At the turn of the century, Noodles was Cincinnati’s best pitcher. A splendid 23-7 in his rookie season, he was the only lefthander until Steve Carlton to win 20 games for an eighth-place team. He also led the league in strikeouts. He no-hit the Phillies in 1900, completed 41 games in 42 1901 starts, a year in which he fanned 19 Bostons, and he achieved his fourth 20-win record in five seasons in 1903. In 1905 his arm gave out. Over his career, he had 210 complete games in 229 starts, threw 25 shutouts, and issued only 379 walks, about 1.7 per nine innings. After baseball, he was a Cincinnati meat inspector and stayed in good physical condition by working out afternoons with the Reds until he was 67.
