Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 46

Monarchs’ Eugene Marvin Collins no-hits Eagles, 69 years ago today

The Kansas City Monarchs’ Eugene Marvin Collins threw what is considered to be the final no-hitter in major Negro Leagues history, 69 years ago today.

On Sunday, May 22, 1949, Collins no-hit the Houston (relocated from Newark) Eagles for a 14-0 victory that may have been called early due to the mercy rule. Collins, a Kansas City native, was later signed by the Chicago White Sox but didn’t make it out of the minors. He also played in the Mexican League.

Happy 55th birthday, perfecto thrower David Wells

Happy 55th birthday to David Wells, who threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees just over 20 years ago.

On Sunday, May 17, 1998, Wells threw a perfect game at Yankee Stadium for a 4-0 win over the Minnesota Twins. Wells later said in his autobiography that he was still half drunk from a Saturday Night Live cast party the night before.

Wells won 239 games during a 21-year career with numerous teams, first reaching the big leagues in 1987 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Randy Johnson throws perfect game at age 40, 14 years ago today

Randy Johnson threw the majors’ 17th perfect game, and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ first no-hitter, 14 years ago today.

On Tuesday, May 18, 2004, the 40-year-old Johnson retired all of the 27 Atlanta Braves batters he faced at Turner Field for a 2-0 victory to become the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game.

It was Johnson’s second no-hitter. His first one thrown back in 1990 was the Seattle Mariners’ first no-no.

Today is the 20th anniversary of Wells’ perfecto; Nottebart’s no-no turns 55

Today is the 20th anniversary of David Wells’ perfect game for the New York Yankees and the 55th anniversary of the first Houston Colt .45’s no-hitter.

On Sunday, May 17, 1998, Wells threw a perfect game at Yankee Stadium for a 4-0 win over the Minnesota Twins. Wells later said in his autobiography Perfect I’m Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches, and Baseball that he was still half drunk from a Saturday Night Live cast party the night before.

On Friday, May 17, 1963, Nottebart no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies for a 4-1 win at Colt Stadium. It was the first no-hitter for the franchise now known as the Houston Astros.

Feature photo courtesy of Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Smith tosses first Negro American League no-no, 81 years ago today

The Kansas City Monarchs’ Hilton Smith threw the first Negro American League no-hitter, 81 years ago today.

On May 16, 1937, during the first game of a Sunday doubleheader, Smith no-hit the Chicago American Giants for a 4-0 win. Just two balls were hit out of the outfield against the right-hander from Giddings, Texas.

According to his SABR bio written by Ralph Berger, Smith became a school teacher after baseball and also worked for the Armco Steel Company in Kansas City as a foreman until 1978.

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001.

Padres’ Jordan Lyles takes perfect game bid into 8th

The San Diego Padres came within five outs of exiting the no no-no club on Tuesday, with Jordan Lyles taking a perfect game bid into the seventh inning before yielding a one-out single to Trevor Story.

The hit marked the 7,858th regular-season Padres game with no no-hitter, putting San Diego 161 games away from matching the New York Mets’ record of 8,019 regular-season games without a no-hitter. Lyles (7⅓), Kirby Yates (⅓) and Brad Hand (1⅓) wound up combining for the 30th one-hitter in Padres history for a 4-0 win.

The last no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies was 3 years, 10 months, 25 days ago, when the Los Angeles #Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw no-hit the Rockies at Dodger Stadium for an 8-0 win on Wednesday, June 18, 2014.

It marked the longest Padres bid since Friday, April 20, when Tyson Ross kept his no-no intact through two outs in the eighth when the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker spoiled the effort with a deep fly ball to center. Franchy Cordero misread the ball and took a few steps in before backtracking and letting it hit the grass behind him for the game’s first hit, an RBI double.

Indians’ no no-no streak reaches 37 years

It’s now been 37 years since the last Cleveland Indians no-hitter.

On Friday, May 15, 1981, at the Indians’ Len Barker tossed a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays for a 3-0 victory at Cleveland Stadium.

The Indians have fell short of completing a no-no ever since, with eight of those games over the past three seasons reaching at least the seventh inning (two reaching the ninth).

6⅔
Carlos Carrasco


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Friday, Aug. 12, 2017

Spoiler: Logan Morrison, two-out liner to right.

Cleveland Indians 5, Tampa Bay Rays 1

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg)


6
Mike Clevinger


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Saturday, May 20, 2017

Spoiler: José Altuve, lead-off single to left in the seventh inning.

