Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 13

Satchel Paige born 114 years ago today

Today would be the 114th birthday of pitching great Satchel Paige.

Paige, born July 7, 1906, in Mobile, Alabama, estimated he threw 55 no-hitters over his long, storied career that included stints with numerous teams. When Paige wasn’t pitching in league games, he was barnstorming across the country competing against anyone who would take the ball field against his All-Stars.

But just two of Paige’s no-nos against professional-level teams are documented in the pro-level list hosted on this site, researched with help from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Negro League Committee and Noir Tech Research:

1
Satchel Paige


 
Pittsburgh Crawfords


 
Friday, July 8, 1932 (second game of doubleheader)
Pittsburgh Crawfords 6, New York Black Yankees 0


2
Satchel Paige


 
Pittsburgh Crawfords


 
Wednesday, July 4, 1934
Pittsburgh Crawfords 4, Homestead Grays 0
(Paige struck out 17 batters)

Paige was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971 as the first player voted in by the Committee on Negro Baseball Leagues.

Feature photo courtesy of the Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library.

Estrada loses 2nd consecutive 8th-inning no-no, 5 years ago

The Toronto Blue Jays’ Marco Estrada lost an eighth-inning no-hitter in his second consecutive start during a Dave Stieb-esque week, five years ago.

Estrada reached the eighth with a no-no intact against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 24, 2015, at Tropicana Field before Logan Forsythe tagged him for a one-out infield single. Five days earlier, Estrada lost a no-no against the Orioles at Rogers Centre with no out in the eighth.

Here are those two starts:

7
Marco Estrada



Toronto Blue Jays (AL)



Friday, June 19, 2015

Spoiler: Jimmy Paredes broken-bat bloop single to left with no out in the eight inning

Toronto Blue Jays 5, Baltimore Orioles 4

Rogers Centre (Toronto)


7⅓
Marco Estrada



Toronto Blue Jays (AL)



Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Spoiler: Logan Forsythe, infield single with one out in the eight inning

Toronto Blue Jays 1, Tampa Bay Rays 4

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg)

As if that hard luck wasn’t enough, Estrada also lost another eighth-inning no-no in 2016:

7⅓
Marco Estrada



Toronto Blue Jays (AL)



Sunday, June 5, 2016

Spoiler: Chris Young, homer to left with one out in the 8th inning

Toronto Blue Jays 5, Boston Red Sox 4

Fenway Park (Boston)

The Babe kicks off baseball’s first combined no-no, 103 years ago today

Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore combined for major-league baseball’s first combined no-hitter, 103 years ago today.

Ruth got the start for the Boston Red Sox during the first game of a Fenway Park doubleheader on Saturday, June 23, 1917, but the Babe grew increasingly agitated with home plate umpire Brick Owens as he walked Washington Senators lead-off batter Ray Morgan on four straight pitches.

As Morgan took his free pass to first base, Ruth continued jawing with Owens, according to Boston Globe sportswriter Edward F. Martin.

“Get in there and pitch,” the umpire ordered.

“Open your eyes and keep them open,” Ruth yelled.

“Get in and pitch or I will run you out of there,” Owens warned.

The Bambino threatened to punch Owens in the nose, and Owens had heard enough. When Owens gave Ruth the heave-ho, Ruth charged home plate and threw a right hook that glanced off the ump’s mask and landed on his left ear.

A scrum ensued, and Red Sox player-manager Jack Barry dragged Ruth off the field and gave the ball to Shore, a dependable right-hander who had thrown five innings two days earlier. Shore took the mound in an attempt to bring some calm to Fenway. After Senators third baseman Eddie Foster stepped into the box, Morgan took off to steal second on Shore’s first pitch. Replacement catcher Sam Agnew, who subbed in for the also-ejected Pinch Thomas, fired down to the bag to notch the game’s first putout.

Shore retired Foster and proceeded to send Senator after Senator back to the dugout, facing the minimum 26 batters en-route to a 4-0 win nicknamed the “imperfect game.” It was actually commonly considered a perfect game for years until it was later reclassified as baseball’s first combined no-hitter, with Ruth contributing 0 innings and Shore 9.

