When a pitcher is on a weak-hitting team, there’s an old saying to the effect that he’d better throw a shutout every time out. Right-handed fireballer Virgil “Fire” Trucks took that to an extreme in 1952 when he pitched for a bad Detroit Tigers team that finished 50-104 and in last place in the American League. That season, Trucks had a 5-19 record. His five victories included two no-hitters, a one-hitter, and a two-hitter.
In 1938, Trucks, a Birmingham, Alabama native, was pitching for Andalusia in the independent Class D Alabama-Florida League. Andalusia sold his contract to Detroit for $10,000 on Opening Day that season, under the condition that he be allowed to pitch for Andalusia for the rest of the season. Trucks later learned that Andalusia made the deal because it needed cash for new lights to be installed at the ballpark. Trucks joined the Detroit system in 1939 and was called up by the Tigers in September 1941, when he was 24 years old. He made his major league debut on September 27, pitching two innings of relief against the Chicago White Sox at Briggs Stadium. Trucks surrendered two runs on that day, his only major league appearance in 1941. But the Tigers must have liked what they saw, because they never returned him to the minor leagues.
Trucks was 14-8 with a 2.74 ERA in 1942, 16-10 with a 2.84 ERA in 1943. There were no radar guns during his playing days – or, more specifically, they existed but were used by traffic cops, not by major league teams to clock pitchers – but Trucks estimated that in his prime, he threw 100 miles per hour. Ted Williams said that Trucks was the hardest thrower he ever faced.
War Heroes
Across 1942-43 Trucks had accumulated 7.9 WAR, although the only war anybody was concerned about at the time was raging across the ocean in Europe. In 1944, Uncle Sam extended Trucks an offer he couldn’t refuse – at least not legally – and cordially invited him to participate in the proceedings as a member of the United States Navy. Trucks missed the entire 1944 baseball season and all but the final three games of the 1945 season. He was discharged on September 28, 1945 and joined the Tigers immediately. Detroit manager Steve O’Neill tabbed him to start the final game of the season on the 30th against the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman’s Park. You read that right – no minor league rehab assignment, no spring training equivalent, no weeks of soft-tossing or throwing off flat ground. Oh, yeah – and the Tigers needed that win to clinch the American League pennant with the hard-charging Washington Senators a game behind. That day, Trucks pitched 5-1/3 innings, surrendering one run and exiting with a 2-1 lead, although he wasn’t the winning pitcher when the Tigers ultimately won, 6-3.
Those Tigers faced the National League champion Chicago Cubs in the 1945 World Series. Trucks started Game 2 at Briggs and tossed a complete game, 4-1 victory to even the Series. The big blow for Detroit was a three-run home run by Hank Greenberg, who returned to the team on July 1 after four years in the Air Force. The United Press story played up the angle of the two returning war veterans as heroes, running a photo of Trucks and the taller Greenberg in a big bear hug. Cubs manager Charley Grimm was succinct in describing Trucks’ pitching. “Pretty good pitching, fast, very fast, and a good curve, don’t overlook that,” said Grimm.
Trucks wasn’t as effective in his next start in Game 6, giving up four runs in 4-1/3 innings in a game the Cubs won in 12 innings. The Tigers recovered to win Game 7 convincingly, 9-3, earning Trucks his first World Series ring.
The Strangest Season
Now that Trucks had settled into civilian life, he picked up where he left off before World War II and was a stalwart in Detroit’s rotation. From 1946-51, he was 73-54. His best season came in 1949, when he was 19-11 with a 2.81 ERA while leading the majors with six shutouts and 153 strikeouts, accumulating 6.9 WAR, and making his first All-Star team. The Tigers generally had good teams during that period. They finished second in 1950 with a 95-59 record, just three games behind the New York Yankees. In 1952, however, came a stunning freefall, and their 50-104 record was the worst in Tigers history at the time. The 1952 Tigers’ 4.25 ERA was the worst in the AL. Only Washington’s .239 batting average was worse than the Tigers’ .243 in the AL.
On May 15, a “crowd” of 2,215 showed up at Briggs Stadium to watch the Tigers and Senators face off on a Thursday afternoon. What they saw was a pitching duel for the ages. Trucks pitched his first no-hitter of the season. His mound opponent, Bob Porterfield, had a no-hitter of his own until George Kell singled with two outs in the sixth inning. After Trucks struck out Mickey Vernon for the third out in the ninth, he was worried. The game was still scoreless.
No-hitters were nothing new to Trucks. He had pitched four of them in the minor leagues. But he thought back to 1941. “I was worried I’d lose this no-hitter just like I did when I pitched for Buffalo against Montreal in the International League 11 years ago,” he explained to United Press. “Montreal came up with a run in the 10th, and I was licked, 1-0. I worried that the same thing might happen this time.” However, the Tigers’ Vic Wertz took care of that. With two out in the bottom of the ninth, he cracked a long home run to deep right field off Porterfield, winning the game for Trucks, 1-0. “I immediately jumped up in that small dugout and hit my head on the ceiling,” Trucks told Bill Dow of The Detroit Free Press in 2004. “I didn’t draw blood, but I sure saw some stars.” The Tigers were now 7-18, buried in last place, but their manager, Red Rolfe, who would be fired later in the season, was optimistic. “If Trucks is on his way – and I think he is – we won’t be taking steady lickings anymore,” said Rolfe, according to United Press.
