The Forgotten Record Breakers: Tom Cheney and Bill Fischer

The great Bob Feller set a major league record by striking out 18 St. Louis Browns in 9 innings in 1938. 24 years later, his record was broken by near-anonymous pitcher Tom Cheney. Photo credits: Pinterest

You might think that if one of baseball’s greatest pitchers set a record that stood for 50 years, it would take an equal giant of the mound to break that record. 

It ain’t necessarily so.

Two records held by Hall of Fame pitchers were topped by two pitchers with career losing records you probably never heard of – within a span of three days in 1962. Both pitchers toiled in near-anonymity for ninth- and tenth-place teams in the newly expanded American League.

Tom Cheney

In 1938 a teen-aged phenom named Bob Feller had set a major league record by striking out 18 St. Louis Browns in 9 innings. 

On the night of September 12, 1962, righthander Tom Cheney started for the 10th-place Washington Senators in Baltimore. The score was tied, 1-1, after nine innings. Cheney had fanned 13 Orioles.

In those days pitchers were still expected to finish what they started. The game went 16 innings before Washington scored the winning run. Cheney threw a called third strike past the last Orioles batter, his eighth strikeout in the seven extra innings and 21st of the game.

Given today’s parade-of-pitchers game, it’s a feat that will never be matched. But in all fairness, it deserves a footnote or asterisk because it took Cheney 16 innings to accomplish.  Four pitchers later rang up 20 Ks in a nine-inning game: Roger Clemens (twice), Kerry Wood, Randy Johnson and Max Scherzer.

Cheney began 1963 with a one-hit shutout, gave up one earned run in four starts, then hurt his arm and was done at the age of 27.  His eight-year career record was 19-29.

Bill Fischer

In 1913, Christy Mathewson, a master of putting pitches where he wanted them to go, worked 68 consecutive innings without issuing a walk.

Almost 50 years later, righthander Bill Fischer was toiling for the Kansas City A’s. On August 3, 1962, he started against Cleveland by walking leadoff batter Bubba Phillips.  From then until the last game of the season, he trod in the footsteps of the immortal Matty. He didn’t walk another batter until September 30 – 84 1/3 consecutive innings later, a record that still stands.

But control alone was not enough to avert a 4-12 record for the ninth-place A’s. In nine years he compiled a 45-58 record.

So, are records made to be broken? Some apparently, but not all. And are records set by Hall of Famers made to be broken only by Hall of Famers? Some, but not all.

(Note: This article is based on research done by SABR member Andy Sharp.)