Ray Caldwell Gets Struck by Lightning and Finishes the Game

On August 24, 1919, Cleveland Indians pitcher Ray Caldwell was struck by a bolt of lightning on the mound at League Park and still finished the game. He beat the Philadelphia Athletics 2-1, recording the final out after being knocked unconscious by an electrical discharge from the sky.

Caldwell was making his first start for Cleveland after spending years with the New York Yankees. The Indians had taken a chance on the 31-year-old right-hander, whose talent was matched only by his reputation for hard living. Manager Tris Speaker signed him with the understanding that Caldwell would get himself together, and on August 24, Caldwell was doing exactly that.

He held the Athletics to one run through eight and two-thirds innings on a day when the Cleveland Plain Dealer had forecast showers and cooler temperatures. With two outs in the top of the ninth and Cleveland leading 2-1, a storm cell moved over League Park. Lightning cracked down from the sky and hit Caldwell directly. He collapsed on the pitcher's mound, stretched out in the dirt.

Teammates and opponents rushed to his side. After several minutes, Caldwell regained consciousness and picked himself up. He told the Cleveland Press afterward that it "felt just like somebody came up with a board and hit me on top of the head and knocked me down." He had slight burns on his chest.

Caldwell refused to leave. He had come too far in the game to hand the ball to someone else. He retired the next batter to seal the complete-game victory, finishing with just four hits allowed, three strikeouts, and two walks. The final line looked like any other solid outing, except for the part where the pitcher absorbed a lightning strike between the eighth and ninth innings.

Two weeks later, Caldwell threw a no-hitter against the Yankees. He went 5-1 with a 1.71 ERA in his brief stretch with Cleveland that season. The lightning game became the signature moment of a career filled with improbable stories, but none more improbable than this one.