Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 15

Mountain threw Columbus’ second and final no-no, 136 years ago today

Frank Mountain threw the second and final no-hitter in Columbus Buckeyes history, 136 years ago today.

On June 5, 1884, Mountain no-hit the Washington Nationals of the American Association for a 12-0 win on the Capitol Grounds. Just a week earlier, teammate Ed Morris no-hit the Pittsburgh Alleghenys (Pirates) for a 5-0 win at Pittsburgh’s Recreation Park.

in 1884, the New York Metropolitans captured the AA pennant but lost the World Series 3-0 to the National League champion Providence Grays.

The Buckeyes folded before the start of the 1885 season.

Dodgers’ Koufax ties record with 3rd no-no, 57 years ago today

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax threw his third career no-hitter, 57 years ago today.

On Thursday, June 4, 1964, at Connie Mack Stadium, Koufax no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies for a 3-0 win. Koufax struck out 12 and faced the minimum number of batters (27), with his only blemish issuing a fourth-inning walk to Dick Allen. Allen was caught attempting to steal second base.

Koufax’s performance that night tied Larry Corcoran, Cy Young and Bob Feller for most career no-hitters.

Koufax would throw a fourth no-no to break the record in 1965, but the Corcoran-Young-Feller-Koufax mark would fall in 1981 when Nolan Ryan threw his fifth — and later sixth and seventh — no-no.

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

Johan Santana breaks Mets’ no-no curse, 8 years ago today

Today is the eighth anniversary of Johan Santana breaking the Mets’ no no-hitters streak at 8,019 regular-season games. That streak was a major-league record until May 16, 2019, when the San Diego Padres played that franchise’s 8,020th regular-season game without a no-hitter. As always, we celebrate by repeating our original post from June 1, 2012.

The streak ends at 8,019: Santana no-hits Cards



Johan Santana

For the first time in 8,019 games, a New York Mets game has ended with a zero in the opposing team’s “H” column.

Johan Santana threw a no-hitter Friday to accomplish what Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden and David Cone could do only for other teams — not the Mets.

Santana scattered five walks and struck out eight during the 8-0 victory.

Sanatana’s no-no leaves the San Diego Padres as the only franchise without a no-hitter, and anoints the Padres with newfound infamy as the team with the longest drought. We haven’t yet worked out their current count.

The Mets drought stretched into the team’s 50th season, starting when the St. Louis Cardinals’ Julian Javier singled to left off Mets starter Roger Craig on April 11, 1962, during the Mets franchise’s first Major League game.

In addition to Ryan, Seaver, Gooden, Cone, Mike Scott and Hideo Nomo also pitched no-hitters after leaving the Mets. Nomo is the only pitcher to hurl no-nos both before (Los Angeles Dodgers, 1996) and after (Boston Red Sox, 2001) his stints with the Mets.

The rest of the cast pitching no-hitters before joining the Mets includes Don Cardwell (Chicago Cubs), Warren Spahn (Milwaukee Braves), Dean Chance (Minnesota Twins), Dock Ellis (Pittsburgh Pirates), John Candelaria (Pittsburgh Pirates), Bret Saberhagen (Kansas City Royals), Scott Erickson (Twins), Al Leiter (Florida Marlins) and Kenny Rogers (Texas Rangers).

Thank you, Johan for finally breaking the curse.

Talking no-hitters, defense and more

Had the great privilege of appearing on Mark Simon’s terrific Sports Info Solutions Baseball Podcast today to chat about no-hitters and the role of defense, umpires and other things. Take a listen using the Apple Podcast link below.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1461705002?i=1000476053905

On this episode, Mark Simon (@MarkSimonSays) is joined by Dirk Lammers (@ddlammers/@nonohitters), author of Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders and an expert on the history of no-hitters for a conversation on all the different factors that go into throwing one. Dirk explains the origins of his research, how much research he’s done, and his favorite (2:18). They then discuss the most prominent defensive plays in no-hitters, what made Gregor Blanco’s perfect game-saving catch so special, what percentage of no-hitters feature a good or great defensive play, and why Kevin Kouzmanoff should be remembered for his defensive work (7:21). They also get into the role of umpires and catchers (14:36) and look at patterns in pitchers that throw no-hitters (18:47). Lastly they discuss the most likely current pitchers to throw a no-hitter (20:01). Thanks for listening and stay safe!

Eagles’ Song no-hits Tigers, 20 years ago today

The Hanwha Eagles’ Song Jin-woo tossed a Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) no-hitter, 20 years ago today.

On Thursday, May 18, 2000, at Gwangju Mudeung Baseball Stadium, Song no-hit the Haitai Tigers for a 6-0 win.

