Phillies

Wise was eighteen years of age when he debuted for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1964, his second professional season. His first major league win was in the second game of a doubleheader on June 21, beating the New York Mets 8–2.^[4] The first game that day was Jim Bunning's perfect game during that memorable season. Wise was the last of that 1964 Philadelphia Phillies team to be active in the major leagues, pitching two innings of relief (7th and 8th) for the Padres against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 10, 1982.^[5] He spent all of 1965 and the early part of 1966 with the Phillies' top minor league affiliate (the Arkansas Travelers in 1965 and the San Diego Padres in 1966) before making the majors for good.

He developed into a solid starter, winning 17 games with a 2.88 earned run average for a last-place Phillies team in 1971, as well as being named to his first All-Star Game. The highlight of Wise's Philadelphia career took place that year on June 23 when he overcame the flu to no-hit the Cincinnati Reds in a 4–0 win at Riverfront Stadium.^[6] Only a sixth-inning walk to Dave Concepcion denied Wise what would have been the second perfect game in Phillies history. He also contributed a pair of homers, a one-out two-run clout off Ross Grimsley in the fifth and a leadoff solo shot off Clay Carroll in the eighth.^[7] Wise, Wes Ferrell (1931), Jim Tobin (1944), and Earl Wilson (1962) are the only pitchers to throw a no-hitter and hit a home run in the same game. On August 28 against the San Francisco Giants, Wise also hit two home runs. On September 18 against the Chicago Cubs, he completed a string of retiring 32 batters in a row, four shy of Harvey Haddix's Major League record, also driving in the winning run in the 12th inning.

1972–73: Cardinals and the Carlton trade

The following season, Wise became an unwitting participant in one of the most one-sided trades in baseball history. The owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, Gussie Busch, ordered his team to trade its star left-handed pitcher, Steve Carlton, after a contract squabble. Since all of baseball knew of the trade mandate, teams drove very hard bargains, and the Phils' offer of Wise was the best St. Louis could do. Wise won a total of 32 games during his two seasons (1972–73) in St. Louis, but Carlton won 27 for the last-place 1972 Phillies alone and would go on to anchor their starting pitching staff for the next decade, ultimately winning 329 games and a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

At the time, however, the Carlton-Wise deal made some sense from the Cardinals' perspective. At the time, Wise had won 75 games, only two fewer than Carlton. Tim McCarver, who had caught for Carlton in St. Louis and Wise in Philadelphia, said at the time that the trade was "a real good one for a real good one." According to McCarver, Wise had better command on the mound while Carlton had more raw ability.^[8] This viewpoint can be confirmed statistically; while Carlton had averaged more career strikeouts per 9 innings at the time, Wise allowed fewer walks and actually had the better career strikeout-to-walk ratio through 1971.

On June 13, 1973, Wise, having already pitched one no-hitter against the Reds, nearly joined Addie Joss as the only pitchers to no-hit the same team twice (the Cleveland Naps pitcher's two no-hitters were against the Chicago White Sox, in 1908 and 1910; the former was a perfect game). This bid, however, was broken up in the ninth on a one-out single by Joe Morgan—the only hit Wise would allow.

Red Sox

Wise was traded along with Bernie Carbo from the Cardinals to the Red Sox for Reggie Smith and Ken Tatum on October 26, 1973.^[9] In 1975, he won 19 for the Red Sox, winners of the AL East. Wise had another no-hitter broken up against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 2. In the first game of a doubleheader, former Red Sox George Scott homered off Wise with two out in the ninth to break up the no-hitter. Wise would have joined Cy Young and Jim Bunning as pitchers who had hurled no-hitters in both leagues (Nolan Ryan, Hideo Nomo and Randy Johnson have done it since). Wise went on to win his only start in the 1975 ALCS against Oakland, and was the relief pitcher of record in Game 6 when Carlton Fisk ended the 12-inning game with his oft-replayed walk-off home run.

On June 30, 1976, Wise was perfect against the Orioles until Paul Blair singled against him to start the sixth. That was the only hit the Orioles would get off Wise as Boston won 2–0.^[10]

Remaining career

In 1978, Wise was involved in a trade for a future Hall of Famer for the second time in his career. On March 30, during spring training, he was traded by the Boston Red Sox with Ted Cox, Bo Díaz and Mike Paxton to the Cleveland Indians for Fred Kendall and future Hall of Fame starter and reliever Dennis Eckersley.

Wise led the AL in losses in 1978 with 19, but again came back to win 15 games for a poor team in 1979. He became a free agent after the season, signing with the San Diego Padres. He played two full seasons with the Padres, and was released after appearing in just one game for them in 1982, ending his playing career.

Overview

In an 18-year career, Wise posted a 188–181 record with 1,647 strikeouts and a 3.69 ERA in 3,127 innings pitched. He pitched a total of 30 shutouts.

A good-hitting pitcher, Wise hit 15 home runs in his career, with a season-high of 6 in 1971. He batted .195 (130-668) with 60 runs and 66 RBI. Defensively, in 723 total chances, he committed only 13 errors for a .982 fielding percentage.