Nick Maddox

From BR Bullpen

Nicholas Maddox

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

Debut September 13, 1907
Final Game September 12, 1910
Born November 9, 1886 in Govans, MD USA
Died November 27, 1954 in Pittsburgh, PA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Nick Maddox was the Mark Fidrych of his day minus the eccentricities, having a terrific but very short career. Maddox debuted in 1906 with the Cumberland Rooters. In 1907, he was with the Wheeling Stogies (going 13-10 but allowing only 47 runs in 29 games) before he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates later in the year. He completed all six of his starts as a 20-year-old rookie, going 5-1 and pitching a no-hitter. His ERA was 0.83 and he only allowed 32 hits in 54 innings. He was the youngest pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter; his September 20 gem was just his third major league start. Through 2007, he is still the youngest pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the major leagues. Errors by Maddox and Honus Wagner allowed Brooklyn a run to Emil Batch in the game, but Pittsburgh won 2-1. It would be 44 years until the next Pirates no-hitter. Maddox had not allowed a hit in his previous two innings and would not allow one in his next two frames. John McGraw said "He seems to have everything that winning pitchers should possess." The next year, he went 23-8 for the 1908 Pirates and was fourth in the 1908 NL in both wins and winning percentage although his ERA was nothing special (2.28, but just a 100 ERA+ in the height of the Deadball Era). He also hit .266/.310/.362 for a 114 OPS+. It was a tough year health-wise as he battled typhoid fever in June.

With the 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates, he went 13-8. He was among the 1909 NL's top 10 in shutouts (tied for 9th with 4), fewest walks per 9 IP (4th at 1.73) and WHIP (7th at 1.043). On the other hand, he hit 15 batters, second to Harry McIntire. He won game three of the 1909 World Series. Ty Cobb got two hits off of him, Donie Bush got four hits, and Jim Delahanty got three, but Maddox pitched a complete game and had a shutout going into the bottom of the 7th.

In 1910, though, his major league career was over. He appeared in 20 games, starting only 7, with a 3.40 ERA which was somewhat higher than the league ERA that year of 3.02. His hitting also dropped off, as he hit only .214, still respectable enough for a pitcher. Before the end of the season, he was purchased by the Kansas City Blues.

The similarity scores method shows the most similar player through 2006 as Seattle Bill James.

Maddox and his wife Elizabeth raised nine children. Maddox worked for Fort Pitt Brewery after his baseball career ended. Like many former major leaguers, he complained about the lack of talent from later performers - "These guys today aren't pitchers - they're throwers...Why, in my day, I'd throw one so fast past that guy Kiner he'd get pneumonia from the wind."

Sources include The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia by David Finoli and Bill Ranier, "The Almost Perfect Recall" by Paul Meyer in the 9/20/07 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette