Toney was a 6’6″ 245-lb workhorse who, pitching 340 innings, went 24-16 for the Reds in 1917. That May 2, in one of baseball’s all-time classic pitching duels, Toney threw ten innings of no-hit, shutout ball to defeat the Cubs’ Hippo Vaughn, who did not give up a hit or a run until the tenth inning. Toney again displayed his skill and stamina on July 1, 1917, when he pitched both ends of a doubleheader, defeating the Pirates 4-1 and 5-1. He had hurled a 17-inning no-hitter as a 21-year-old in the Blue Grass league in 1909, striking out 19 and walking one.
Toney went 15-6 in 1915 with a 1.58 ERA – second in the league to Grover Cleveland Alexander. He had dropped to 6-10 in 1918 when he was sold in mid-season to the Giants, for whom he went 21-11 in 1920. He followed with an 18-11 mark for the 1921 World Champions, but didn’t make it through the third inning in either of his World Series starts. He faded to 5-6 in 1922, refused to report when the Giants traded him to the Braves that July, and was waived to the Cardinals in October.
