Other Crap

Major feats in the minors: some big league individual records have been overshadowed by lower-level achievements in the game

In 1952 a 19-year-old pitcher named Rocket Ron Necciai (pronounced net-shy) threw a no-hitter in which he struck out 27 batters. It was actually 27 out of 28. One batter reached first on a dropped third strike, so Necciai had to strike out four that inning.

The article does not mention that Necciai struck out 24 in his next start, including five in one inning. That pair of games wasn't really much of a surprise to anyone who had been following his career. He had fanned 19 and 20 in his two previous starts, then fanned 11 consecutive batters in a relief appearance!

That all happened in D ball. Even though that was the lowest of minors, the Pirates were impressed enough to promote him quickly to B ball, and then to call him up to Pittsburgh by the end of that year. This would have made for a great story if he had succeeded, because he was a local boy from the western part of Pennsylvania - real Pirates country.

Sadly, he went 1-6 with an ERA over 7.00. Welcome to the big show, kid.

Of course, by the standards of the Pirates, 1-6 wasn't that bad. They went 42-112. And after all, the kid was only 20 years old when the year ended, so his future still seemed limitless.

Before the next season began, Necciai was drafted by Uncle Sam (Korean War era) and missed all of the next spring training while he languished in army hospitals. After he was discharged, he went to the minors to get in playing shape. He almost immediately suffered a torn rotator cuff, which basically ended his career. He tried to come back for three years, even sitting out one full year to give the arm time to heal, but it never did. He finally called it quits in 1955, never having pitched another major league inning after his rookie year.

Ron is still alive, now retired from his sporting goods business. Here is a nice article about him.