As a high schooler, Art Mahaffey was as thin as a rail, 140 pounds as a 6-foot right-handed pitcher. But he had a “live arm." Playing at Western Hills High School in Cincinnati, he drew the attention of scouts. The school produced many Major Leaguers, including Don Zimmer, Dick Drott, Russ Nixon and Pete Rose.

Art, who also pitched for one of the best American Legion teams in Ohio (Bentley Post), became a pro when Phillies scout Bruce Connatser signed him for $4,000 on June 29, 1956, shortly after high school graduation. The Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees were also in the mix.

• Phillies Alumni

According to a SABR BioProject article, Art Sr. and his son felt the Phillies would be the quickest path to the Major Leagues.

Minor League Career

As an 18-year-old the Phillies assigned Mahaffey to the Matoon (IL) Phillies in the Class D Midwest League. In 10 starts, he was 4-4 with a 5.28 ERA. He is the only one among 54 players at Matoon that season to reach the Majors.

He spent the next four years in various classification levels in the Phillies system. His best was 1959, 8-0 in nine starts for Class A Williamsport and 8-5 in 17 starts for Triple-A Buffalo. At one point, he combined to win 12 games in a row

Mahaffey returned to Buffalo to start the 1960 season. After going 11-9, he was promoted to the Majors.

Phillies Career

His debut came in St. Louis in relief to start the bottom of the seventh inning on July 30: a fly ball followed by two strikeouts. Mahaffey had one of the best pick-off moves ever for a right-hander. In his second inning, Bill White singled and was picked off first base. Curt Flood walked and got picked off. The first two baserunners against the 22-year-old were victims, as he had predicted.

Mahaffey’s second game was at Connie Mack Stadium, Aug. 3, against the Giants -- his first start. Jim Marshall was the first baserunner, drawing a walk to lead off the second inning. One out later, Marshall became victim No. 3. The first three baserunners against Mahaffey were picked off. Most likely, that never happened again.

Opponents complained his move was a balk. For the record, he was charged with only four balks in his career. Pickoffs totaled 13. Basically, enemy runners didn’t wander off first base very far.

“I roomed with Robbie [Robin Roberts] my first two seasons. He wanted to learn my pick-off move. We tried and he finally said, ‘Let’s forget it,’” laughed Mahaffey.

His greatest game was at Connie Mack Stadium on April 23, 1961, when he set a Phillies record by striking out 17 Cubs in the second game of a Sunday afternoon doubleheader, 6-0. He threw 146 pitches, 48 out of the strike zone. The record still stands.

“I had an unbelievable fastball and curveball that day,” he recalled. “I threw mostly fastballs, particularly in the late innings. Earlier, I got maybe five or six strikeouts with my curve.” He had 15 strikeouts through seven innings. “I had two strikes on the last four hitters but only got one strikeout. I came so close to having more than 17.”

He finished 11-19 that season and followed that with his best, 19-14, 274 innings and a 3.94 ERA. He started 39 games and completed 20. A year later, Mahaffey was the first Phillies player to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated, April 29, 1963.

His fondest memory of the 1962 season came as a hitter, a grand slam off the Mets' Craig Anderson at the Polo Grounds on Aug. 2. “I have the photo of me crossing home plated where Wes Covington, Don Demeter and Ruben Amaro were waiting,” he beamed. The photo is on his cell phone. He struck out 12 in a 9-4 win, allowing five hits of which four were solo home runs. “Oh. I tried to forget that.”

During those years, the Phillies and Blue Cross had a Pitchometer built by Dr. I.M. Levitt of the Franklin Institute. The Pitchometer was used throughout the city to test the throwing speed of young athletes. Mahaffey remembered hitting 100 mph on the machine more than once.

For his six Phillies seasons, he was 59-64 with a 4.17 ERA. His 46 complete games almost matched his win total. He was named to the National League All-Star squad three times and pitched in two games.

Mahaffey battled numerous injuries. He had arm ailments, a broken cheek bone and a concussion after being hit on the head by a throw from a shortstop turning a double play, a shoulder injury from a basepath collision and a dislocated ankle while pitching.

After the 1965 season, he was part of a six-player trade with St. Louis that brought Bill White, Dick Groat and Bob Uecker to the Phils. His career ended after 12 games (1-4) with the Cardinals the following season.

1964 Season

Mahaffey was 12-6 as September rolled around. In five starts that month, he was 0-3 with two no-decisions and one relief outing. His first loss was 1-0 to Cincinnati on Sept. 21. With two outs in a 0-0 game, Chico Ruiz stole home with one strike on Future Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. Mahaffey was on the mound. His pitch was wide to Clay Dalrymple and Ruiz was safe. Dalrymple was charged with a passed ball.

“Over the years, I’ve often been asked, ‘Didn’t you know he would try to steal?’ Never. Frank Robinson was at bat. If he had swung, he might have taken Ruiz’s head off. I remember Reds manager Fred Hutchinson saying in the papers the next day, ‘If Chico was out, he might as well kept running back to the Minor Leagues.’”

The 1-0 loss started the Phillies on a 10-game losing streak that cost them the pennant. The Reds were in the midst of a nine-game winning streak and the Cardinals, eight in a row. The Phillies ended the season with two wins in Cincinnati, knocking the Reds out of first place.

Mahaffey pitched well in his final start on Sept. 26, against Milwaukee. He allowed three runs in seven innings, but the Braves won, 6-4, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth on a bases-loaded triple by Rico Carty with one out. Loss No. 6 in the streak. “We always wondered why Bobby Shantz, a lefty, faced Carty a right-handed power hitter,” he said.

After Baseball

Mahaffey briefly worked for the Food Fair supermarket chain before entering the insurance business. Within a few years, he owned his own brokerage.

While pitching in Williamsport, Pa., he and Chris Short became roommates for the first time, the beginning of a longtime friendship. On Oct. 20, 1988, Short suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm and went into a coma. Mahaffey organized an annual golf tournament that raised money to help pay Short’s medical bills. Short never regained consciousness and died on Aug. 1, 1991.

Art also set up a scholarship to a University of Delaware baseball player-student in Short’s name from some of the golf outing funds. “We just had another scholarship awardee this month,” Mahaffey said.

On April 20, 2011, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his 17-strikeout performance, Mahaffey threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Citizens Bank Park. He often participates in the yearly Toyota Alumni Weekend.

Art turned 86 on June 4. He and his wife, Janet, are avid Phillies and Eagles fans. “We rarely miss a game on TV," he said. They reside in the Allentown, Pa., area.