"On June 7, 1884, ace pitcher Charley Sweeney set a major league record that would stand for 86 years, when he struck out 19 batters in a single game. After this game, however, arm trouble put him on the bench, putting the bulk of the Providence Grays' innings on the back of "Old Hoss" Radbourn, who was the Gray's only other pitcher of note. Radbourn complained, and eventually Sweeney was forced to take the mound again. After a game in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Sweeney got drunk and elected to stay in Woonsocket with a lady friend. Waking the next morning, still drunk and realizing that he had to start in Providence, Sweeney rushed out the door. With an already-tight pitching staff, the Grays had no choice, but to put the visibly inebriated Charley Sweeney on the mound. They tried to pull him after five effective innings, but Sweeney was having none of it. This was a time where pitching anything less than a complete game brought your very manliness into question. Sweeney pitched another two against the wishes of his manager. When again they tried to pull him before the 8th, with the threat of a $50 fine, Sweeney told them to stuff their $50 fine and his whole contract. He walked off the field and watched the rest of the game with a woman in each arm, presumed to be prostitutes. This not only got Sweeney kicked off the team, but thrown out of the entire, "National League." With the Grays being extremely understaffed, "Old Hoss" Radbourn offered to pitch the remaining games of the season for a small pay bump and an exemption from the reserve clause. Radbourn started 40 of the remaining 43 games in the season, and won 36 of them. "Old Hoss's" arm became sore enough that he couldn't raise it over his shoulders, and he had to warm up for hours before game time just to get the ball to the plate. Just to add to his spectacular feat, Radbourn started and won every single game of the 1884, "World Series." After an incredible 678.2 innings pitched, Radbourn amassed an official 59 wins for the season, (sometimes reported as 60), an impossible record that will never be touched. In 1894, Charlie Sweeney killed a man in a bar fight and was sentenced to 8 years at San Quentin. Charley Sweeney was released after 3.5 yrs and died in 1902, a victim of Tuberculosis. Sweeney`s strikeout record stood alone UNTIL 1970: It wasn’t eclipsed until 1986 when Clemens fanned 20 Mariners.