Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 39
October 30, 2018
Happy 102nd to Opening Day no-no thrower Leon Day
Today would be the 102nd birthday of Leon Day, who threw an Opening Day no-hitter in the Negro National League in 1946.
Day, pitching for the Newark Eagles on Sunday, May 5, 1946, no-hit the Philadelphia Stars at Newark’s Ruppert Stadium for a 2-0 win, allowing just three runners to reach first via a pair of walks and an error. He struck out six batters.
Day had just returned from serving his country in World War II, having stormed Utah Beach during the Allied Forces’ invasion of France.
October 24, 2018
Happy birthday to no-no throwers Henley, Wood
Happy birthday to a pair of old-time no-no throwers.
Weldon Henley, born on this day in 1880, threw a no-no for the Philadelphia Athletics against the St. Louis Browns during the opener of a Saturday, July 22, 1905, doubleheader at St. Louis’ Robison Field. The A’s topped the Browns 6-0.
“Smokey” Joe Wood, born on this day in 1889, tossed a no-no for the Boston Red Sox during the first game of a Saturday, July 29, 1911, doubleheader at the Huntington Avenue Grounds. The Red Sox topped the Browns 5-0.
October 15, 2018
Bumpus Jones’ no-hitter in 1st appearance, 126 years ago today
Today is the 126th anniversary of the latest calendar year major-league no-hitter, but it wasn’t thrown in a postseason game.
The Cincinnati Reds’ Charles “Bumpus” Jones made his major-league debut on Saturday, October 15, 1892, and made the most of it. Jones no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates at League Park for a 7-1 win.
Reds player-manager Charles Comiskey, who had watched Jones pitch well in an 1892 exhibition, gave Jones the opportunity to pitch Cincinnati’s final game of the ’92 season. Two pitchers have thrown no-hitters in the first major league starts, but no one else has done it in their first major league appearance.
October 12, 2018
Colombus Solons’ Hank Gastright tosses 8-inning no-hitter, 128 years ago today
The Colombus Solons’ Hank Gastright threw an eight-inning no-hitter 128 years ago today, but the accomplishment is not considered an official no-no as the game was called due to darkness.
During a Sunday, October 12, 1890, American Association match-up in front of 4,000 fans at Columbus’ Recreation Park, Gastright no-hit the Toledo Maumees for a 6-0 victory. The game was called after eight innings.
Gastright walked just one batter while striking out six, and Columbus committed one error.
October 10, 2018
Yomiuri Giants’ Horiuchi hits 3 homers during no-hitter, 51 years ago today
A 2012 card by BBM honors Yutaka Enatsu’s sanyonara home run no-no in ’73 and Tsuneo Horiuchi’s 3 homers during his ’67 no-hitter.
The Yomiuri Giants’ Tsuneo Horiuchi hit three home runs while throwing a Japanese no-hitter, 51 years ago today.On Tuesday, October 10, 1967, during a game at Tokyo’s Korakuen Stadium against the Hiroshima Carp, Horiuchi blasted three home runs en route to an 11-0 win over the Carp.
The major leaguer who came the closest to duplicating the feet is the Philadelphia Phillies’ Rick Wise, who hit two homers during his 4-0 no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, June 23, 1971.
Only four other major league pitchers have hit single home runs while throwing a no-hitter: the Columbus Buckeyes’ Frank Mountain (1884), the Cleveland Indians’ Wes Ferrell (1931), the Boston Braves’ Jim Tobin (1944) and the Boston Red Sox’s Earl Wilson (1962).
October 8, 2018
Today is the 62nd anniversary of Larsen’s WS perfecto
Today is the 62nd anniversary of Don Larsen’s perfect game for the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series — the first no-hitter in postseason history.
Larsen retired all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers batters he faced at Yankee Stadium on Monday, October 8, 1956 for a 2-0 win. I had the pleasure of interviewing Larsen for the “Postseason Perfection” chapter of my book Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders. It is one of my all-time favorite interviews.
