Paul Skenes’ much-ballyhooed MLB pitching debut, weather permitting, is a few hours away in Pittsburgh.
SARASOTA, FLA: Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during a spring training game against … [+]
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ prized prospect is set to face the Chicago Cubs after pitching only 34 stellar innings in the minors. The numbers say the 6-foot-6, 235-pounder is ready. Every pitch has been scrutinized from every angle by fans, scouts and computers.
Bumpus Jones had no such analysis available 132 years ago when he made his debut for the Cincinnati Reds. He pitched a no-hitter.
Bobo Holloman was a journeyman minor-leaguer with a handful of MLB relief appearance when he made his first MLB start 71 years ago – and also pitched a no-no.
More about them later – and why most readers have no idea who they are despite their no-hit fame.
Skenes has been on baseball’s radar since he was 12 years old. At El Toro High School in California he was mostly a catcher and played some third base until his junior year. He was used mainly as a closer because the team had nobody who could catch his fastball for a full game.
As a senior, he allowed one run over 27 innings, striking out 32. He also hit 3 homers and was regarded more as an offensive player by most colleges. He went to an unlikely baseball school, the Air Force Academy – because that had always been his dream.
OMAHA, NE: Paul Skenes of the LSU Tigers pitches against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons during the … [+]
He worked 18 games in relief (1-1, 2.70 ERA), then made 15 starts as a sophomore (10-3, 2.73 ERA). Skenes was convinced that with his talent, he should be playing against the best collegians. He transferred to Louisiana State. As a junior, he led the Tigers to the NCAA Championship, going 13-2 with a 1.69 ERA, 209 strikeouts in 122 2/3 innings and only 72 hits allowed.
He got $9.2 million to sign with the Pirates after being the No. 1 draft pick overall last July.
This year, he had a 1.85 ERA in 12 starts without a win or loss. He fanned 55 and allowed only 22 hits and 8 walks over 34 innings.
“It’s time,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He checked all the boxes that we felt he needed to do in the minor leagues and he checked them very quickly.”
Bumpus On The Bump
Charles Leander Jones made his miraculous big-league debut against the Pirates on Oct. 15, 1892. Nicknamed Bumpus, he made only seven more appearances in the majors, going 2-4 with an astronomical 7.99 ERA overall.
The Reds got him late in the 1892 season after the right-hander compiled a 24-3 record and 0.93 ERA for Joliet of the Illinois-Iowa League. On the season’s final day, he started for the Reds and walked the first two men he faced, but got a double play. In the second inning, another double play erased another walk. The Pirates got an unearned run in the third on a walk, stolen base and error by Jones, who fielded a bunt and threw wildly to first. Nobody else reached base and he won, 7-1.
The distance from the mound to the plate was only 55 feet at the time. After it was moved to 60-feet, 6-inches in 1893, Jones couldn’t get anybody out. He may have hurt his arm at the longer distance as he complained after almost every appearance that he “couldn’t get the kinks out.”
Bumpus’ feat was the second of this era. The St. Louis Browns’ Ted Breitenstein beat the Louisville Colonels in an eight-inning game in his MLB debut in 1891. He had a good, long career, going 160-170 through 1901 in the National League.
Bobo And The Browns
Alva Lee Holloman went 20-5 in his first year in the minors at Class D Moultrie (GA) in 1946 at age 23. He had a 113-69 record for seven clubs in the minors overall when the lowly Browns brought him to the majors in 1953.
ST. LOUIS: Catcher Joe Astroth congratulates rookie Bobo Holloman on pitching a no-hitter against … [+]
The right-hander always had command issues, usually walking well over 100 batters a season. He walked five and fanned three in his no-no against the Philadelphia Athletics on May 6.
Bobo went 2-7 the rest of the season. He returned to the minors in 1954, went 4-8 with five different clubs, and retired at age 31.
Tyler Gilbert’s Gem
Three years ago, Tyler Gilbert matched Bumpus, Bobo and Brietenstein. In his first MLB start after three relief outings for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Gilbert threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on Aug. 14, 2021. He walked three and struck out five.
The right-hander had a 2-7 record and 4.32 ERA overall in 28 games for Arizona. He’s currently with the Reds’ Triple-A team in Louisville. In seven games, he has an 0-1 record and 13.11 ERA.
So forgive everybody in the Pirates’ organization who will be rooting for Skenes to NOT pitch a no-hitter today. A nice, simple win would please them very much.
