Skip to main content

Sunday School: History Lesson 43

Hugh Mulcahy was a pitcher with the Phillies from 1935-1940, then again from 1945-1946. Mulcahy was the first Major League regular to enter the military during World War II. Mulcahy was a converted infielder, whose arm strength earned him a trial on the pitchers mound.

Mulcahy was purchased by the Phillies from the Senators in July 1935 and made his Phillies debut that year in a single inning of relief work against the Pirates, the only other Major League team he would ever play for. In that appearance, he faced Lloyd Waner, Paul Waner and Arky Vaughn, three future Hall of Famers, and retired them all in order. Mulcahy then made 5 starts, but failed to win any of them and was sent back to the minors and was urged to abandon his side arm delivery, and raise it to a higher angle. Mulcahy went on to earn 25 wins with Hazleton to lead the Class A New York-Penn League. That would earn him a return trip to the big leagues.

Mulcahy's time with the Phillies earned him the unique nickname of "Losing Pitcher", as he led the National League in losses twice. He never had a full season in the Majors in which he won more games than he lost. Following an 18-loss 1937 season, in 1938 Mulcahy went 10-20, to lead the league in losses. The following season, when he posted a 9-16 record, the reporters began referring to Mulcahy as "Losing Pitcher Mulcahy".

In 1940, Mulcahy lead the NL in losses again, with a 13-22 record, but he pitched better than his record might indicate as he completed 21 games and finished the season with a 3.60 ERA. He defeated the defending champion Reds three times out of five starts. In July he reeled off 5 straight wins and in late September, in his final start before leaving for military service, he defeated 9-time all star and 2-time MVP Carl Hubbell and the Giants 6-0 at the Polo Grounds. He also made the all star team that season by posting 7 of his wins by the all star break.

Mulachy would miss the next 4 seasons serving his country. When he returned to the Phillies in August 1945, he had lost considerable weight from an illness and lost his fastball as well. Despite participating as an instructor at a 3 week camp, for players returning from military service prior to spring training 1946, Mulcahy was no longer the same pitcher that he was prior to the war. He would win only 3 more games for the Phils, upon his return. He saw action in 2 games for the Pirates in 1947, and he pitched in the minors after that, until 1950.

After retiring from playing, Mulcahy would work as an instructor in the Chicago White Sox system for several years and even serve as an assistant pitching coach for Chicago during the 1970 season.

-------------------------------

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE !

BallHype: hype it up!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

2021 Phillies Top Prospects Countdown: #22 SS Casey Martin

Please visit Patreon.com/PhoulBallz in order to support my work, get access to material like this before anyone else and get access to interviews as well as other exclusive content you can't get anywhere else.   A third round draft pick last year, Arkansas junior Casey Martin was quickly signed by the Phillies and consideration as one of the organization's top infield prospects quickly began.  The team's confidence in his ceiling is likely evident in the signing bonus he got, which was reportedly $1.3 million, which was considerably more than slot money dictated by his 87th overall draft position ($685K). The right-handed batting Martin tallied a .311/.393/.545 slash line with 30 homers, 24 steals and 112 RBI in 143 games through his college career at Arkansas.  Reports had him falling in the draft as a result of an injury to the hamate bone in his left hand prior to his 2020 season.  Prior to the procedure, Baseball America projected Martin as a top ten draft pick.

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal

Slick fielding Sam is the Champion of the (PhoulBallz) world!

Phillies Ball(z)girl Sam Arnone was kind enough to answer some questions for the PhoulBallz site and all of you. Sam will be entering her 3rd season as a Phillies ballgirl and is a junior at Drexel University. Sam hails from the great town of Mt. Ephram, NJ. 1- Since the Phillies are the World Champions of baseball teams, are the Phillies ballgirls the world champions of ballgirl teams? - Of Course!!! There are not that many teams that have Ballgirls, so the competition is a little scarce. I would definitely put my team up against any other Ballgirl team with full confidence! 2- What is your routine to prepare for a day of on-field duties? - Before a game, I am always a little nervous. Once I am ready to leave my house and head to the ballpark I triple check my bag to make sure I have my glove and then I check again. I always have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat because it keeps me full and gives me energy for the entire game. I guess I might have to find a new favorite sa