APR:THE BASEBALL GURU ARTICLE FROM

ONEMOREINNING

         UPS &  

  THE            DOWNS OF MISTER FRED TONEY

 

ONLY 3,500 PEOPLE SHOWED UP ON MAY 2, 1917 TO SEE THE CINCINNATI REDS PLAY THE CHICAGO CUBS. IT WAS A SULTRY DAY, WHERE NO  MATTER WHAT YOU TRIED, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO COOL OFF. YOU COULDN’T TELL THAT TO THE PITCHER’S ON THE MOUND THOUGH. THEY WERE LOCKED UP UN A PITCHER’S DUEL THAT SUPERSEDED EVERYTHING ELSE. THEIR NAMES WERE HIPPO VAUGHAN AND FRED TONEY & BY THE END OF THE DAY THEY HAD BOTH PITCHED A NO-HITTER AGAINST EACH OTHER UNTIL THE TENTH INNING. AT THAT POINT THE REDS BROKE THROUGH AGAINST VAUGHAN, SCORED SOME RUNS, AND TONEY BESTED HIM IN A DOUBLE NO-HITTER. IT WAS A HIGHLIGHT FOR FRED TONEY AT THIS TIME OF HIS LIFE...A MOMENT TO SAVOR.  AFTER THAT THINGS BEGAN TO UNRAVEL………

   There were more downs than ups. But of course when talking about Fred Toney we have to start out with that afternoon on May 2, 1917. And of course we have to bring Hippo Vaughan into the picture.

   At the time of their historic meeting both pitchers were among the best in the NL. As fate would have it only 3,500 people were in Wrigley Field and they witnessed something that had never happened before and probably will never happen again. For nine innings both pitchers had not given up a hit. In the ninth Vaughan weakened, gave up a hit to Larry Knopf and eventually came home to score. Toney pitched a scoreless ninth and ended up with a 10 inning no-hitter.

   A remarkable achievement, a remarkable once in a lifetime game, and as it turned out, the highlight in the life of Fred Toney.

   From that point on the baseball gods turned their back on him and so did all the other assorted gods roaming around in the land of multitudinous deities.

   The beginning was promising and filled with the possibility of good things to come.  He was born in Tennessee in 1888. Early on he showed great athletic ability which gravitated to the baseball diamond. In his teens baseball scouts came to see this young phenom who threw 100 MPH and had impeccable control. For awhile he turned down all offers to turn pro and stated that he din’t want to be part of the pressure he would get as a pro. After he pitched a 17 inning no hitter in the minors (striking out 19 players) he finally decided to sign with the Cubs for $1,000. He was 22 at the time. For two years he bounced back and forth from the Majors to the Minors with a so-so 4 and 5 record. In 1915 The Reds purchased him from Chicago. From that point on he was the pitcher everyone thought he would be, winning 55 games and losing 42 for a consistently poor team.

   1917 and the double no-hitter signaled the end of good times for Toney. In 1918 he was arrested for trying to get out of the draft. Even though he had been separated from his wife for three years, he claimed her, his child, and parents as his dependents. The trial that ensued brought more problems. It was uncovered that he was living and traveling with another woman who was not his wife. The trial ended but he was quickly arrested again for violating the Mann Act. He had trans-ported a minor (the above woman who was not of age) from one state to another with the express purpose of having sex.

   In 1919, while pitching for the Giants he was sent to prison for four months (his sentence for violating the Mann Act). By 1921 his baseball skills had vanished and he was shellacked in 2 WS games against the Yankees. After pitching in the Minors for awhile he finally quit the game for good in 1925.

   He went back to Tennessee where life was rough for him. He opened up a tiny sandwich stand that specialized in hotdogs and soda pop. He made sure it was decorated with memorabilia of his career. It served to attract customers for awhile. Later during WW2 he was a security guard and ended his life as a court officer in the local Sheriffs office. By 1923 he was dead at the age of 64 from heart disease and hypertension