The misconceptions of a particularly bad pitching performance

     On July 22, 1876, a pitcher by the name of Johnny Ryan had a game he'd like to forget. Baseballreference.com printed the following on its "Today in Baseball History page on its website, "In his major league debut, Louisville pitcher Johnny Ryan throws a record 10 wild pitches in a 30 - 7 loss to Chicago. It will be the rookie's first and last game."

      According to the site, it was Ryan's only game pitched in the National League, it was not the only major league game that he pitched and was not his MLB debut on the field. He was originally an OF and would play the majority of his professional career as an OF. The game in question saw him come in relief in the 2nd inning of a game that had already gotten out of hand. At the time, the Louisville Grays were trailing 10-0 in the game they would lose 30-7. Ryan came on in relief and finished the game, obviously one they would be expected to lose. No hands were on deck as this was the prime example of a pitcher taking it for the team. Ryan would show little control, it was stated that he threw a MLB record 10 wild pitches in the game. However, records show that he threw only 7, giving up 22 hits and 20 runs, 5 earned in the loss. The fact that the game was 138 years ago makes it very difficult to be clear with exactly what happened. For example, the same pitching line for Ryan which has his recorded 7 wild pitches states that he walked 0 batters. Somebody who did not possess the control to avoid throwing that many WPs was unlikely to make it through 8 innings without walking a batter. If that happened, to me it would be the most amazing stat of the night. 
      Looking at the stats of the former OF, the Philadelphia native made his debut in the National Association in 1873 for the Philadephia Whites. The next season, the 20 year old would hit just .193 in 47 games for the Baltimore Canaries while leading the NA in strikeouts with 13. After hitting just .158 for the NA's New Haven Elm Citys, he joined the Louisville Grays of this new thing called the "National League" which started in the year of 1876. This National League is the same one that we watch right now in the year of 2014. 
      Pitching was not foreign to the young man either. He made a forgetful relief appearance for the Canaries in 1874 where he gave up 8 runs, 6 earned in 3 1/3 innings pitched. The following season for New Haven, Ryan went 1-5, 3.19 in 10 games, 6 starts. Though the "ERA" was low, it needs to be noted that he gave up 55 runs and 70 hits in his 59 1/3 innings for the Elm Citys that season. However, only 21 of the runs were considered earned. 
      The OF would be the primary LF for the Grays throughout the 1876 season. He would play in 64 games, hitting .253 while leading the circuit with 23 strikeouts. While the game in question was the only one he ever pitched in the NL, he did return for the 1877 season, playing for the Cincinnati Reds at age 23. After going 4-26 (.154), Ryan stopped playing baseball and became a Philadelphia police officer. Sadly, in 1902, he was fatally struck by a prisoner trying to break up a bar fight in Philadelphia. Apparently, he was kicked by a person who was just arrested which resulted in Johnny Ryan's death at the age of 48.