter for Maloney.
“I wasn’t nervous. I’ve been there before,” Maloney said in an article appearing the Milwaukee Journal on May 1. “I was keyed up before the game, but I always am. I had good stuff and the ball was live and I made good pitches. It was as simple as that.”
While it may have been simple for Maloney, Astros manager Harry Walker offered his thoughts on the righthander’s ability to get away with a spitball in the same Milwaukee Journal story.
“You know he throws it,” he was quoted as saying. “I know he throws it and the umpires know he throws it.”
Spitball or not, Maloney finished the 1969 season with a 12-5 record and a 2.77 ERA. He would have two more appearances that season against the Astros.
On July 11 in Houston, Maloney didn’t make it out of the fifth inning as the Astros won 13-2. Ironically, Wilson was the winning pitcher as he tossed a complete game allowing six hits with 10 strikeouts.
On Sept. 26 in the first game of a twinbill at Crosley Field, Maloney tossed a one-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Astros. Two future Reds figured in the results of the contest. Joe Morgan had the only hit with a single in the third, while Jack Billingham was the losing pitcher for the Astros.
In his 12-year career, Maloney was 134-84 as he won all of his games with the Reds in 11 seasons. He was with the California Angels in 1971, which was his last year.
Maloney’s best season was in 1965 when he was 20-9 and made the National League all-star team. He was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1973.
Two No-Hitters in 1965
During the 1965 season, Maloney was at the time credited with two no-hitters.
The first one came on June 14 in Cincinnati against the New York Mets.
Maloney gave up two hits in the 11th and lost 1-0. It was officially recognized as the no-hitter until the league rules were changed in the 1990s to include extra inning affairs. He essentially lost that no-hitter twice.
In the opener of the doubleheader at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Maloney worked 10 innings as he no-hit the Cubs in a 1-0 victory. He fanned a dozen and walked 10 in the outing.