Jim Maloney
Baseball player
James William Maloney (born June 2, 1940 in Fresno, California) is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played with the Cincinnati Reds (1960–70) and California Angels (1971). One of the hardest-throwing pitchers of his era, Maloney boasted a fastball clocked at 99 miles per hour, threw two no-hitters, won 10 or more games from 1963 to 1969, and struck out more than 200 batters for four consecutive seasons (1963–66).Maloney's four best seasons were ones in which he won 16 or more games. In 1963, he was 23-7 and struck out 265 batters; in 1965, he was 20-9 and struck out 244; in 1966, he was 16-8 and struck out 216; and in 1968, he was 16-10 and struck out 181. Maloney pitched one game in the 1961 World Series, hurling 2/3 of an inning in the fifth and final game as the Reds fell to the New York Yankees.Despite his accomplishments, Maloney was overshadowed by eventual Baseball Hall of Fame pitchers including Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale of the Dodgers, Bob Gibson of the Cardinals, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants, Tom Seaver of the Mets, and Ferguson Jenkins of the Cubs.Injuries shortened his career, robbing him of the chance to pitch for the "Big Red Machine"—the fabled Cincinnati NL dynasty from 1970-76. Maloney was able to pitch in only seven games for the 1970 Reds due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, and he was winless in just three starts.Over his career, he won 134 games (all with the Reds) and lost 84, with an ERA of 3.19. In 1973, he was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.