View source for Ron Necciai

{{short description|American baseball player (born 1932)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
|name=Ron Necciai
|image=
Ron Necciai.jpg
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|number=21
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1932|6|18}}
|birth_place=[[Forward Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Gallatin, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|debutleague = MLB
|debutdate=August 10
|debutyear=1952
|debutteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
|finalleague = MLB
|finaldate=September 28
|finalyear=1952
|finalteam=Pittsburgh Pirates
|statleague = MLB
|stat1label=[[Win–loss record (pitching)|Win–loss record]]
|stat1value=1–6
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=7.08
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=31
|teams=
*[[Pittsburgh Pirates]] ({{mlby|1952}})
}}
'''Ronald Andrew Necciai''' [NEH-chai], (born June 18, 1932), is a former [[Major League Baseball]] [[starting pitcher]] who played with the [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] in the [[1952 Pittsburgh Pirates season|1952 season]]. He batted and threw right-handed.
Necciai is best remembered for the unique feat of [[strikeout|striking out]] 27 batters in a nine-inning game, which he accomplished while playing with the Class-D [[Appalachian League]] team, the [[Bristol Twins]], on May 13, 1952. He is the only pitcher ever to do so in a nine-inning, professional-league game.
==Minor League career==
Necciai pitched two seasons of Class-D baseball before being drafted in the Pirates' farm system in 1952 at age 19. He was assigned to pitch for the Bristol Twins, the Pirates' Appalachian League team. On May 13, pitching despite painful [[stomach ulcer]]s,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pirates.baseball-news-update.com/tag/ron-necciai/ |title=Ron Necciai |publisher=pirates.baseball-news-update.com |access-date=September 5, 2010}}</ref> Necciai struck out 27 batters while throwing a 7–0 [[no-hitter]] against the [[Welch Miners]]. Four of the Welch hitters did reach base, via a [[Base on balls|walk]], an [[Error (baseball)|error]], a [[hit by pitch|hit batsman]] and a [[passed ball]] charged to Twins' [[catcher]] [[Harry Dunlop]] on a swinging third strike.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A 27-strikeout no-hitter? 'No big deal' |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/the-man-who-struck-out-27-batters |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref> This resulted in a four-strikeout ninth inning. Only two batters put the ball in play: Robert Ganung grounded out to first base in the fourth inning, while Frank Whitehead got on base on an error in the ninth.
In his next start, Necciai threw a 24-strikeout two-hitter.
In that season he struck out 109 hitters in 43 innings with Bristol, and a [[Carolina League]]-high 172 in 126 innings at Burlington before quickly climbing the ranks of the organization and eventually getting called up to the Major Leagues amid heavy publicity in August 1952.<ref name=si>{{cite web|author=Pat Jordan |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066032/6/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603064745/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1066032/6/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 3, 2010 |title=In 1952, Ron Necciai, 19, struck out 27 batters in nine – 06.01.87 – SI Vault |publisher=Sportsillustrated.cnn.com |date=June 1, 1987 |access-date=September 5, 2010 |author-link=Pat Jordan (author)}}</ref>
==Major League career==
At 20 years old, Necciai posted a 1–6 record with 31 strikeouts and a 7.08 [[earned run average]] in 54{{fraction|2|3}} [[innings pitched]] from August 10 to September 28, 1952, the single season comprising his entire Major League Baseball career.
==Later years==
Necciai served a brief stint in the [[United States Army]] in 1953 before being released on a [[military discharge|medical discharge]].<ref name=si/> He returned to baseball thereafter, but was plagued by injuries resulting from his long-standing battle with stomach ulcers and further debilitation from a torn [[rotator cuff]].<ref name=si/> He spent the years between 1953 and 1955 in various lower levels of professional baseball, but was ultimately unable to overcome injuries.<ref name=si/> He later began a successful career in the sporting goods industry.<ref name=si/>
==See also==
{{Portal|Baseball}}
*[[List of Major League Baseball pitchers with 18 strikeouts in one game]]
==References==
;In-line citations
{{reflist}}
;Further reading
*[[Dennis Snelling]]: ''A Glimpse of Fame'', McFarland & Company, Jefferson, North Carolina, 1993, pages 135–149
*{{cite magazine | magazine = [[Sports Illustrated]] | title = Kid K: In 1952, Ron Necciai, 19, Struck Out 27 Batters in Nine Innings | last1 = Jordan | first1 = Pat | url = https://vault.si.com/vault/1987/06/01/kid-k-in-1952-ron-necciai-19-struck-out-27-batters-in-nine-innings-the-three-greatest-pitchers-branch-rickey-had-known-were-christy-mathewson-dizzy-dean-and-ron-necciai | date = June 1, 1987 | pages = 82–94}}
==External links==
{{Baseballstats |mlb=119680 |espn= |br=n/necciro01 |fangraphs=1009478 |brm=neccia001ron}}
*[http://www.blueridgecountry.com/archive/ron-necciai.html The Man Who Struck Out Everybody (article)]
*[https://baseballbiography.com/ron-necciai (profile)] ''Baseball Library''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Necciai, Ron}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bristol Twins players]]
[[Category:Burlington-Graham Pirates players]]
[[Category:Hollywood Stars players]]
[[Category:Major League Baseball pitchers]]
[[Category:New Orleans Pelicans (baseball) players]]
[[Category:People from Monongahela, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Washington County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Pittsburgh Pirates players]]
[[Category:Salisbury Pirates players]]
[[Category:Shelby Farmers players]]
[[Category:Waco Pirates players]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]