Jim Maloney

Jim Maloney

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, his won-lost record was 23-7, and he struck out 265 batters. Then, in 1965, Maloney 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. Unfortunately for Maloney and the Reds, in the rest of the 1960s, the National League was dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the pennants in 1963, '65, and '66; and by the St. Louis Cardinals, who won the pennants in 1964, '67, and '68.

But Maloney was overshadowed by eventual Baseball Hall of Fame pitchers 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, Ferguson Jenkins of the Cubs, and other prominent National League contemporaries like Jim Bunning. Arm injuries definitely shortened his career, thus robbing him of the chance to pitch for the "Big Red Machine" -- the fabled Cincinnati NL dynasty from 1970 though '76. Maloney was able to pitch in only seven games for the 1970 Reds, and he was winless in just three starts.

Maloney attended Fresno City College and the University of California at Berkeley and was signed by scout Bobby Mattick to the Cincinnati Reds in 1959 for a reported $100,000. 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.