Cincinnati Reds: the long over due love for Noodles Hahn

Had Noodles Hahn played in the era of pitch counts, his name would be amongst the all time leaders in career wins, instead he’s a forgotten soul.

Baseball is a game of speculation, of gut instinct, and of second guessing every single move made. As long as we’ve been baseball fans we’ve said, “I wouldn’t have left that pitcher in.” Or, “I would have pinch hit in that situation.” When we look back at the career of Noodles Hahn we say, “If only they could have managed his innings better he would have been one of the greatest pitchers of all time.”

The problem was, Hahn pitched at a time when hurlers were expected to finish what they started. This was the nature of the beast, and those pitchers themselves wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Hahn first appeared with the Cincinnati Reds during the 1899 season. For the sake of nicknames, playing in the 19th century was great. Born Frank, the nickname”Noodles” was bestowed on him at an early age. For the sake of his pitching career, the number of pitches piled on his left arm would prove costly.

If there would have been a Rookie of the Year Award back then, Noodles would have claimed it. His freshman season saw him go 23-8 with a 2.68 earned run average and he lead the league in strikeouts. There were only two games he started that he did not complete, and on a team with only ten total pitchers, he made appearances out of the bullpen as well.

On the 1901 Reds team, Hahn won 22 games leading the league in complete games and innings pitched, with 375.1. The Reds were awful, winning just 52 wins, meaning Hahn accounted for 42% of the team’s victories. A mark which is the second highest percentage in modern National League history.

Hahn was 24 years old when he won his 100th game, making him the youngest pitcher to reach the milestone (since eclipsed by Bob Feller as youngest to hit 100 wins). If he was able to pitch into his 40s, as many hurlers did back then, we can assume he would have hit 400 wins. Especially if he’d have gotten off the dreadful Reds teams he played for.

"I am wise enough to know that I cannot last forever and that I am greatly shortening my career by pitching as I did last season."

Noodles saw the writing on the wall and knew his left arm was being overworked. After accumulating 1900 innings in just six years, he could not overlook the soreness pitching brought to his body.

After eight years in the game, and 130 victories, Noodles called it quits and became a veterinarian.

When he played, he was a top-five left handed pitcher. The lack of longevity in his career kept him from appearing on several all-time lists. He’ll always have one of the best nicknames in the game.

For that, Noodles Hahn, I tip my hat to you.