Tommy Bond

Thomas Henry Bond (April 2, 1856 – January 24, 1941) was an Irish-born Major League Baseball player who was a pitcher and a right fielder for a total of ten seasons. A native of Granard, Ireland, he is the first man born in Ireland to play Major League Baseball. Bond was also the last survivor of the National League's first season.

Early life Tommy Bond was born on April 2, 1856, in Granard, Ireland, to an English father and Irish mother.

On October 20 of his rookie year, he fell one out short of what would have been major league baseball's first no-hitter. Two years later, he was the losing pitcher in the first successful no-hitter, hurled by George Bradley on July 15, 1876.

During his 10-season career, he was a three-time 40-game winner, played for two National League pennant-winning clubs, and regularly finished in the top ten in many pitching categories. In 1877, he was the first winner of baseball's pitching Triple Crown, leading the NL in wins (40), earned run average (2.11), and strikeouts (170). His career statistics include a record of 234–163, 386 complete games in 408 starts, 42 shutouts, and an ERA of 2.31. Bond also played 92 games in the outfield, a few more in the infield, and batted .238 with 174 RBI and 213 runs scored. Bond currently holds the third-best strikeouts per walks rate in baseball history, at a 5.0363 ratio, for pitchers who threw a minimum 1,000 innings. Bond previously held the record for over 130 years, and as of 2018 still holds the record for retired pitchers.

Bond threw a fastball, curveball, and by the end of his career a spitball.

At the time of his death he had been the last living player from the 1878 season.

Honors In the Irish Baseball League, the annual award for the best pitcher is named "The 'Tommy Bond' Best Pitcher Award".