When we look back on Woodie Fryman’s long and distinguished Major League baseball career, they are many classic moments, but one was almost perfect. Woodie was a sensation in these parts with the Flemingsburg Aces of the Bluegrass League and in fact Woodie developed his reputation from the mound as the “Fleming Flame” and by 19 he was considered strikeout sensation as he once had 32 strikeouts in a 13-inning perfect game.
The Fleming Flame in his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Pirates started out as a reliever, but soon the Pirates brass realized how good he was. The year was 1966 and the league became aware of Fryman’s fastball, the same fastball we had seen for years in the old Bluegrass League in our area.
In the last week of June during the summer of 1966, Fryman began a great pitching streak as he hurled a shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies. The next time he toed the rubber on the mound, it was near perfection.
The Pirates faced the New York Mets in Shea Stadium on July 1, 1966, and the Ewing great was awesome. In the bottom of the first inning, Mets leadoff hitter Ron Hunt hit a blooper for a single. This is where it became a classic performance by Fryman as Ron Hunt tried to steal second but was thrown out.
That would be the only time a Met reached base all day as Fryman faced the minimum 27 batters. The one hitter was spectacular but just think how close Fryman came to a
perfect game as he retired the next 26 New Yorkers he faced.
The next start for Fryman was also a classic, but he gave up three hits in a shutout of the Chicago Cubs as he threw shutouts in a row. The Fleming Flame finished his rookie season with the Pirates with a record of 12-9 and a 3.89 earned run average.
Fryman made his mark in Detroit Tigers baseball lore also when the Tigers picked him up in the summer of 1972 as they were battling the Boston Red Sox for the American League East title. He put them on top as he went 10-3. Check out this little tidbit as his .769-win percentage was tops that season in the American League.
He was also the Cincinnati Reds’ 1977 Opening Day starter. He was named to the All-Star Game twice, once with the Phillies and again as he represented the Expos.
The Ewing native had a great career and was inducted into the Montreal Expos Hall of Fame in 1995 and in 2005 he was named to the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. For those of us who had the privilege to watch Fryman pitch not only in MLB but also in the Bluegrass League knew he was special but on that July day in 1966, he was almost perfect.
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