Saturday, 11 July 2009

• Famous No Hitters

  First, I have to say that this is a great story. Any time a pitcher throws a no hitter, it's pretty special. The stuff about Sanchez and his father makes it a pretty sweet tale.

  Of course, just because you throw a no-hitter, it doesn't make you a great pitcher. For every Randy Johnson and Justin Verelander, you have a Bud Smith (24 career starts) or Jose Jimenez (career 24-44). But looking at the rest of the names since 2000, you have guys like Lowe, Millwood, Burnett, and Buehrle. So some skill is required.

  You also have to be lucky. Hits registered as errors, and vice-versa can make or break a no-hit bid. With that being said, I know for a fact that official scorers are very stingy about giving away the 1st hit in a no-hit bid. That is to say, if you've gone 5 no-hit innings, and the play looks like an error, the scorer will probably give the error instead of the hit. It's just another one of those quirky baseball things.

  My dad sent me an e-mail this morning about the no-hitter. San Francisco hadn't had a no-hitter since 1976, the longest drought for any team in the Majors. Another team who hasn't had one in a while are my Reds, who last struck gold with Tom Browning's perfect game in '88 (widely regarded as one of the greatest pitched games in Reds history). My dad's e-mail was asking if I knew who the 2 teams who had had longer droughts than the Reds. The first team that came to mind was San Diego. I was fairly sure they had never had one. I wracked my brains for a few and then I settled upon Cleveland. Being from Ohio, I thought I might remember if Cleveland had had one in recent years. And I was correct. Len Barker was the last Indian in 1981 to toss a no-no. His was also a perfect game.

  Dang, I'm good. (edit: I missed the brew crew)

  Well, all that got me thinking about no-hitters. The first thing anyone should think of with them is that Nolan Ryan had an incredible 7. For what that's worth, Sandy Koufax (4) Cy Young (3) and Bob Feller (3) are the only players with more than 2. Now that is some impressive HOF company! The next thing to think about is another Red, Johnny Vander Meer, who threw no-no's on consecutive outings, 4 days apart. The second one is equally famous for being the first ever night game in baseball history. While we're on the Reds train; Bumpus Jones is the only pitcher to ever pitch a no-hitter in his first ever appearance (albeit in 1892). Jones pitched 7 more games in his career, recording a 2-4 record.

   

  A few other ones I'd like to note. 1917 was a great year for no-hitters, but none were more memorable then the one Babe Ruth tossed. Oh, excuse me. Babe Ruth was tossed after walking the first batter of the game and arguing balls and strikes. Insert Ernie Shore, who picked the runner off of first on his next pitch, and then retired the next 26 batters. Also in 1917; Fred Toney and Hippo Vaughn threw double no-hitters, with Vaughn losing his in the 10th and eventually giving up the winning run in that inning.

  Fast forward to 1940, where Bob Feller threw his first no hitter on Opening Day, the only player to ever do so. While Vander Meer was the first to throw 2 in 1 year, that feat was equaled in 1951 when Allie Reynolds did it for the New York Yankees. Barely a year later, Virgil Trucks had 2 of his own, but only won 3 more games that year to finish a dismal 5-19. The irony of the situation is that Trucks was a fairly successful pitcher except for in 1952, which was the only year he finished with a losing record! The only other pitcher to have 2 in one year was the aforementioned Ryan, who did it in 1973.

  There have been 262 no hitters in the Major Leagues, but the most famous had to have been Don Larsen's perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. There have been only 17 perfect games in Major League history, and Larsen's is the only one to ever happen in the playoffs. We baseball geeks also love that it's the only no-hitter period in the playoffs. It should be noted that Ryan never had a perfect game, due to his wildness. While there have never been perfect games in the same year (except for in 1880, whew), David Wells and David Cone did them in '98 and '99, both for the Yankees. Talk about uber nerdy; same first name, same teams, and Cone's was the first ever in interleague play.

  Managers are usually wary to taking pitchers out of games while they are throwing no-hitters, but in 2003 the Houston Astros performed the most unusual of no-hitters, using six pitchers to finish the job after starter Roy Oswalt left after the 1st due to injury. Pete Munro tossed 2.2 IP and then Kirk Saarloos pitched another 1.1 IP. Setup men Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel combined for 3 scoreless innings before closer Billy Wagner shut down the New York Yankees in the 9th to finish off the deal.

  Of course, just because you throw a no-hitter, it doesn't mean you're going to win. In fact, Ken Johnson pitched a no-hitter in 1965 for the Houston Colt 45s, but gave up a run when Pete Rose reached on an error, moved over on a ground-out, and then scored on another error. The final score was 2-1. In 1967, Steve Barber (8.2) and Stu Miller (.1) combined to pitch a no hitter for the Baltimore Orioles, but gave up 2 runs in the 9th on an error and a wild pitch in a loss to the Detroit Tigers. Those are the only two times that a team has lost on a 9 inning no hitter.

  There are two more I’d like to mention. In 1959, Harvey Haddix threw 12 perfect innings (36 straight hitters) before his team gave up an error to the leadoff hitter in the top of the 13th. The runner was moved to 2nd on a sac bunt, and then Haddix intentionally walked the next batter, who just happened to be a young Henry Aaron. The next batter, Joe Adcock, cracked a home run to end the game. I can't figure out why Haddix walked the young Aaron to face Adcock, who hit 336 home runs in his career, including one to center field at the Polo Grounds. If you don't know how monumental that is, then I pity you . Equally as amazing in this game is the fact that the Milwaukee Braves players were stealing signs from the Pirates catcher, Smokey Burgess. Throw all this together, and many baseball historians consider Haddix's feat, even though he lost, as one of the greatest single pitching accomplishments in the game.

   

  Of course, I can't look past Jim Abbott, who was born with 1 hand. In 1993 he blanked the Cleveland Indians, a personal high that can never be surpassed. It should be mentioned that rarely did a batter reach while trying to bunt on Abbott. That guy had some serious grit.

   

   

  That's all I got for you. Thanks for reading!! Rec if you enjoyed! Orr if you just think it's a good sports blog. Thanks again!

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