Rusie, Amos W.
Baseball
b. May 30, 1871, Mooresville, IN
d. Dec. 6, 1942
Known as the "Hoosier Thunderbolt" because of his great fastball, Rusie was one of the greatest pitchers of the late nineteenth century. He joined the National League's Indianapolis team during the 1889 season and had a 12-10 record.
The franchise folded after that season and the 6-foot-1, 200-pound right-hander went to the New York Giants. He had a 29-34 record in 1890, when he led the league with 341 strikeouts, and he was the strikeout leader again with 337 in 1891, when he was 33-20 with a league-leading 6 shutouts.
After going 31-31 in 1892, Rusie led the NL with 56 games, 50 complete games, 4 shutouts, 482 innings pitched, and 208 strikeouts in 1893. He had a 33-21 record that year and he was the league leader in victories with a 36-13 mark in 1894, when he also had a league-leading 195 strikeouts.
Rusie led the league in strikeouts for the fifth and last time with 201 in 1895. After his 23-23 record that season, the Giants took $200 out of his pay for allegedly breaking training rules. Rusie said he wouldn't rejoin the team until the money was paid back to him. He took the issue to court and sat out the entire 1896 season.
Because he was a very popular player, other NL teams chipped in $5,000 to make up for the cut and the season he'd missed. Rusie dropped his lawsuit and returned to the Giants in 1897, when he had a 28-10 record, lifting the team from seventh to third place.
He had a 20-11 record in 1898 and the Giants wanted to cut his salary from $3,000 to $2,000. Again, Rusie balked and went into retirement. He returned to the major leagues briefly with the Cincinnati Reds in 1901 but retired for good after appearing in only 3 games.