Sixty-one Years Ago Today: A Performance for the Ages
Today is the anniversary of a singular and amazing achievement. It’s also one you’ve probably never heard of.
Sixty-one years ago, a 19-year-old right-handed pitcher with the Bristol Twins – the Appalachian League farm club for the Pittsburgh Pirates – pitched a complete game shutout. Complete game shutouts were nothing unusual in that day and age.
He pitched the game in front of a crowd of less than 1,200. Nothing too out of the ordinary about that for a minor-league game in the 1950s.
He pitched a 9-inning no-hitter, but not a perfect game. Excellent – but not terribly uncommon, either.
He won the game (that’s not a given; at least five 9-inning games have been recorded in the Major Leagues alone where one team was held hitless but nonetheless won the game by scoring unearned runs). So even if had he had lost the game while pitching a no-hitter (he didn’t), that fact would hardly be unique.
What was unique – and amazing – about the performance involves what he did during this no-hitter.
The young man pitched a complete game – all 9 innings. He was the only pitcher for his team.
He recorded 27 strikeouts.
In professional baseball at any level that had never been done before. It has never been repeated.
Who was it? A man named Ronald Allen Necciai.
Sports Illustrated has an excellent article about both Necciai and this amazing game. It was written nearly 26 years ago. If you’re a baseball fan it‘s definitely worth reading, and can be found online here. Be forewarned – it’s a bit lengthy.
In his next start, Necciai was nearly as dominating. In that game, he pitched a 24-strikeout two-hitter.
So what happened next, and why haven’t you ever heard of him?
Necciai was indeed called up to the Pirates that August. He pitched fairly poorly that year – after all, he’d just turned twenty, and it was his first time in the “big leagues”. But the potential was clearly there. When “on”, his fastball smoked; his curve dropped like it had fallen off a table.
Unfortunately, like many promising athletes Necciai had health issues. He had severe stomach ulcers. He was drafted into the Army (the Korean War was ongoing), but ended up being medically discharged because of his stomach problems. And the next spring, while pushing himself to make up for missed spring training, in April Necciai suffered a serious rotator cuff injury. Due to that shoulder injury, Necciai was never was able to pitch in the Major Leagues again.
That’s truly unfortunate. Given health and some experience, he might have been truly special.
After a few years of trying to overcome his shoulder injury, Necciai moved on with his life. He went into business, and was ultimately quite successful. His ulcer spontaneously cleared.
His shoulder issues, unfortunately, never did. His shoulder still troubled him when Sports Illustrated wrote the article linked above – over 34 years after his injury.
As of this writing, Mr. Necciai is apparently still alive. He turns 81 this year.
And regardless of what happened later: sixty-one years ago today, in Bristol, VA, Ronald Allen Necciai accomplished something that is . . . simply amazing. His performance that day has never been equaled at any professional level.
Hat tip to you, sir. You own a unique and amazing place in baseball history.
Category: Baseball, Historical
What a treat of a post! The story is a gem. Here are a few of my favorites from the piece:
“While Necciai warmed up. a Bristol fan jumped out of the stands and walked to Jack Crosswhite, the [opposing team’s] manager, who was coaching at third base. The fan handed Crosswhite a canoe paddle with a big hole cut in the blade. Crosswhite smashed the paddle against the side of the Twins’ dugout in disgust.”
“The Bristol pitcher took the mound in the top of the eighth with a 7-0 lead. By now, some […] batters were trying to bunt, if only to avoid striking out. It didn’t matter. Not one [batter] hit a fair ball in the inning. ”
“‘That was the first of three no-hitters I caught in 14 days,'” says Harry Dunlop, now a coach with the San Diego Padres.
“‘George called most of the pitches,'” says Necciai. “‘I wasn’t allowed to shake him off. I wouldn’t dare.'”
Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series.
Sandy Koufax being the first lefty to throw a perfect game in the modern era.
Nolan Ryan, Cy Young, and the list goes on.
But for a few lucky breaks, we might not have known of any of these folks.
Nice. Of course, now I want to know more about this man.
Great story from history, sadly forgotten. Thanks for this post.
According to wiki he was in the big leagues for 49 days, under the new rules (agreed to in the 1970s) that would qualify him for a big league pension (43 days is the minimum-by far the most generous of any professional sport), but I am not sure how that applies to players before the agreement. I’ve been to several Appalachian league games in Johnson City, Elizabethton, Greeneville and Kingsport-nice little ballparks where you can sometimes see future stars. Striking out 27 was an even greater accomplishment in those days when batters were not swing for the fence types like today and putting the ball in play was at a premium.
There is just something about baseball.
#6 Just Plain Jason: I agree. Baseball has always been a little different. The sad thing is the money boys and supposed sharp heads (some overlap) are doing their level damnedest to make it a corporate product like the other pro sports.