Johnny Lush Does It
Giants at Cardinals, May 21, 1908
Johnny Lush Does It
Johnny Lush is the sort of player you’ll only know about if you’re a replayer.
Lush was a young phenom in the early 1900s. According to his SABR biography, Lush was only 18 years old when he came up with the Phillies in late 1904, and was likely one of the youngest regular players of his day.
While still with the Phillies, Lush threw a no hitter against Brooklyn on May 1, 1906. After moving to the Cardinals, Lush threw another no-hitter against Brooklyn on August 6, 1908, though this one was held to only 6 innings due to rain.
So why haven’t we heard of this guy?
It’s simple. He was cursed with playing on bad teams.
Lush managed only a 66-85 record in his few years of Major League pitching, making him less than a favorite for fans of traditional stats. Fans of more modern stats can’t point to much in his favor, either. His ERA+ of 97 was pedestrian, he almost walked as many men as he struck out, and he never really had a standout season.
But he sure came up big in this one.
The Giants came into this game riding on a 13 game winning streak. But they left in disgrace, thanks to a great shutout by Johnny.
Hooks Wiltse’s curves just didn’t curve right, and the Cardinals had a field day at the plate. Lush, meanwhile, was never really in trouble, overcoming 4 walks and 6 hits to hold the Giants to absolutely nothing on offense.
It just goes to show you that anything can happen in any given game.