Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 40

Alvarez finishes season with walk-off wild pitch no-hitter, 5 years ago today

The Miami Marlins’ Henderson Alvarez finished off the 2013 season with a no-hitter that ended with a walk-off wild pitch, five years ago today.

Alvarez, pitching at Marlins Park on Sunday, September 29, 2013, no-hit the Detroit Tigers through nine innings, but the Marlins couldn’t score a single run. Miami loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, and then Luke Putkonen plunked pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs, sending Giancarlo Stanton home for the 1-0 no-hit victory.

Alvarez was standing in the on-deck circle, with no chance to bat, when the celebration ensued.

Two other no-nos were thrown on this date

198 of 299
John Montefusco


 
San Francisco Giants (NL)


 
Wednesday, September 29, 1976

San Francisco Giants 9, Atlanta Braves 0

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta)


211 of 299
Mike Warren


 
Oakland Athletics (AL)


 
Thursday, September 29, 1983

Oakland Athletics 3, Chicago White Sox 0

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum (Oakland)

Zimmermann tosses Nats’ first no-no, 4 years ago today

Jordan Zimmermann tossed the Washington Nationals’ first no-no since the franchise’s move to the nation’s capital, four years ago today.

Zimmermann no-hit the Miami Marlins on the final game of the 2014 season at Nationals Park on Sept. 28, 2014, striking out 10 batters while issuing just a single walk for a 1-0 victory.

The Nats’ Steven Souza Jr. saved the no-no on the final play with a diving catch. Souza, a rookie outfielder inserted as a defensive replacement in the ninth, chased down a two-out deep fly ball to left center and made the grab near the warning track for the game’s final out. Teammates mobbed Zimmermann,

The losing pitcher was Henderson Alvarez, who tossed a no-no for the Marlins on the last day of the 2013 regular season. That game ended on a rare walk-off wild-pitch.

Although it was the first no-hitter for the Nationals, the franchise had recorded four no-hitters north of the border as the Montreal Expos:

Bill Stoneman, April 17, 1969, against the Philadelphia Phillies
Stoneman, Oct. 2, 1972 (game one of doubleheader), against the New York Mets.
Charlie Lea, May 10, 1981 (game two of doubleheader), against the San Francisco Giants
Dennis Martinez, July 28, 1991, a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers

The Nats’ Max Scherzer has since tossed the second and third Nationals no-hitters:

Saturday, June 20, 2015, against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Saturday, October 3, 2015 (second game of doubleheader), against the New York Mets.

51st anniversary of Horlen’s White Sox no-no

Joel “Joe” Horlen

Today is the 51st anniversary of Joel “Joe” Horlen’s Chicago White Sox no-hitter.

During the first game of a Sunday, September 10, 1967, doubleheader at the old Comiskey Park, Horlen no-hit the Detroit Tigers for a 6-0 win. The Sox jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning on RBI singles by Ken Boyer and Pete Ward, a two-run triple by Wayne Causey and an RBI single by Horlen.

Causey saved Horlen’s no-no in the ninth by fielding a tough chance behind second base and making an off-balance throw to first for the inning’s first out. Horlen enticed two additional ground outs to seal the feat.

“I just knew I had to get the ball,” Causey told the AP.

Also throwing a no-hitter on this date is the Cleveland Indians’ Ray Caldwell, who no-hit the New York Yankees on September 10, 1919, during the first game of a Wednesday doubleheader for a 3-0 win at the Polo Grounds.

Koufax tosses perfecto to set new career no-no mark, 53 years ago today

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax threw his fourth no-hitter in the form of a perfect game, 53 years ago today.

On September 9, 1965, Koufax retired each of the 27 Chicago Cubs batters he faced at Dodger Stadium to set a new record for career no-hitters. Nolan Ryan would eventually break the mark of four and extend his record to seven. But Koufax’s perfecto had such an impact on the Cubs that the team avoided being no-hit for nearly 50 years, with the finally streak ending at 7,921 games in 2015 at the hands of Cole Hamels.

Also throwing no-hitters on this day are:

1
George Davis


 
Boston Braves (NL)


 
Wednesday, September 9, 1914 (Second game of doubleheader)

Boston Braves 7, Philadelphia Phillies 0

Fenway Park (Boston)


2
Dick Fowler


 
Philadelphia Athletics (AL)


 
Sunday, September 9, 1945 (Second game of doubleheader)

Philadelphia Athletics 1, St. Louis Browns 0

Shibe Park (Philadelphia)


3
Rex Barney


 
Brooklyn Dodgers (NL)


 
Thursday, September 9, 1948

Brooklyn Dodgers 2, New York Giants 0

Polo Grounds (New York)

Today is the 25th anniversary of Darryl Kile’s no-no vs. the Mets

Darryl Kile threw a Houston Astros no-hitter against the New York Mets, 25 years ago today.

Kile struck out nine while walking one in the Wednesday, September 8, 1993, game at the Astrodome in which the Astros won 7-1. Kile retired the first 10 New York batters, but the Mets got their run in the fourth thanks to a walk followed by an Astros defensive breakdown. After walking Jeff McKnight, Kile threw a wild pitch that catcher Scott Servais thought hit Joe Orsulak on the foot. It didn’t, and as McKnight ran to third, first baseman Jeff Bagwell grabbed the ball and threw it off-line, allowing McKnight to score.

