Happy Birthday to the late and great Amos Rusie, whom they nicknamed the “Hoosier Thunderbolt,” arguably the hardest-throwing pitcher of all time.

Career (1889-1895; 97-98; 1901):

246-174 W-L, 3.07 ERA, 3,778.2 IP, 1,950 SO, 1.349 WHIP

  • 2x ERA Champion
  • Pitching Triple Crown (1894)
  • 5x Strikeout Leader

Yes, his career took place in the 1890s, which is why many fans today probably need to learn who this guy is, in all likelihood. Rusi pitched when starters took the ball every other game and took it in relief on games they didn’t start at times. In the first half of his career, pitchers threw fifty feet, and from 1893, he and other pitchers threw from 60 feet and 6 inches. Rusi was a two-time ERA champ, a Pitching Triple Crown winner, and a five-time Strikeout Leader in his short career. While he was a hard-throwing fastball pitcher who could strike out many batters, he had control issues which caused him to Walk over 200 batters five consecutive times. To this day, the 289 batters he walked in 1890 remain a record. When he pitched, radar guns still needed to exist, so it’s unknown how fast he was in terms of the MPH he threw. Hughie Jennings was hit in the head by a fastball Rusie threw in 1898, which knocked him unconscious for four days. 

It’s no secret that the number of times and innings Rusi threw was why he couldn’t have a long pitching career. However, had he played, let’s say, 30-40 years later, especially if he were able to find better control, he would’ve pitched dominantly for ten-plus years easily.

References:

  1. Amos Rusie Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rusieam01.shtml
  2. Baseball America. Amos Rusie via The NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL of FAME ALMANAC, 2017 Edition, pp. 396-97