PRO BASEBALL: Book Recalls Ron Necciai's Magical Night In 1952

Page 3B, 12-25-08

Necciai’s magical night comes to life in Stone’s book

Tim Hayes
Column

Like most people who grew up in Bristol, George Stone heard the stories and read about the exploits of the legendary Ron Necciai most of his life.

On May 13, 1952 at Bristol’s Shaw Stadium, Necciai accomplished a feat that no other player in baseball history has matched. Pitching for the Bristol Twins of the Class D Appalachian League, Necciai struck out 27 batters over nine innings in a no-hit performance against the Welch (W.Va.) Miners.

No player before or since has come close to matching Necciai’s nine-inning brilliance. A plaque currently sits near the entrance way of DeVault Stadium to commemorate the night,
and most Bristolians have heard the Necciai story.

Now, Stone has chronicled the man responsible for that magical night in his latest release, “Rocket Ron: The Ron Necciai Story and His Record-Setting 27 Strikeouts.” The 211-page book, released last month by Infinity Publishing, chronicles the life and career of Necciai.

The project took Stone nearly four years to complete, but the final product was well worth it for the former Bristol Herald Courier sports editor.

“The motivation, I suppose, was just to tell a story of a man who established a record in professional baseball, which almost 50 years later, still has yet to be matched,” Stone said. “Even though it was done at the lowest of the minor-league level, no one had ever struck out 27 batters in a nine-inning professional game before Ron and no one has done it since.
“Baseball is a game of records, and to me this is one record that is truly amazing.”

Stone writes about Necciai’s childhood in the mills of Monongahela, Pa., and his emergence as a prospect with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Necciai had to deal with the death of his father at a young age, the uncertainty of whether he would be able to hang in professional baseball and ulcers that caused him pain frequently.

But through it all, Necciai remained an unassuming and likeable young man. It makes it easy to root for the right-hander while flipping through the pages.

“Ron is the real thing,” Stone said. “Extremely humble. No arrogance about the man whatsoever. The fact he holds this record is really no big deal to him. Of course, he’s proud of the achievement, but he doesn’t wear it on his shirtsleeve. He never brings the subject up, and I’m told that by those who are close to him.”

The book also does an excellent job of depicting what Bristol was like in the early 1950s. Such landmarks as Bunting’s Drug Store, Trayer’s Restaurant, the Hotel Bristol and of course, Shaw Stadium, are mentioned and are sure to bring back memories for anyone who lived in the area during that period.

But the most compelling part of the book centers on that record-setting night 56 years ago. Stone talked to every living member of the Welch and Bristol teams during his research and the moments are recalled vividly by those who played a part in history.

From the first strikeout that night of Sam Germano to the final whiff of Bob Kendrick that sent the Shaw Stadium crowd into hysterics, Stone captures it all.
Stone also learned some new stuff about that night he had not realized before taking on the task of telling Necciai’s story.

“I guess I was surprised by the fact that Necciai and catcher Harry Dunlop were not aware that Ron was striking out so many batters,” Stone said. “It wasn’t until about the seventh inning that Dunlop was wondering why the fans were cheering so much and somebody on the bench said it’s because Ron’s striking out everybody.
“But Ron and Harry were so involved with the game that you can understand why they were not aware of all the strikeouts. Plus, it wasn’t like it was a perfect game as several of the
Welch batters got on base by way of a hit batsman, error, passed ball and a fielder’s choice.”

Necciai was promoted and left Bristol shortly after his 27-strikeout masterpiece and even moved into Pittsburgh’s big league rotation at the end of the 1952 season. He won just one game and had a 7.08 ERA in 12 appearances for the Pirates.

It would be his only time in the big leagues as a shoulder injury cut short his promising career.

“He exhibits no bitterness at all as far as the career-ending injury,” Stone said. “He knows how tough life can be, and his philosophy is to get over it and move on.”

Stone wonders what Necciai’s future would have held if not for injuries.

“No one will ever really know. But one can guess, and my guess would be that Ron Necciai would have been one of the game’s great pitchers,” Stone said. “When he came up to the Pirates at the end of the 1952 season, he had some very brilliant games pitched.
“He was 1-7 in his brief time with Pittsburgh, but the awful Pirates had to take some of the blame for that won-loss record. Control was his nemesis, but when he had control he was a very good pitcher. And I would think that if he had been allowed to pitch in the majors, his control would have improved. About everyone in baseball at that time said Necciai was a comer.”

And most who read this book would say it does an excellent job of capturing an old era of professional baseball and paints an excellent picture of the greatest athletic achievement Bristol has ever witnessed.

thayes@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2570