Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 29
April 15, 2019
Siebert gets his annual chance for 42-club company
Baseball’s annual Jackie Robinson Day tradition of dressing everyone in Robinson’s iconic No. 42 carries a side plot in the no-hitter world.
April 15 marks the only day that Sonny Siebert’s record of being the only pitcher to throw a no-no while wearing No. 42 can fall. Siebert, pitching for the Indians at Cleveland Stadium, on Friday, June 10, 1966, no-hit the Washington Senators for a 2-0 win. A walk and a Chico Salmon throwing error were the only things that kept Siebert from perfection.
Siebert can earn company in the No. 42 club with any no-hitter thrown today. And, in today’s era of pitch-count pulls early in the season, we could see the first combined no-hitter with every pitcher wearing No. 42.
Ames tosses 9⅓ innings of no-hit Opening Day ball, 110 years ago today
The New York Giants’ Red Ames tossed 9⅓ innings of no-hit ball in an effort that should have been MLB’s first Opening Day no-hitter, 110 years ago today.
On April 15, 1909, Ames no-hit the Brooklyn Superbas over nine innings at the Polo Grounds but neither team could score a run, as Brooklyn’s Kaiser Wilhelm held the Giants to just one hit. The Superbas’ Whitey Alperman tagged Ames for a one-out double to left center in the 10th inning, but Ames stranded Alperman at third to keep the game scoreless. Brooklyn scored three runs in the top of the 13th for the victory, with Ames giving up a total of seven hits. Wilhelm yielded just four hits.
Such accomplishments were considered official no-hitters until September 1991, when the Committee for Statistical Accuracy chaired by then MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent, changed the official definition of a no-hitter, declaring it a game of nine innings or more that ends with no hits.
Bob Feller tossed MLB’s only complete-game Opening Day no-hitter on April 16, 1940, mowing down eight Chicago White Sox batters as the Cleveland Indians topped Chicago 1-0 at Comiskey Park.
Happy Jackie Robinson Day
Today marks the 72th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the major-league color barrier.
On April 15, 1947, Robinson made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, playing first base and going 0-3 with a run scored. He batted .297 that season to take Rookie of the Year honors.
Robinson’s iconic No. 42, retired throughout baseball, will be worn by every major league player today.
April 14, 2019
Rockies’ Marquez takes no-no into 8th
The Colorado Rockies German Marquez took a no-hitter into the eighth inning on Sunday but lost it on an Evan Longoria single threaded between third and short.
Marquez held the San Francisco Giants hitless at Oracle Park through 7⅓ innings but lost the effort when Longoria placed a single through the left side of the infield. Marquez was trying to join Jim Colborn and Ramon Martinez in the No. 48 club.
The last (and only) Rockies no-hitter was 8 years, 11 months, 27 days ago by Ubaldo Jiménez, who no-hit the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, April 17, 2010 for a 4-0 win at Turner Field. The last no-hitter against the Giants was 5 years, 9 months, 12 days ago by the Cincinnati Reds’ Homer Bailey, a 3-0 win on Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at Great American Ball Park.
Marquez last took a Colorado Rockies no-hitter into the seventh on Wednesday, May 10, 2017, when the Chicago Cubs’ Kris Bryant broke it up with a lead-off double. The Rockies that game won 3-0.
Athletics’ Pennock nearly tosses Opening Day no-no, 104 years ago today
The Philadelphia Athletics’ Herb Pennock came within one out of throwing the majors’ first Opening Day no-hitter, 104 years ago today.
With the A’s hosting the visiting Red Sox at Shibe Park on April 14, 1915, Pennock held Boston hitless through 8⅔ innings while walking just one. Harry Hooper stepped up and placed a base hit up the middle over Paddock’s head and out of the reach of second baseman Nap Lajoie to kill the no-hitter.
The A’s won 2-0, with Pennock getting the complete-game one-hittter.
White Sox’s Cicotte no-hits Browns, 102 years ago today
Chicago White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte threw a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns, 102 years ago today.
Cicotte, one of eight players permanently banned from major league baseball in 1920 for allegedly throwing the 1919 World Series, no-hit the Browns at Sportsman’s Park on Saturday, April 14, 1917 for an 11-0 victory. Cicotte struck out five and walked three, and another Browns runner reached base on an error by Sox first baseman Chick Gandal.
Cicotte and seven teammates, including “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, were banned for life due to their involvement in what became known as the Black Sox Scandal. Cicotte’s catcher for the no-no, Ray Schalk, was not involved in the ’19 Series scheme and continued playing until 1929, catching two additional official no-nos (Joe Benz’s 1914 no-hitter against the Cleveland Naps and Charlie Robertson’s 1922 perfect game against the Detroit Tigers).