Brooklyn’s Lovett no-hits Giants, 129 years ago today

The Brooklyn Grooms’ Tom Lovett threw a no-hitter against the New York Giants, 129 years ago today.

Or, as the New York Sun put it, Lovett “accomplished a feat that would make any pitcher who ever rubbed dirt on a new ball feel as hilarious as a steer in a vegetable garden.”

Lovett on Monday, June 22, 1891 allowed no hits and walked just three as the Grooms topped the Giants 4-0 at Brooklyn’s Eastern Park. The Giants’ hitters tried bunting, pushing, chopping and “even held their bats motionless” to no avail.

“Lovett’s delivery was basely deceptive,” said the Sun. “He had perfect control, and used a drop curve with telling effect.”

Bunning tosses Fathers Day perfecto, 56 years ago today

The Philadelphia Phillies’ Jim Bunning tossed a Fathers Day perfect game against the New York Mets, 56 years ago today.

On June 21, 1964, during the first game of a Sunday doubleheader at Shea Stadium, Bunning retired all 27 Mets batters en route to a 6-0 win. Bunning struck out 10 batters, finishing the game by fanning pinch-hitter John Stephenson.

Bunning, who threw a no-hitter for the Detroit Tigers in 1958, eschewed superstition for his Fathers Day perfecto. Less than a month earlier at Colt Stadium, Bunning had lost a no-hitter in the seventh inning against the Houston Colt ’45s and realized that the baseball tradition of no one talking about it created too much tension.

“I said if I ever get close again, I’m going to talk about it to anybody who will listen,” Bunning told me for Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders. “And that’s what I did in New York.”

So at Shea when Bunning returned to the dugout after retiring the first 15 batters, he announced, “Hey, guys, five perfect innings. Now let’s start diving at the ball.” After helping his cause with a two-RBI double in the sixth, Bunning continued the dugout chatter.

“The manager got away from me,” he said. “He walked off the bench when I was on it. He stayed completely away from me.”

Bunning’s gem was the majors’ first perfecto in 84 years, and it ended the longest no-hitter drought for a team, which lasted 8,945 games over 58 years, 1 month and 18 days. The Phillies hadn’t had a no-no since Johnny Lush no-hit the Brooklyn Superbas at Brooklyn’s Washington Park on May 1, 1906, and the score of that game was also 6-0.

The San Diego Padres hold the record for the longest stretch without a single no-no, now standing at 8,138 regular-season games. The Friars eclipsed the Mets mark last year, which ended at 8,019 games when Johan Santana no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals on June 1, 2012.

Dodgers’ Kershaw no-hits Rockies, 6 years ago today.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw threw a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, six years ago today.

The accomplishment came less than a month after the Dodgers’ Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Phillies in Philadelphia. “Beckett told me he’s going to teach me how to do that,” Kershaw said after the game. “So I have Josh to thank.” The Texas-born southpaw struck out 15 and walked none.

Kershaw had a perfect game going in the seventh when shortstop Hanley Ramirez committed a throwing error on a ball hit to him by Corey Dickerson. Kershaw nearly lost the no-hitter soon after when Troy Tulowitzki hit a hard grounder to third, but Miguel Rojas fielded the ball behind the bag and made a long, accurate throw to first, which was aptly scooped by Adrian Gonzalez.

Also throwing no-hitters on this date are:

Ewell Blackwell



Cincinnati Reds (NL)



Wednesday, June 18, 1947

Cincinnati Reds 6, Boston Braves 0

Crosley Field (Cincinnati)

(Blackwell, Vander Meer’s teammate, just misses duplicating his back-to-back no-nos in his next start.)



Don Wilson



Houston Astros (NL)



Sunday, June 18, 1967

Houston Astros 2, Atlanta Braves 0

Astrodome (Houston)

(His first of two no-hitters)

Back-to-back no-hit starts, Part 6 — Rex Barney

Today is the 82nd anniversary of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer’s amazing accomplishment of tossing the second of two back-to-back no-hitters.

