Amos Wilson Rusie (May 30, 1871 – December 6, 1942), nicknamed "the Hoosier Thunderbolt", was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball during the late 19th century.

In 1897, one of his fastballs struck future Hall of Fame shortstop Hughie Jennings in the head, rendering him comatose for four days before recovery.

The distance change did not reduce Rusie's effectiveness, as he led the league in strikeouts for three straight seasons afterward, while also winning what later would be known as the pitching triple crown in 1894.

[2] However, he was signed shortly thereafter by the Indianapolis Hoosiers of the NL, and made his major league debut on May 9 in a 13-2 loss to the Cleveland Blues, pitching in relief of starting pitcher Jim Whitney.

[4] Although his fastball was difficult to hit, he did not have good control of it, walking 116 batters in 225 innings pitched, although he struck out 109 and led the league with 11 games finished (as a relief pitcher).

[4] The Hoosiers disbanded at the conclusion of the 1889 season, and on March 22, 1890, he, along with many of his teammates, were transferred to the New York Giants by the league to strengthen the NL's largest market.

[1][4] Coming into the 1890 season, Rusie filled the starting position that was vacated by future Hall of Famer Tim Keefe, who had joined the New York Giants of the newly formed Players' League (PL).

[6][7][8][9][10][11] Rusie quickly became a sensation among fans, media, and society owing to the combination of his pitching velocity and physical size at 6-foot-1-inch (1.85 m), 200-pound (91 kg), which was considered large for the era.

[12] Three days later, on May 12, Rusie was on the winning side of a pitching duel with future Hall of Famer Kid Nichols, in a game that ended with a home run by the Giants' Mike Tiernan in the 13th inning.

[12][17] After having been on the losing end of no-hitter by Tom Lovett of the Brooklyn Bridegrooms on June 22, Rusie returned the favor by throwing one of his own against them just over a month later on July 31.

[12] After winning both games of a doubleheader against the Bridegrooms in September, Rusie and several other star players were rested for the remainder of the season, a five-game series against the Boston Beaneaters.

Rusie was virtually untouchable in the Temple Cup, giving up only one earned run while winning two complete games and compiling a 0.50 ERA; if that was not enough, he even batted .429.

[citation needed] Following the 1898 season, arm trouble, hearing damage from a line drive to the head, and other problems kept Rusie out of baseball for two years.