Pittsburgh Pirates Ron Necciai Strikes Out 27 Batters

Max Scherzer tied the Major League record by striking out 20 batters in nine innings. On this day in 1952, Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguer Ron Necciai topped that by striking out 27 batters in nine innings.

Two days ago, we were able to witness Major League history when Max Scherzer tied Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens by striking out twenty batters. While that is certainly impressive, it pales in comparison to what former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Ron Necciai accomplished on this day in 1952.

In Necciai’s case, he struck out 27 batters in his nine innings of work. Yes, you read that right – 27 strikeouts in his no hitter while pitching for Bristol in the Appalachian League. That type of performance is almost something that would have been a part of the legend of Sidd Finch. If anything, perhaps the legend of Finch grew from Necciai’s accomplishments.

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Perhaps the most remarkable part of the game is that Necciai had 25 strikeouts after 8.2 innings of work. His catcher dropped the third strike for strikeout 26, allowing the batter to reach, leaving him to strike out yet another hapless minor leaguer. This also was not a perfect game, as he issues a walk and hit a batter. Only two players put the ball in play, with Bob Ganung grounding out in the second inning and another batter reaching on an error.

This also was not a fluke performance. Prior to this game, Necciai had 20 and 19 batters in consecutive appearances, and in his 43 innings with Bristol, had a 4-0 record with a 0.42 ERA and 109 strikeouts. He was impressive at his next stop, and reached the Pirates that year. Unfortunately, he did not have the same success, going 1-6 with a 7.08 ERA, striking out 31 batters in 54.2 innings.

Unfortunately, Necciai did not have the chance to prove that he could have success at the major league level. He had a sore arm after his stint in the Army, and after attempting to come back in 1953 and 1955, hung up his cleats due to a rotator cuff injury.

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A pitcher that was considered harder to hit than Dizzy Dean in his prime, Ron Necciai is certainly a case of wondering what could have been. If he had not hurt his shoulder and began throwing strikes, he could have been one of the true greats. Instead, he will be remembered for one of the greatest minor league performances in the history of organized baseball.