Amos Rusie

“You can’t hit ‘em if you can’t see ’em.” said Hall of Famer John McGraw about hitting against Amos Rusie’s pitching. In his short but brilliant career, the “Hoosier Thunderbolt” helped revolutionize the game of baseball with his velocity. Perhaps the fastest pitcher of the 1890s, the right-handed Rusie won five National League strikeout titles with the New York Giants in the six seasons from 1890 to ’95, both before and after baseball moved the pitching mound in 1893 from 50 feet to its present 60 feet, 6 inches. Rusie struck out 5.4 batters per nine innings in four seasons prior to the switch—and 4.0 per nine in his first five years afterward. But like many hard-throwers past and present, Rusie did not always have the firmest grasp of the strike zone. He led the NL in walks for five straight seasons from 1890 to ’94, and his 289 free passes in ’90 remain the single-season record. A Rusie fastball once struck Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings in the head and knocked him unconscious for four days.

Career: 246-174 (50th), 3.07 ERA, 1950 SO (93rd), P/OF, HOF in 1977, Giants/Hoosiers/... 1889-1901, t:R, 5x SO Leader, born in IN 1871, died 1942

Famous for his speed, Amos Rusie was known as the 'Hoosier Thunderbolt.' Read bio and statistics for this Hall of Fame pitcher.

Amos Rusie career pitching statistics for Major League, Minor League, and postseason baseball

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Let's throw the names out there. Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling and Lefty Grove. Those are the strikeout pitchers of our day...

In a perfect world, pitcher Amos Rusie would be remembered as one of the game’s top fireballers of all time—on the Mount Rushmore of fastball pitchers alongside Bob Feller, Nolan Ryan, and Walter “Big Train” Johnson.

Major League Baseball Umpire. Between 1894 and 1890, he pitched in the American Association and the National League which later hired him in 1895. He worked the First World Series in 1903 and would work nine more in his tenure. He was the senior umpire behind home plate at the Polo Grounds in which Fred Merkle committed his boner which cost the New York Giants the League pennant to the Chicago Cubs in 1908. He would go on to umpire over 2,700 games in over a thirty year career ending in 1927. (bio by: Robert)

Famed Broadway actor DeWolf Hopper proudly claimed him as a close friend, and Lillian Russell clamored for an introduction. Restaurants and bars named drinks in his honor. He was revered by young and old. His overpowering fastball drew crowds not only in New York City, where he was celebrated as "Mr. Giant," but all around the National League. Before John McGraw managed the New York club and before such Giant heroes as Mel Ott, JoJo Moore and Carl Hubbell were even born, he was proclaimed as "The Colossus of Coogan's Bluff." Yet, when he was finally elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1977, Amos Wilson Rusie was unknown except to the most avid of baseball aficionados.

Amos Rusie baseball stats with batting stats, pitching stats and fielding stats, along with uniform numbers, salaries, quotes, career stats and biographical data presented by Baseball Almanac.

Amos Wilson Rusie (May 30, 1871 – December 6, 1942), nicknamed "The Hoosier Thunderbolt", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the late 19th century. He had a 10-season career in the National League (NL), which consisted of one season with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1889, eight with the New York Giants from 1890 to 1898, and one with the Cincinnati Reds in 1901.