Hippo Vaughn
It’s too bad, really, that lefthander Jim “Hippo” Vaughn is best remembered for finishing on the dubious end of a stellar pitching duel in May 1917. That was when Vaughn and Reds pitcher Fred Toney each threw no-hitters through nine innings before, in the 10th, Vaughn allowed two hits and a run, losing the game, 1-0. Vaughn, then, is now best known as the answer to a trivia question, but his career deserves much more than that.
Vaughn didn’t really look like a star pitcher. He was 6-4, and though he was listed at a reasonable 215 pounds, on his World War I draft registration card, he noted that his body type was, “stout.” He was given the nickname Hippo because of his awkward, loping gate. But from 1914, when he was 26 and coming off a rocky start to his career in the American League, through 1919, Vaughn was the ace of the Cubs and one of the best pitchers in the N.L. He was 124-77 over those six years, posting an earned-run average of 2.09. He was consistent and durable, appearing in 40-plus games every year except for the war-shortened years of 1918 and ’19 (he led the league in games started in each of those years).
No question, 1918 was the pinnacle of his career—and, it should be noted, the season included the birth of a son, affectionately called, “Little Hippo,” in the press. With Alexander called to the colors before the end of April, pressure was on Vaughn to pick up the slack. He did. 
Hippo Vaughn was not a skinny guy, which explains his nickname. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.)Using a very good fastball and a variety of hard breaking balls, he started the season 10-3. Though he wasn’t as strong in the second half of the year, he still finished with what would have been a Cy Young season—he led the N.L. in wins (22), ERA, (1.74), strikeouts (148), shutouts (8), innings (290.1) and starts (33).
He wasn’t quite as dominating as Alexander, but Vaughn did a pretty good impression of Aleck. Had the Cubs not lost Aleck to the war, a front two of Alexander and Vaughn would have been imposing. Here’s how catcher Bill Killefer compared the two in the Chicago Daily News in June 1918: “I think Vaughn is as great a left hander as Alexander is a right hander, and I do not say that with any intention of boosting Vaughn undeservingly. Of course, their styles are different. Alex was a sidearm thrower and Jim delivers his assortment overhanded. As to the speed and the curves of the two, there is no difference. Vaughn is remarkably fast and has as sharp a breaking curve as Alex. The only shade Alexander has is in control.”
Thanks to the strategy of manager Fred Mitchell, Vaughn wound up starting three games in the 1918 World Series, and despite allowing just three earned runs in 27 innings, he wound up with a record of 1-2. Vaughn returned to pitch in 1919, and was again great (he was 21-14, with league-bests in strikeouts, ERA and innings pitched) but this time, the Cubs were a mediocre team again. Two years later, Vaughn was struggling badly at 3-11 when he quibbled with manager Johnny Evers, left the team and signed on with a semipro outfit in Chicago. When Evers was fired, the Cubs attempted to reinstate Vaughn, who was only 33 at the time. But commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, finding that Vaughn had jumped his contract by signing with the semipro team, never allowed Vaughn to return to the big leagues.
