Pete Dowling

Henry Peter Dowling (July 15, 1876 – June 30, 1905) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in the major leagues for four seasons; 1897–1899 with the Louisville Colonels, and in 1901 with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cleveland Blues (later the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Guardians, respectively). Listed at and , he threw and batted left-handed. Dowling is best remembered for a game he pitched in June 1901, which may have been the first no-hitter in American League history.

Career Dowling first pitched professionally in 1897 with the Milwaukee Brewers, then a minor league team in the Western League. He made his major league debut with the Louisville Colonels of the National League in July, appearing in four major league games and registering a 1–2 win–loss record with a 5.88 earned run average (ERA).

After the ousting of Louisville from the National League following the 1899 season, Dowling had planned to play with the Pittsburgh club, but began to develop a serious drinking problem that put his career in limbo.

Dowling relocated to Kentucky, where his family lived,

Possible no-hitter

On June 30, 1901, pitching for the Cleveland Blues against the Milwaukee Brewers, Dowling threw what may have been the first no-hitter in the American League's young history. He walked four batters, had one hit batsman, and otherwise allowed only Wid Conroy as a baserunner. The status of this game has long been disputed; specifically, how Conroy reached base in the seventh inning. other sources indicate he reached base on an error by third baseman Bill Bradley, An in-depth article about the game from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) posits, "The most plausible explanation for the divergence is that the official scorer, who was probably a Milwaukee sportswriter, changed the hit to an error after the game had ended." but the Elias Sports Bureau (the official statisticians of Major League Baseball) does not recognize it.

Personal life Dowling was the eldest child of Michael J. and Ellen Dowling of St. Louis, Missouri.

On June 30, 1905, Dowling was on his way to La Grande, Oregon, where he had joined a semi-professional team. Dowling missed his train at Fox Lake station in Union County, and decided to walk along the tracks en route to the game. While walking on the track in Hot Lake, Oregon, Dowling was struck by an oncoming train which decapitated him. He was interred at Odd Fellows Cemetery in La Grande.