On Saturday, June 11, 1938, Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees at home at Crosley Field. Four days later, on Wednesday, June 15, he threw another no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field to become the only major-league pitcher to throw no-nos in consecutive starts.

Mike Moore, Frank MacCormack, Gary Gentry, Les Cain, Sandy Koufax and Rex Barney all threw back-to-back no-hit starts, though none of their outings went nine innings. The details of those starts generated using http://www.baseball-reference.com‘s superb Play Index are below, and we’ve been taking a closer look at each of the pairings each day.

No. 6: Rex Barney

The Brooklyn Dodgers’ Rex Barney threw his only career no-hitter in 1948 against the New York Giants.

Rex Barney

But five years earlier, Barney threw back-to-back no-hit starts thanks to some finagling by manager Leo Durocher, which began on Saturday, September 25, 1943, at Wrigley Field, against Chicago Cubs’ skipper James Wilson.

“Durocher instituted his campaign of trickery earlier, starting Rex Barney, right-hander, on the mound, inducing Wilson to start a lineup loaded with left-handed hitters,” noted Brooklyn Eagle correspondent Tommy Holmes. “After Barney had pitched to one batter, Durocher replaced him with Fritz Ostermueller.”

Barney in that game finished with a single base on balls issued to Stan Hack.

Barney next got the ball for the Dodgers three days later against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the opener of a doubleheader at Forbes Field.

After issuing one walk each in the first and second innings, Barney opened the third by walking opposing pitcher Wally Hebert before getting Pete Coscarart to ground out to third. After he walked Johnny Barrett and Jim Russell to load the bases, Durocher gave the ball to Rube Melton.

The Brooklyn Eagle‘s Holmes questioned Durocher’s “jittery mental gymnastics” in making the call to the bullpen.

“Maybe Durocher, as manager, was justified in his lack of confidence in Barney because Rex was so wild,” noted Holmes “But he sent Rube Melton to relieve and Melton had done nothing in months to establish any sort of confidence.”

The Dodgers dropped both games of the twin bill to Pittsburgh, yet Barney had his back-to-back no-hit starts.

Name
Game 1
Game 2
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
ERA
HBP
WP
TM




Mike Moore
1985-05-30
1985-06-04
2.1
0
2
2
4
1
7.71
0
0
SEA


Frank MacCormack
1976-07-26
1977-04-24
3.1
0
3
3
7
2
8.10
2
4
DET-SEA


Gary Gentry
1973-06-05
1973-06-10
3.0
0
1
1
4
0
3.00
0
0
ATL


Les Cain
1972-05-24
1972-05-28
5.1
0
4
4
6
5
6.75
0
0
DET


Sandy Koufax
1958-07-05
1958-07-18
2.1
0
1
1
4
4
3.86
0
0
LAD


Rex Barney
1943-09-25
1943-09-28
2.1
0
2
2
6
1
7.71
0
0
BRO




Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 4/10/2016.

No-hitter and immaculate inning on same day, 57 years ago today

Baseball fans got to celebrate a no-hitter and an immaculate inning on the same day, 57 years ago today.

On Saturday, June 15, 1963, the San Francisco Giants’ Juan Marichal no-hit the Houston Colt .45’s at Candlestick Park for a 1-0 victory. That same day, more than 2,100 miles northeast at County Stadium, the Milwaukee Braves’ Tony Cloninger tossed an immaculate 8th inning during a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, striking out Tony González, Clay Dalrymple and Rubén Amaro on nine pitches.

The Marichal-Cloninger combo marked only the second time a no-hitter and an immaculate inning occurred on the same day. The first time involved just one pitcher.

On Saturday, June 30, 1962, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax no-hit the expansion New York Mets at Dodger Stadium for a 5-0 victory. In the first inning of that game, Koufax struck out Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl and Félix Mantilla on a total of nine pitches for the majors’ 12th immaculate inning. It marks the only time a pitcher accomplished both rare feats in the same game.

