Reuschel Brothers

It's 1975. 

And here you are, pitching at Triple-A Wichita, pushing hard to get to the big leagues. Your little brother Rick made it to The Show a couple of years ago, and is pitching pretty well for your hometown Chicago Cubs. He's put out lots of good energy into the baseball world for you lately, and combined with all your hard work, it finally brings you the news you've been waiting for. The Cubs are calling you up. You'll be sharing a big-league locker room with your brother! 

As exciting as that is for your family, it gets more memorable on the afternoon of August 21st at Wrigley Field, where your Cubs are hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Rick starts the game off well. In fact, through five innings he hasn't allowed any runs, and only 3 hits. That's when the call comes in: 

Get on the warm-up mound in foul territory and start throwing. 

How cool. Your brother is getting ready for the 6th inning on the main mound, while you're warming up about 200 feet away! With a mixture of adrenaline, joy, and nerves, you say to yourself, Try and stop us. 

The top of the 6th starts and ends quickly, with little bro allowing nothing more than a single across 4 batters. But at that point one of his pitching fingers is showing the signs of a blister, and in the 7th he goes back out on the mound and immediately gives up a single to Steve Garvey. After that, he does manage to induce a ground ball from Willie Crawford, forcing Garvey out at second base. But that looks like it.

A mound visit is underway. 

You watch your manager take the ball from Rick. And now they're pointing over to you. 

You're going to relieve little bro. And as much as you don't want to think about it, a shutout is on the line! 

Thankfully, you finish the rest of the 7th unscathed, and in the 8th you retire Bill Buckner, Davey Lopes, and John Hale without a whole lot of trouble. 

Shutout still intact. 

Back in the dugout, you don't have much time to be nervous. You watch as your team goes down, 1-2-3, in the bottom of the 8th. The top of the 9th is here. 

You get out there and immediately give up a line-drive single to that darned Steve Garvey. But it's just a single. You muster up some courage and get Willie Crawford to fly out to José Cardenal in left field. 

One away. 

Next up is Ron Cey. You induce a grounder to third baseman Bill Madlock. Could this be it?? 

Madlock throws to Manny Trillo at second base to force Steve Garvey out, but Garvey breaks up the double play. Argh! So close! 

But still, it's two away. You're down to the last out. 

Steve Yeager comes up. You check the signs, rear back, and throw one. Yeager connects. The ball flies up into right field, but you realize soon enough that it's going to stay in the park. Jerry Morales gets under it, puts his glove hand up, and squeezes the ball. 

Game over. 

You and little bro combined not only for a win, but for a shutout! And what's more, you're the first pair of brothers to do this in MLB history! What a moment for Rick and Paul Reuschel. 

Here they are, just a few years later:

And here are some numbers:

 

 

CAREER TOTALS

 

	RICK (19 seasons)	PAUL (5 seasons)
WINS	214	16
LOSSES	191	16
ERA	3.37	4.51
STRIKEOUTS	2015	188
WALKS	935	132
SHUTOUTS	26	0
COMPLETE GAMES	1002	1
INNINGS PITCHED	3548.1	393.0

 

 

 

BEST SEASON (career highs in bold)

 

	RICK (1977, CHC)	PAUL (1977, CHC)
WINS	20	5
LOSSES	10	6
ERA	2.79	4.37
STRIKEOUTS	166	62
WALKS	74	40
SHUTOUTS	4	0
COMPLETE GAMES	8	0
INNINGS PITCHED	252.0	107.0

 

Paul pitched in the big leagues for 5 seasons, mostly in middle relief. Over those years, he suited up for the Cubs and Indians. In 1977 he had a very solid season for the Cubs, appearing in 69 games, which placed him in the top 10 for the National League.

Rick was a three-time All Star and two-time Gold Glove winner. For comparison's sake, he had very similar career numbers to Joe Niekro. Over the course of his 19-year career, Reuschel pitched for the Cubs, Yankees, Pirates, and Giants. In 1977 he led the entire majors in WAR with 9.5, and he finished third in Cy Young voting behind Steve Carlton and Tommy John. He was a pretty decent hitter, as well. (1115 AB, 82 R, 187 H, 35 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 79 RBI, 3 SB, .168/.202/.217, 135 sacrifice hits)

 

So let's hear it for the Reuschel brothers. Two big dudes from Illinois who got to pitch for their hometown team together, and set a pretty special record in the process!