Baseball History: Gary Nolan

Cincinnati’s Gary Nolan was one of the more important parts of the Big Red Machine back in the 1970s.

Nolan was 15-9 during both of Cincinnati’s world championship seasons in 1975 and 1976. Overall, he was 110-67 in 10 seasons with the Reds from 1967-77. He missed all of the 1974 season with an arm injury. With a 4-1 record, he was traded to the California Angels midway through 1977 and ended what would be his final year in the majors with a 4-4 record.

Perhaps the righthander’s best season was in 1972 when he was 15-5 with an ERA of 1.99. He topped the National League in winning percentage at .750. He was named to the all-star team and was fifth in the voting for the Cy Young Award.

However, one could make an argument that 1970 was just as good. Nolan was 18-7 with a 3.27 ERA and the sixth in the Cy Young balloting. He appeared in 11 post-season games with the Reds and had a 2-2 record. He was the winning pitcher in the fourth game of the 1976 World Series as the Reds swept the New York Yankees.

The Debut

A first round draft pick by the Reds in 1966, Nolan made his big league debut at the age of 18 on April 15, 1967.

The Reds beat the Houston Astros that day 7-3 at Crosley Field as Nolan earned his first major league win.

In his very first inning, Nolan fanned Sonny Jackson, Jim Landis before walking future teammate Joe Morgan. He struck out Jim Wynn to end the frame. He would give up six hits and all three runs by the time he left the mound with one out in the eighth. Wynn hit a two-run homer to end Nolan’s day.

Later that season, Nolan got the attention of the San Francisco Giants as he struck out 15 despite the Reds falling at home 4-3. Nolan or Giants starter Juan Marichal were involved in the decision. Willie Mays went down on strikes four times. He finished third in race for the Rookie-of-the-Year behind Tom Seaver of the New York Mets and Dick Hughes of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Homer

Nolan was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1983. Of course, it wasn’t because of his .138 lifetime batting average.

Longtime Reds broadcaster Joe Nuxhall was famous for saying, “If you swing the bat, you’re dangerous,” when he was talking about at pitcher coming to the plate.

In 1968, Nolan had just turned 20-year old when he was dangerous with the bat in Candlestick Park.

The game on June 29 against the Giants was scoreless when Nolan stepped into the batter’s box to face Ray Sadecki. Nolan responded by hitting a three-run bomb for the only homer of his career.

Nolan would go on to toss a four-hit shutout in the 5-0 Cincinnati victory. Mays wasn’t one of Nolan’s six strikeout victims, but he didn’t play in the contest.

Pete Rose would top off the Reds win with a two-run single in the ninth.