Losing Pitcher Mulcahy
He may have had the most bad luck in baseball, or did he?
Olde-tyme baseball by C. Philip Francis – June 1, 2006
In the Golden Age of Comics, approximately 1930 to 1960, one of the most popular strips was Al Capp’s Li’l Abner from 1934 through 1977. In Capp’s array of many interesting characters that lived in his hillbilly society was Joe Btfsplk who had an ever-present rain cloud over his head wherever he went. If there was anyone in baseball who emulated hard luck Joe Btfsplk it had to be Hugh Noyes Mulcahy who was better known as “Losing Pitcher” Mulcahy. Hugh had the bad fortune of pitching for the “phutile” Philadelphia Phillies in the latter half of the 1930’s, and was the “losingest” pitcher in the major leagues during the four-year stretch from 1937 to 1940. The nickname came when the wire services and box scores listed Mulcahy as the LP, losing pitcher as opposed to WP or winning pitcher, so many times he became Losing Pitcher Mulcahy.
The 6-foot 2-inch, 190 pound right-hander was born September 9, 1913 in Brighton, Massachusetts. He began playing ball as a shortstop in grade school, was an all-star infielder in high school, was moved to the outfield for his one year in prep school, turned to pitching in 1932 when playing with a semi-pro team, and signed by the New York Giants after a tryout in 1933.
The Phillies now had the lanky pitcher in 1935 that won one game and lost 5. His major league debut was in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field as a reliever, and immediately retiring three future Hall of Famers - Lloyd Waner, Paul Waner, and Arky Vaughn in order. He was sent back to the minors, and had a short 3-game stint with Philadelphia in ’36 before returning to the Phillies in 1937 when he appeared in 56 games winning 8 and losing18.
At that time each league had eight teams, and so a team could end the season in first to eighth place. In Mulcahy’s first four years with the Phillies the team finished the season in seventh place, last, last, and again last place. In fact they did not enjoy a winning season until 1949 when the team finished in third with an 81-73 record. The team won their first pennant 1915, and would not play in any post-season games until 1950. During those trying times Philadelphia’s cellar dwellers had few quality players who could hit .300 or home runs with the exception of future Hall of Famer right fielder Chuck Klein who patrolled right field.
In that same four-year run the Phillies pitching rotation did have some good names on the mound - Claude Passeau, Bucky Walters, and Kirby Higby, but while the hard luck Mulcahy stayed put the others were traded away. Passeau went to the Chicago Cubs where he began to win games and appeared in the 1945 World Series. Walters left the sad Phillies in 1938 for the Cincinnati Reds to join Paul Derringer who together pitched the Reds into the 1939 and 1940 World Series. Higby was sent to the Brooklyn Dodgers where he immediately became a twenty-game winner, and led the Dodgers to the 1941 pennant.
In spite of his losing pitcher moniker, Mulcahy was a fine pitcher and had some great games. As Phillies manager Jimmie Wilson said, “Call him Losing Pitcher Mulcahy if you like, but he’s one heck of a pitcher.” One of his highlights occurred in September 16, 1938 in the second game of a double-header against the Cincinnati Reds in Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. If a pitcher is getting close to a rare no-hitter it is thought to be a jinx if someone mentions it aloud. Mulcahy made it past seven innings with a no-no when a lady yelled out, “Keep it up, Hughie, it will be a no-hitter!” The jinx quickly went to work as Cincinnati’s catcher Ernie Lombardi promptly singled. Was Mulcahy walking under a rain cloud as did Joe Btfsplk?
Maybe he was as that year the Phillies hurler had the first of his two 20 or more losing seasons, 10 wins and 20 losses, followed by 9 and 16 in ’39, and then 13 and 22 before he mercifully became the first major leaguer to be called into the armed services in March 1941, months before the Pearl Harbor attack. Not quite sure that his call was good or bad luck, Mulcahy said, “I may have got hit by a line drive if I had spent six more months with the Phillies.”
In spite of his record Mulcahy was selected for the 1940 All-Star game along with teammates third baseman Pinky May and Kirby Higby, but the two Philadelphia chuckers spent the entire contest on the bench. The game was held in Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis, and won by the National League 4-0 that was quickly decided by Max West’s three-run home run in the first inning.
Hugh Mulcahy saw action in the New Guinea jungles and the Phillippines, and was discharged in August of 1945 with a bronze star and three campaign ribbons. He had spent five years in the military service, and was now ready to pitch for the Phillies after losing those prime pitching years. While some players were able to return to baseball after the war ended, Mulcuhy could not. He had lost 25 pounds, the fast ball, and his pitching control. In Hugh’s first game back he went six innings against the Boston Braves losing 6-5, and in four more games winning one and losing three.
In 1946 he appeared in 16 games winning two and losing 4 before asking the Phillies for his release. He signed with the Pirates as a free agent, but was soon let go after being hit hard by his former Phillies team. Mulcahy was with a number of minor league teams until 1951 when he signed with the Chicago White Sox as minor league pitching coach and scout, and left baseball for good in 1971.
In retirement Mulcahy did a lot of golfing, spent time in civil work such as Meals on Wheels, and died on October 19, 2001.
Hugh’s major league pitching career lists 45 wins with 89 losses, and if the reader thinks Losing Pitcher Mulcahy is one of the most losingest pitchers in the majors think again. Cy Young is the number one losing pitcher with 316, and he is in the Hall of Fame.