Kile, who later played for the Colorado Rockies and the St. Louis Cardinals, died tragically on June 22, 2002, of a heart attack.

Feature photo: Astrodome 1969 Baseball Game by Bill Wilson licensed under (CC by 2.0)

Smith, Tesreau, Sanchez threw no-hitters on this date.

Jeff Tesreau, pictured here, Frank Smith, above, and Anibal Sanchez all threw no-hitters on this date.

Frank Smith, Jeff Tesreau and Anibal Sanchez threw no-hitters on this date.

Smith, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, threw his first of two career no-hitters during the second game of a Wednesday doubleheader at Detroit’s Bennett Park on September 6, 1905. Smith had plenty of run support in this game, as the Sox accumulated 15 runs to shut out the Tigers.

Tesreau, a 6-foot-2 right-hander from Ironton, Missouri, shut out the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 during the first game of a Friday, September 6, 1912, doubleheader at National League Park. The scorecard initially credited Phillies leadoff batter Dode Paskert with a first-inning hit, but the official scorer changed his ruling after the game to give Tesreau the no-no. The disputed play was Paskert’s short fly ball near home plate that dropped between first baseman Fred Merkle and catcher Art Wilson.

“Each fielder got under the ball,” noted a story in the Washington Post. “Then fearing a collision, they permitted the ball to drop to the ground.”

Sanchez threw the fourth Florida Marlins no-hitter on Wednesday, September 6, 2006, no-hitting the Arizona Diamondbacks at Pro Player Stadium for a 2-0 win. The no-no broke the longest no-hitter drought in Major League Baseball history in terms of number of games played, with the games between Randy Johnson’s 2004 perfect game and Sanchez’s no-no reaching 6,364.

Brooklyn’s Rucker, Hilldale’s Cockrell tossed no-nos on this date

Phil Cockrell, pictured here, and Nap Rucker, above, threw no-hitters on this date.

Hilldale’s Phil Cockrell threw a Negro Leagues no-hitter and the Brooklyn Suberbas’ “Nap” Rucker threw a National League no-no on this date.

On September 5, 1921, during the second game of a Monday doubleheader, Cockrell no-hit the Detroit Stars for a 3-0 win. He followed that up with another no-no less than a year later, no-hitting the Chicago American Giants for a 5-0 win on Saturday, August 19, 1922.

Also throwing a no-hitter on this date is the Superbas’ George Napoleon “Nap” Rucker. On September 5, 1908, during the second game of a Saturday doubleheader at Brooklyn’s Washington Park, Rucker no-hit the Boston Doves for a 6-0 win.

Cubs’ Pappas no-hits Padres, 46 years ago today

Forty-six years ago today, on Sept. 2, 1972, the Chicago Cubs’ Milt Pappas no-hit the San Diego Padres at Wrigley Field, becoming the only pitcher in MLB history to lose a perfect game by walking the 27th batter but still get a no-hitter (two others did it on hit batsmen).

Pappas retired the first 26 Padres he faced and was one out away from a perfect game with a 3-2 count on pinch-hitter Larry Stahl when home plate umpire Bruce Froemming called a ball to issue the base on balls. Pappas started yelling at Froemming and nearly got kicked out of the game.

“I’ve got a call, and I’m not a fan. I’m an umpire,” Froemming told the MLB Network’s Bob Costas.

Pappas managed to get pinch-hitter Garry Jestadt to pop out to second to complete the no-no, an 8-0 victory.

I interviewed Pappas for Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders a couple of years before he passed and he was still upset with umpire Froemming for not giving him calls on the final batter to give him the perfecto. Pappas told me that people still came up to him to talk about that game.

“I’m still being recognized and still going out and signing autographs, and I’m wondering to myself on numerous occasions, ‘If I would have done the perfect game, would I be getting this kind of adulation?” he asked. “I wouldn’t have had the 40 years of ‘Man, you got screwed’ and ‘Who’s that umpire that called that?’”

Red Sox’s Buchholz no-hits Orioles in 2nd MLB start, 11 years ago today

The Boston Red Sox’s Clay Buchholz no-hit the Baltimore Orioles in his second career start, 11 years ago today.

On Saturday, September 1, 2007, Buchholz walked three, hit a batter and struck out nine for a 10-0, no-hit win at Fenway Park.

“It’s a team sport, so obviously the world championships outweigh anything you can do in baseball,” Buchholz told be in a 2014 interview for Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders. “But on an individual level, that’s one of the greatest feats that you can accomplish as a starting pitcher. It’s something that I’ll never forget.”

Buchholz has been strong so far this season for the Arizona Diamondbacks, posting a 2.07 ERA over 87 innings of work.

Cubs’ Lavender no-hits Giants, 103 years ago today

Chicago Cubs pitcher Jimmy Lavender’s no-hit the New York Giants, 103 years ago today.

Lavender’s gem came during the first game of a Tuesday, August 31, 1915 doubleheader at the Polo Grounds.

The Giants’ Fred Merkle, immortalized by a 1908 baserunning blunder that became known as “Merkle’s Boner,” was the only New Yorker to reach first base this game. He took first once on a second-inning error by Bob Fisher and another time on Lavender’s only walk in the eighth. Merkle never reached second.

Also throwing a no-hitter on this date is the Chicago White Sox’s Vern Kennedy, who no-hit the Cleveland Indians on Saturday, August 31, 1935 at Comiskey Park — 83 years ago today.