The southpaw was the first KBO pitcher to strikeout more than 2,000 batters. Song spent his entire 21-season career with the Eagles, posting a 210-153 record with a 3.51 ERA between 1989 and 2009. The Eagles retired his No. 21.

Check out the full list of KBO no-hitters here.

Padres take sole ownership of no-hit futility record, 1 year ago today

The San Diego Padres took ownership of the major-league record for regular-season no-hit futility, one year ago today.

In the third inning of May 16, 2019 night game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Adam Frazier put a “1” in the “H” column against Eric Lauer to mark the 8,020th regular-season Padres game without a no-hitter. In the New York Mets’ 8,020th regular-season game, Johan Santana no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals to end New York’s circa-1962 drought at 8,019.

With COVID-19 delaying the start of the 2020 season, the Padres’ no no-hitter count currently sits on hold at 8,138 regular-season games. That’s 807 games shy of the Philadelphia Phillies’ 8,945-game mark for the longest drought between no-hitters.

Black Sox’s Yokely no-hits Stars, 93 years ago today

The Baltimore Black Sox’s Laymon Yokely tossed a no-hitter during the second game of a doubleheader after throwing five-plus innings of the opener, 93 years ago today.

During the second game of a Sunday, May 15, 1927 doubleheader at Maryland Baseball Park, Yokely no-hit the Cuban Stars for an 8-0 victory. Errors by third-baseman Jud Wilson and first-baseman/manager Ben Taylor allowed two Stars to reach base, but Yokely stranded them both.

In the opener, after starter Joe Strong gave up six runs in the fourth, Yokely took the ball, ended the inning and finished the game, yielding 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk, earning the W in a 9-8 win

A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Yokely was scouted and signed by the Black Sox while he was attending Livingstone College in Salsbury, North Carolina, according to James Riley’sThe Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. He later played for the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, the Philadelphia Stars, the Washington Black Senators, the Edgewater Giants and the Baltimore Elite Giants.

Jones becomes first African-American to throw MLB no-no, 65 years ago today

“Toothpick” Sam Jones became the first African-American to throw a Major League Baseball no-hitter, 65 years ago today.

Jones, pitching for the Chicago Cubs on May 12, 1955, no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates for a 4-0 win at Wrigley Field. He completed an accomplishment that likely would have been preceded by such Negro Leagues greats as Dick “Cannonball” Redding, “Bullet” Joe Rogan, Leon Day and Satchel Paige had baseball integrated earlier.

Also throwing no-hitters on this date are Charles “Chief” Bender, Carl Erskine and A.J. Burnett.

Bender, a starter for the Philadelphia Athletics, threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Naps at Shibe Park on Thursday, May 12, 1910. Erskine tossed his second Brooklyn Dodgers no-hitter, a 3-0 win over the New York Giants, on Saturday, May 12, 1956 at Ebbets Field. Burnett, a Florida Marlins pitcher, no-hit the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium on Saturday, May 12, 2001 for a 3-0 win.

Fred Toney threw a 17-inning minor-league no-no, 111 years ago today

Fred Toney threw a 17-inning no-hitter in the Bluegrass League, 111 years ago today.

Pitching for Winchester on May 10, 1909, Toney held Lexington to zero hits over 17 frames while striking out 19 batters, walking one, hitting another and seeing four base runners reach on errors. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 17th, with opposing pitcher Baker (first name unknown) scattering seven hits. Winchester won the game on a walk-off suicide squeeze.

Toney, a Nashville-born right-hander, is no stranger to close no-nos. He’s the winning pitcher in Major League Baseball’s only nine-inning double no-no. On Wednesday, May 2, 1917, at Chicago’s Weeghman Park, Toney threw a 10-inning no-hitter against the Cubs for a 1-0 victory. The Cubs’ starter, Hippo Vaughn, threw a nine-inning no-hitter but lost the game in the 10th.

No-hitter No. 300, one year ago

Major-league baseball notched its 300th no-hitter one year ago today.

On Tuesday, May 7, 2019, the Oakland Athletics’ Mike Fiers tossed his second career no-hitter, holding the Cincinnati Reds hitless during a 2-0 win. Fiers threw 131 pitches, walked two and struck out six during a late night at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, as a malfunctioning light tower in left field delayed the start time by an hour and 38 minutes.

Two defensive gems helped keep a zero in the Reds’ H column. With two outs in the sixth, second-baseman Jurickson Profar ran out to right to make a diving catch on a Kyle Farmer blooper. Then, in the next at-bat, Joey Votto launched a ball poised to clear the left side of the center-field fence, but Ramón Laureano pulled it back in for the inning’s third out.