Koufax threw his second immaculate inning (the majors’ 13th) about a year later on Friday, April 19, 1963, striking out the Houston Colt .45s’ Bob Aspromonte, Jim Campbell and Turk Farrell in the 5th inning at Dodger Stadium. Less than a month later, Cloninger threw the majors’ 14th immaculate inning.

NoNoHitters.com now keeps a list of this other pitching rare feat here.

Reds’ Vander Meer tosses back-to-back no-nos, 82 years ago today

Johnny Vander Meer became the first pitcher to throw no-hitters in back-to-back starts, 82 years ago today.

Vander Meer’s first no-hitter was on Saturday, June 11, 1938, as he led the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-0 no-hit victory at Crosley Field over the Boston Bees (Braves).

His second, 82 years ago today, came in the first night game at Ebbets Field. On Wednesday, June 15, 1938, he no-hit the Brooklyn Dodgers for a 6-0 win.

Back-to-back no-hit starts, Part 5 — Sandy Koufax

The great Sandy Koufax takes up the No. 5 spot on our look at baseball’s six “other” back to back starts in recognition of Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Vander Meer’s amazing accomplishment 82 years ago.

On Saturday, June 11, 1938, Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees at home at Crosley Field. Four days later, he threw another no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field to become the only major-league pitcher to throw back-to-back no-nos.

Mike Moore, Frank MacCormack, Gary Gentry, Les Cain, Sandy Koufax and Rex Barney all threw back-to-back no-hit starts, though none of their outings went nine innings. The details of those starts generated using http://www.baseball-reference.com‘s superb Play Index are below, and we’ve been taking a closer look at each of the pairings each day.

No. 5: Sandy Koufax

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax would not begin his string of no-hitters in four consecutive seasons until 1962, but he actually achieved back-to-back no-hit starts midway through the 1958 season.

Facing the Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on July 5, 1958, Koufax got off to a fine start, striking out Tony Taylor and inducing a fly-out to center from Al Dark before shortstop Don Zimmer allowed Lee Walls to reach base on an error. Koufax struck out Ernie Banks to end the inning, and he got Bobby Thomson to ground out to first for the second inning’s initial out.

Cubs’ outfielder Jim Bolger followed by grounding another ball to first, prompting Koufax to run over to cover the bag.

“Bolger barreled into Koufax after the Dodger southpaw had taken a throw from first baseman Norm Larker,” noted the Long Beach Press-Telegram‘s George Lederer. “Koufax twisted his ankle as he crossed the bag and Bolger stepped on it as both players sprawled to the turf.”

Dodgers’ Manager Walter Alston brought in reliever Johnny Klippstein, and Koufax would spend days on crutches before returning to the mound.

Koufax took the ball for a July 18, 1958, start against the Philadelphia Phillies, but after he walked four batters in the first inning, Alston brought in Klippstein to try to minimize the damage. It marked a second straight no-hit start for the lefty.

Fortunately for Koufax, his no-hitter prowess would surpass these two starts years later to cap a Hall of Fame career.

Name
Game 1
Game 2
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
ERA
HBP
WP
TM




Mike Moore
1985-05-30
1985-06-04
2.1
0
2
2
4
1
7.71
0
0
SEA


Frank MacCormack
1976-07-26
1977-04-24
3.1
0
3
3
7
2
8.10
2
4
DET-SEA


Gary Gentry
1973-06-05
1973-06-10
3.0
0
1
1
4
0
3.00
0
0
ATL


Les Cain
1972-05-24
1972-05-28
5.1
0
4
4
6
5
6.75
0
0
DET


Sandy Koufax
1958-07-05
1958-07-18
2.1
0
1
1
4
4
3.86
0
0
LAD


Rex Barney
1943-09-25
1943-09-28
2.1
0
2
2
6
1
7.71
0
0
BRO




Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used

Generated 4/10/2016.