Happy birthday Chris Welsh, took Padres no-no into 7th in ’82
Happy 64th birthday to former San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Welsh, who took a Friars no-hitter into the seventh inning in 1982.
Welsh was nursing a 2-0 lead over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, June 23, 1982. After he took the Riverfront Stadium mound for the seventh inning, Cesar Cedeño led off with a double to kill Welsh’s no-hit bid, advance the Padres no no-no count to 2,110 games and spark a three-run rally.
“After throwing six innings of no-hit ball, maybe my whammy wore off,” Welsh told the AP after the game. “Maybe my luck ran out. For me to pitch six innings of no-hit ball, I’ve got to be lucky.”
Gary Lucas came in to end the seventh inning and the Padres tied the game in the top of the eighth, but the Reds’ Paul Householder hit a two-run homer off Eric Show in the bottom of the eight to lead the Reds to a 5-4 victory.
Welsh spent the ’81, ’82 and part of the ’83 seasons with the Padres before his contract was purchased by the Montreal Expos. The next month after his no-no bid against the Reds, Welsh reached the fifth but saw his no-hitter broken up with one out by the New York Mets’ Ellis Valentine. In his other Padres outings, Welsh twice reached the fourth inning and lost seven no-nos in the third, 12 in the second and 16 in the first (8 on the leadoff batter).
April 13, 2019
Happy birthday to Federal League no-no thrower Claude Hendrix
Happy birthday to Claude Hendrix, who threw a Federal League no-hitter in 1915.
Hendrix, born in Olathe, Kansas on this day in 1889, got the start for the Chicago Chi-Feds/Whales on Saturday, May 15, 1915 against the Pittsburgh Rebels at Pittsburgh’s Exposition Park. Hendrix, a former Pittsburgh Pirates hurler, struck out three and walked three for a 10-0 victory.
“Eight fly balls were hit to the outfielders,” according to a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story. “Eight men died on pop flys to the infield and seven men were thrown out by ground balls by the infielders.”
Hundreds of fans rushed the field to congratulate Hendrix after he got Jimmy Savage to foul out to end the game.
“I got all the breaks and my teammates played great ball behind me,” Hendrix said.
April 12, 2019
Young tosses no-no not considered official, 27 years ago today
The Boston Red Sox’s Matt Young no-hit the Cleveland Indians for a road loss and received no official credit, 27 years ago today.
On Sunday, April 12, 1992, during the first game of doubleheader at Cleveland Stadium, Young no-hit the Indians for a complete game, but he only got to throw eight innings because the Red Sox were on the road and the Indians scored two runs to the Sox’s one.
The Indians built a 2-0 lead in this game by the third inning. After Young started the contest by walking Kenny Lofton, Lofton stole second and third and then scored on an error by shortstop Luis Rivera.
Young kicked off the third inning by walking Mark Lewis and Lofton. After Glenallen Hill forced out Lofton, leaving runners at the corners, Lewis scored on a fielder’s choice to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.
The Red Sox responded with a run in the fourth, when Rivera singled home Ellis Burks, but the Sox could not score a tying run. Meanwhile, Young continued to maintain his zero in the H column (despite walking seven) through the bottom of the eighth, but time ran out on the Sox when they couldn’t score in the top of the ninth.
Young’s feat is relegated to the appendix, as MLB since 1991 requires that no-hitters go a full nine innings to be considered official.
Happy 38th birthday, Hisashi Iwakuma
Happy 38th birthday to Hisashi Iwakuma, who broke a streak of 12 straight National League no-hitters by throwing one for the AL’s Seattle Mariners in 2015.
At Safeco Field on August 12, 2015, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-hander struck out seven and walked three while holding the Baltimore Orioles hitless for a 3-0 victory. Kyle Seager made a spectacular catch for the first out in the ninth, snagging a foul ball behind his back. Iwakuma walked the lead-off batter in the eighth, but recovered with a strikeout looking and a 6-4-3 double play to make it to the ninth.
Iwakuma’s performance marked the first American League no-hitter since the Mariners’ Felix Hernandez threw a perfect game at Safeco Field on August 15, 2012. Iwakuma has since returned to Japan to pitch for the Yomiuri Giants.

Also born on this date are old-time no-hitter throwers Vic Willis and Addie Joss.
Willis, born on this date in 1876, pitched a no-hitter for the National League’s Boston Beaneaters on Monday, August 7, 1899 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds. The Beaneaters topped the Washington Senators 7-1.
Joss, the Cleveland Naps ace born on this date in 1880, was the first pitcher to no-hit the same team twice.
Joss threw a perfect game against the Chicago White Sox at home on Friday, October 2, 1908, then no-hit the White Sox again during a road game on Wednesday, April 20, 1910. The San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum is the only pitcher to duplicate the feat (vs. Padres in 2013 and 2014).