LOCAL LEGENDS: Mountain City Resident Provides No-Hitter for Reds

Clyde Shoun’s 14 seasons in Major League Baseball could simply be classified as a success.

Spending time with five teams, the left-handed pitcher racked up 73 wins, 29 saves and a 3.91 ERA in a career that spanned 454 games from 1935-1949.

He excelled as a reliever. He was a good option as a starter. Shoun wasn’t too shabby with the bat either.

But the most notable moment of his career came on May 15, 1944, and made the man from Mountain City, Tenn., a legend.

Taking the mound for the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field, Shoun tossed a no-hitter in a 1-0 victory over the Boston Braves. It was the 109th no-hitter in big league history and is one of just 256 no-no’s ever tossed in the majors.

It was the ultimate highlight for the guy whose nickname was “Hardrock.”

Getting Started
In the summer of 1935, the Chicago Cubs purchased Shoun’s contract from Birmingham of the Southern League for $15,000.

“That was big money in those days,” Mountain City resident Ralph Stout said.

Shoun made a strong impression with his new club that summer and went 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in five appearances.

However, his stay in Chicago was brief. Prior to the 1938 season, Shoun and teammates Curt Davis and Tuck Stainback were traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for legendary pitcher Dizzy Dean.

The change of scenery served Shoun well. He became a workhorse for the Cardinals. In 1939, he appeared in 53 games and went 3-1 with nine saves and a 3.76 ERA. One year later, he was 13-11 with five saves and a 3.92 ERA and led the league in appearances with 54.

The people in Johnson County were taking notice of their native son.

“He was a pretty big hero,” Johnson County resident Jack Swift said.

Stout was in high school when Shoun was tearing through the major leagues. He remembers Shoun’s offseason visits to his hometown.

“He actually let me borrow his car when I was in high school,” Stout said. “He was a heck of a guy. He did a lot for the young kids. He would haul them around and feed us and buy us meals.”

Shoun’s stay in St. Louis ended in the first month of the 1942 season as his contract was sold to Cincinnati. His third stop in big leagues would also be where his most memorable moment occurred.

The No-Hitter
Shoun won 13 games in 1944. None were bigger than his victory over the Braves on that May day in Ohio.

With World War II raging in Europe and with just 1,014 fans in attendance, Shoun pitched the game of his life.

A third inning walk to opposing pitcher Jim Tobin proved to be the only baserunner that reached against Shoun. Ironically, Tobin had pitched a no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers less than three weeks earlier.

The 29-year-old Shoun had two hits to back his own cause and mowed through the Braves lineup quickly.

In fact, the game lasted just 1 hour and 19 minutes.

Rookie Chuck Aleno connected for a solo home run in the fifth inning for Cincinnati’s lone run and assured Shoun of the victory.

It was the first no-hitter tossed by a Cincinnati pitcher in six years.

Swift was just 6-years-old at the time, but he’s heard of the stories of how the folks at home reacted to their hero’s accomplishment.

“I do remember that the older people told me later, that people were glued to their radios,” Swift said. “They wanted to listen to the local boys’ exploits in the big leagues.”

Hardrock Memories
Shoun would miss the 1945 season while serving in the United States Navy. He returned to the majors in 1946 and struggled for Cincinnati. That was followed by stints with the
Boston Braves and Chicago White Sox. Shoun pitched his final major league game on July 19, 1949.

However, his days taking the mound weren’t completely over. Swift, a former sports writer for The Tomahawk newspaper in Johnson County, remembers Shoun pitching for a semi-pro team based in Mountain City.

Stout, a long-time umpire in the area, also witnessed those games.

“I never saw him pitch in the majors,” Stout said. “But when I did see him pitch afterwards, he still threw hard. You could hear it going through the air … There weren’t too many people around here that could catch him.”

Shoun died on March 20, 1968, at the Mountain Home Veterans Hospital in Tennessee. Sadly, he passed away on his 56th birthday.

However, his memory still lives on in his hometown.

“He was a heck of a guy,” Stout said.
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