Tuesday Trivia: Most shutouts in a single season

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HINT: He is widely credited as having pitched the first no-hitter in National League, and by some historians' standards MLB history. This no-hitter occurred in the same year as his 16 shutouts.

It should be noted that some historians claim that a different pitcher, Joe Borden, who had pitched a no-hitter the year prior in the National Association League also pitched the first no-hitter in NL history, but contemporary newspaper accounts do not support that.


Here is the account of the no-hitter by our trivia answer during his 16 shutout season:

"The Globe-Democrat yesterday morning announced the fact that the St. Louis Base Ball club intended accomplishing the greatest feat in the annals of the game, if sharp play could bring about the result prayed for, which was nothing less than the whitewashing of the famous Hartford nine for the third consecutive time. They did it and thereby covered themselves with glory and sent their admirers into ecstacies. A large crowd was present to witness the discomfiture of the Dark Blues. In the matter of the toss, luck for the first time in a long while deserted McGeary, which was considered a favorable omen for Hartford, but, as the sequel showed, failed to prove such. St. Louis won the game in the first two innings by the fine batting of Clapp and Blong, and four unfortunate errors by their opponents. In the last seven innings Bond was so well supported that the Browns could not possibly increase their score. XXXXXXX's pitching, and the magnificent backing given it by the fielders, won the day for St. Louis. For the first time in the annals of the League, nine innings were played without a single base hit being placed to the credit of one of the teams. The Hartford's utterly failed to do anything whatever with XXXXXXX's twisters. Weak infield hits and easy flies were the order of the afternoon on their side, and a chance for an out was rarely missed. XXXXXXX has good reason to be proud of his record. His associates, especially Clapp, whose beautiful batting was a marked feature of the game, did fairly off Bond's curves, and thereby won the game. Three such games as have been played during the past week by the St. Louis and Hartford Clubs have never been witnessed, the scores being 2 to 0, 3 to 0, and 2 to 0, all in favor of St. Louis. They will be placed on record as the most wonderful struggles in the history of the national pastime. When it is stated that until last Tuesday Hartford had not been whitewashed this season, and that for twenty-seven consecutive innings they were retired by the Browns without scoring, and almost in one-two-three order, some idea of the magnificent manner in which they must have fielded the stinging hist of such men as Burdock, Higham, Ferguson, and the other Blue Legs can be formed.
-St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 16, 1876