Keep on Truckin’
Indeed, it looked like Trucks was truckin.’ In his next start on May 21 at Briggs, he beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 5-1, allowing two hits, although he needed a four-out save from Dick Littlefield. However, over his next 12 games, which included two relief appearances, he was 1-9 with a blown save despite pitching well.
Then it was back at Briggs Stadium against the Senators on July 22. Washington’s Eddie Yost led off the game by hitting Trucks’ first pitch sharply past Kell at third base for a single. That was the only hit the Senators got on that Tuesday evening. They had three other baserunners, all on walks. Trucks faced just 29 batters and won the game, 1-0. Afterward, there were no what-ifs or second-guessing himself. Trucks described Yost’s hit as a “clean single,” and that was that.
Controversy
Trucks had to wait until August 25 to record his fifth and final win of the season. This time, it was at Yankee Stadium against the mighty, eventual World Series champion Yankees on a Monday afternoon, and it was Trucks’ second no-hitter of the year. The Tigers also won this one 1-0 – they certainly never made it easy for Trucks – and the game wasn’t without controversy.
In the bottom of the third, New York’s Phil Rizzuto led off with a grounder to shortstop Johnny Pesky. The ball got stuck in the web of Pesky’s glove. Pesky pulled it out, bobbled it, and fired to first base, where umpire Bill Grieve called Rizzuto safe. Trucks and several teammates argued vehemently; Trucks later said he came close to being tossed from the game. Meanwhile, official scorer John Drebinger of the New York Times ruled it an error, then changed his mind and ruled it a hit.
Trucks continued to pitch, believing he had a one-hitter. However, in the seventh inning, after being badgered about the third inning ruling by his fellow press box denizens, Drebinger called the Tigers’ dugout to speak to Pesky. Under the official scorer’s guidelines, if the ball had simply stuck in Pesky’s glove, preventing him from pulling it out, the play would be ruled a hit. But Pesky confirmed that he was able to get the ball out of the webbing and would have had the out at first had he not juggled it. Drebinger changed his mind again and ruled the play an error. The attendees roared their approval.
“Don’t Let Him Pitch a No-Hitter!”
Mickey Mantle led off the bottom of the ninth for the Yankees. From the Yankees dugout, manager Casey Stengel could be heard shouting at his speedy superstar, “Bunt! Drag! Don’t let him pitch a no-hitter!” In 1995, Trucks recalled to Bill Shei of Baseball Digest, “In later years, I talked to Mantle, and he said, ‘I could hear the old man, and I didn’t even pay any attention to him. I could tie the ball game if I hit the ball out of the park.’”
Instead, Mantle struck out. Joe Collins crushed a line drive into left-center field that center fielder Johnny Groth ran down with a spectacular grab. Trucks then retired Hank Bauer on a one-hop smash directly at second baseman Al Federoff. As Trucks was mobbed by his teammates, the fans in attendance cheered. “I still think a lot of those New York fans were die-hard Giant and Dodger supporters who loved to root against the Yankees,” Trucks told Dow. Trucks joined the Yankees’ Allie Reynolds as the only two AL pitchers to pitch two no-hitters. Of course, the shared accomplishment of “Fire” and “Super Chief” became forgotten footnotes years later when a fellow by the name of Nolan Ryan came along.
Reflecting on his career in later years, Trucks often told writers that after his 19th loss, he was sent to the bullpen to be used in games with the Tigers far ahead or far behind, to avoid becoming a 20-game loser. However, the record contradicts this story. Although he sometimes pitched in relief in between starts – a common practice during that era – Trucks remained in the rotation and suffered his 19th loss on the next-to-last day of the season.
Trades and Two More World Series Rings
After the 1952 season, Trucks was in the hospital recovering from gall bladder surgery when his wife brought him a newspaper. That was how he found out he’d been traded to the St. Louis Browns. The Browns didn’t keep him long – who knew what they were doing most of the time – and traded him to the White Sox in June 1953. With Chicago, he had success, including a 1954 season when he went 19-12 with a 2.79 ERA while being named to his second and final All-Star team.
Trucks returned to the Tigers in 1956 and was then dealt to the Kansas City Athletics in 1957. Yankees owner Dan Topping had arranged for his business associate, Arnold Johnson, to buy the Philadelphia Athletics and move them to Kansas City in 1955. Thereafter, the teams had what can best be described as an incestuous relationship, with the Athletics serving as a de facto Quadruple-A farm team for the Yankees via a series of one-sided trades in the Yankees’ favor, most famously sending Roger Maris to New York in December 1959. So, when Trucks began the 1958 season with a 2.05 ERA in 16 games out of the bullpen for Kansas City, it was inevitable that he would be “called up” to the Yankees. Trucks made 25 relief appearances for the Yankees, going 2-1 with a 4.54 ERA. The Yankees won the World Series that year, earning Trucks his second World Series ring, although he wasn’t on the postseason roster.
Trucks pitched for Triple-A Miami in the Baltimore Orioles system in 1959 before ending his playing career. He was 42 years old. In 1960, he joined the Pittsburgh Pirates as a batting practice pitcher (and probably unofficial assistant pitching coach), garnering one more World Series ring. In retirement, he received several autograph requests, replying to them all without charge, including one for this writer in 1998 when Trucks sent a photo of himself in a Browns uniform, signed in blue ink except that “Fire” was signed in red, stamped with a red fire truck and another stamp commemorating his two 1952 no-hitters, the only two of his major league career. He passed away in 2013 at age 95.