Larsen is, of course, extremely proud of the accomplishment and remembers it in vivid detail. When I asked him how he felt when Roy Halladay tossed a no-hitter in the 2010 NLDS, he replied, “It didn’t bother me a bit. It was the playoffs. That wasn’t a World Series game, anyway.”
October 7, 2018
Uni-Lions’ Ryan Verdugo tosses perfecto that ends on a walk-off homer
The Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions’ Ryan Verdugo threw a Chinese Professional Baseball League perfect game that ended on a walk-off homer at Tainan Municipal Baseball Stadium on Sunday.
Verdugo, who appeared in one game for the Kansas City Royals in 2012, threw 92 pitches and struck out eight Chinatrust Brothers but walked off the mound after the top of the ninth with the score deadlocked at 0. Kuo Fu-Lin stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth and drove a ball over the left-center field wall to end the contest.
It was the first perfecto in CPBL history. View all of the CPBL no-hitters here.
Watch the finish from CPBL.tv below:
Grays’ Shaw tosses 5-inning no-no vs. Buffalo Bisons, 133 years ago today
Fred “Dupee” Shaw threw a five-inning no-hitter for the National League’s Providence Grays, 133 years ago today.
On Wednesday, October 7, 1885, during the first game of doubleheader at Buffalo’s Olympic Park, Shaw no-hit the Buffalo Bisons for a 4-0 victory. The contest was a planned doubleheader with two five-inning games, but a 1991 ruling determined that no-hitters must go nine innings, so Shaw’s accomplishment is relegated to a record book appendix.
October 3, 2018
Nationals’ Scherzer no-hits Mets, 3 years ago today
The Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer no-hit the New York Mets for his second second no-hitter of the 2015 season, three years ago today.
Scherzer stifled the Mets’ offense at Citi Field on Oct. 3, 2015, during the second game of a Saturday doubleheader for a 2-0 victory. He was throwing a perfect game until the sixth inning, when third baseman Yunel Escobar threw wild to first base for an error.
Scherzer became is only the fifth major league pitcher to throw two no-hitters in the same regular season, joining Johnny Vander Meer (1938 in back-to-back starts), Allie Reynolds (1951), Virgil Trucks (1952) and Nolan Ryan (1973). Roy Halladay threw no-hitters in the same season in 2010, but his second was tossed in Game 1 of the NLDS.
Scherzer also tied Nolan Ryan’s record for most strikeouts in a no-hitter with 17. Ryan set the mark during his second no-hitter as a member of the California Angels on Sunday, July 15, 1973, against the Tigers.
The game marked the second time the Mets were no-hit in 2015, as the San Francisco Giants’ Chris Heston no-no’d the Mets on June 9, 2015, at Citi Field. It was Scherzer’s second straight start with no-hit stuff. He reached the eighth inning with a no-no intact against the Cincinnati Reds on September 28, losing it when Tucker Barnhart lined a single to left with one out in the eighth inning.
On June 14, in the start just before his first no-hitter of 2015, Scherzer no-hit the Milwaukee Brewers through 6 innings before Carlos Gomez blooped a single over the second baseman’s head to lead off the seventh inning. Scherzer completed the task six days later by no-hitting the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday, June 20, 2015 for a 6-0 victory at Nationals Park.
September 30, 2018
Witt hurls perfecto on final game of ’84 season, 34 years ago today
The California Angels’ Mike Witt threw a perfect game on the final day of the 1984 season, 34 years ago today.
On Sunday, September 30, 1984, Witt needed just 94 pitchers to retire all 27 of the Texas Rangers he faced for a 1-0 win in front of just 8,375 fans at Arlington Stadium. Witt struck out 10 batters.
Witt also threw the final two innings of a combined Angels no-no on Wednesday, April 11, 1990 at Anaheim Stadium. Mark Langston got the start and threw seven innings of no-hit ball against the Seattle Mariners, but took himself out of the game as his arm speed just wasn’t there. Witt came in and threw two perfect innings.
Here’s video of the final out:
