Jim Maloney was in trouble.

It was the first inning of his Major League debut in front of 20,000 fans at Dodger Stadium. It was tough enough that Maloney was matched up against the great Don Drysdale, but he had allowed two singles and had runners on the corners with only one out.

He had run the count full against Dodgers right fielder Frank Howard. Maloney took a deep breath, adjusted his cap and toed the rubber.

Maloney checked the runners and delivered his best pitch. The pitch that Reds scout Bobby Mattick knew would make Maloney a star when he signed him out of the University of California at Berkeley in 1959.

Fastball.

Swing and a miss.

Strike three.

Maloney would get out of the inning by getting Duke Snider to pop up to second base, but that July 27, 1960 game was the beginning of one of the most dominate pitchers to wear a Reds uniform. Jim William Maloney went seven innings, gave up one run on six hits and struck out five. Although he was outdueled by Don Drysdale and lost the game 2-0, Maloney and his 99 MPH fastball would make headlines for the next decade.

In an era of great pitchers such as Drysdale, Koufax and Gibson, the often overshadowed Jim Maloney was the ace of a team that never quite put it all together.

As the blueprints for the Big Red Machine were being drawn up, Maloney was the consistent pitching star and by 1963 had become a dominate force in the National League.  Maloney went 23-7 that season striking out a Reds record 265 batters. Only Sandy Koufax had a better year at 25-5, thus winning the Cy Young. On May 21 of that year, Maloney set a club record by fanning eight straight Milwaukee Braves to open up the game. 1963 was also the start of Maloney’s streak of seven straight years winning double digits games. He would also have four straight years of 200 strikeouts or more from 1963-1966.

In 1965, on his way to a 20-9 season, Maloney pitched in two games in which he did not allow a hit through nine innings. On June 14 at Crosley Field, Maloney went into the 11th inning with a no-hitter only to see the Mets Johnny Lewis lead off the inning with a home run. It was the only run of the game and Maloney lost 1-0. Maloney had 18 K’s for the game to set a Reds record.  On August 19 at Wrigley Field, Maloney once again took a no-hitter into extra innings. This time however, the Reds backed him up when Leo Cardenas smacked a solo home run to give Maloney his no-hitter and a Reds 1-0 victory. Four years later on April 30, Jim Maloney would get another no-hitter by beating the Astros 10-0.

Unfortunately, injuries would bring Maloney’s great career to an end at the age 0f 31. But from 1960-1970, Jim Maloney would win 134 games and his 1,592 career strikeouts are a club record. Maloney pitched 30 shutouts, had three no-hitters, five one-hitters, and nine two-hitters.

There has never been a pitcher in Reds history that was as dominate as Jim Maloney.

(Editor’s Note: Cam mentioned the game in which Maloney whiffed eight consecutive Braves. That game occurred 50 years ago today. Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times has nice detail on Maloney’s feat. As always with Jaffe, it is a highly suggested read.)

Earl Francis just couldn’t seem to find the strike zone against the 21 year old pint sized second baseman for the Reds.

Maybe it was nerves. After all, this was the 1963 opener in Cincinnati. The lead-off batter Leo Cardenas flew out to left and now this kid, who only had made the roster due to an injury to veteran Don Blasingame, was patiently waiting for his pitch.

Maybe it was the fact that this kid was crouching so low at the plate, he seemed to make his 5’11” frame two feet smaller.

Whatever the case, the count was three balls and no strikes. The Red’s number two hitter had yet to swing the bat as he dug into the batter’s box, settling in, his eyes peering at the right arm of the Pirates pitcher.

Francis received the sign from his catcher and delivered the pitch.

Ball four.

Take your base.

Peter Edward Rose dropped his bat and sprinted to first base.

Of the 28,896 fans in attendance that day, no one could have imagined that the player that just drew a four pitch walk in his first plate appearance would become one of the most storied players in baseball history.

Two batters later Rose was standing at home plate, congratulating Frank Robinson after the slugger drove him home with a two-run homer.

It would take Rose another week, April 13^th to be exact, to collect the first of his 4,256 hits. He was 0 for his first 11 when he stepped to the dish to lead off the bottom of the 8^th inning. The Reds were down 7-1 to Bob Friend and the Pirates. Rose had grounded out to shortstop, was hit by a pitch, and walked. 4,481 people came out to Crosley Field that day and most likely, only a few thousand were left to witness Rose collect his first hit.

A 3 for 23 start for Rose left Reds manger Fred Hutchinson no choice but to bench Rose for a little over one week. When Rose returned to the lineup, he was there to stay. By July, the Reds had sold Don Blasingame to the Senators and Rose took advantage of the playing time. He collected 170 hits in 623 at bats, scoring 101 runs and batted .273 winning the 1963 Rookie of the Year award for the National League.

And the rest is “hits”tory.

(Coming next week is Episode 2 of the Pastime Reds Podcast where we’ll dive deeper into the debut of Pete Rose, look at 10 years of Great American Ball Park, and 40 years of Marty Brennaman.)

At the onset of the debut episode, I’ll lay the groundwork on what I will cover in the podcasts. Having experience with the Reds Hall of Fame, I will center my topics on Reds history as I have with my previous posts. I also provide a small bio.

Then, I dig in to a little history of Opening Day in Cincinnati. You may be surprised as to what I have discovered in my Reds studies.

In a segment called “Random Red”, I introduce you to a Reds player that may not have even heard of or remember. The “Random Red” for this episode had an Opening Day to remember. Every podcast will have this feature so we can all learn the history of the greatest franchise in sports.

I have a personal favorite Opening Day. It was in 2005. There are a number of reasons this is the case. As you listen, you will easily understand why.

Also, I reveal my All-Time Reds Opening Day lineup. Sure, there’s going to be those in which you disagree with me, but we can gladly discuss those within the comments section.

Enjoy the premiere of Pastime Reds Podcast!