Cleveland Indians 3, Houston Astros 0

Minute Maid Park (Houston)


6⅓
Carlos Carrasco


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Friday, September 25, 2015

Spoiler: Alex Rios, single up the middle with one out in the seventh

Cleveland Indians 6, Kansas City Royals 0

Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City)


6⅔
Corey Kluber


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Sunday, August 9, 2015

Spoiler: Joe Mauer, two-out single to left in the seventh inning

Cleveland Indians 8, Minnesota Twins 1

Progressive Field (Cleveland)


8⅔
Carlos Carrasco


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Spoiler: Joey Butler, single to right over the head of second baseman with two out in the ninth

Cleveland Indians 8, Tampa Bay Rays 1

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg, Florida)


6⅓
Cody Anderson


 
Cleveland Indains (AL)


 
Monday, June 29, 2015

Spoiler: Grady Sizemore, one-out home run in the seventh inning

Cleveland Indians 7, Tampa Bay 1

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg)


6⅔
Corey Kluber


 
Cleveland Indians (AL team in IL game)


 
Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Spoiler: Jhonny Peralta, two-out single to left in the seventh inning

Cleveland Indians 2, St. Louis Cardinals 0

Progressive Field (Cleveland)


8⅓
Trevor Bauer (6 inn)
Kyle Crockett (1 inn)
Scott Atchinson (1 inn)
Nick Hagadome (⅓ inn)


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Thursday, April 9, 2015

Spoiler: Jed Lowrie, homer to left-center off Nick Hagadome with one out in the ninth

Cleveland Indians 5, Houston Astros 0

Minute Maid Park (Houston)

Padres now one full season from topping Mets’ no-hit futility mark

The San Diego Padres are now just one full baseball season away from matching the New York Mets’ mark of no-hit futility.

When the Colorado Rockies’ Nolan Arenado singled in the first inning off Joey Lucchesi on Monday night, the Padres hit 7,857 regular-season games without a no-hitter, which is exactly 162 games shy of the Mets’ mark of 8,019 games, halted in 2012.

On June 1, 2012, in the Mets’ 8,020th regular-season game, Johan Santana ended a 50+ season drought by throwing the franchise’s first=ever no-hitter, passing the torch to the San Diego Padres as the only major league team with no no-hitter. That same night, nearly 2,800 to the west at Petco Park, Clayton Richard gave up a second-inning single to the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldshmidt to extend the Padres’ streak to 6,896 games with no no-hitter, and it has been climbing ever since.

Unless a Padres pitcher (or pitchers) can toss a nine-inning complete-game no-hitter before this time next year, the squad will surpass the Mets’ record.

The Padres joined the majors in 1969 alongside three other teams, the Montreal Expos, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots. Here’s when those clubs exited the no no-no club:

Montreal Expos

The Montreal Expos franchise, which moved to Washington, D.C., to become the Nationals in 2005, wasted no time in exiting the no no-no club. In the team’s ninth game on April 17, 1969, reliever-turned-starter Bill Stoneman struck out eight and walked five but gave up no-hits during the Expos’ 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Stoneman would get one more no-no in 1972 and Expos pitchers would throw two more before the move to D.C. Jordan Zimmermann threw the Nationals’ first no-no in 2014, and Max Scherzer has since added two.

Kansas City Royals

In his 10th Major League start, Kansas City Royals starter Steve Busby walked five but no-hit the Detroit Tigers for a 3-0 victory on April 27, 1973, in the Royals’ 659th regular-season game. Busby would throw another no-hitter on June 19, 1974, becoming the first pitcher to ever throw two no-nos in his first two full seasons (he had thrown a couple late-season games in 1972). Other Royals pitchers would throw two more no-hitters to give the franchise a total of four.

Seattle Pilots

The Pilots lasted just one season in Seattle, and the team couldn’t notch a no-hitter or even a one-hitter during those 163 games (they did get three two-hitters). After the squad moved to Milwaukee and was renamed the Brewers, the franchise would have to wait 17 years for its first no-hitter. Juan Nieves became the first Puerto Rico native to throw a no-no on April 15, 1987, in the franchise’s 2,863rd regular-season game, as the Brewers topped the Baltimore Orioles 7-0. Robin Yount made a game-ending diving catch to preserve Nieves’ gem, which remains the Brewers’ only no-no.

 

 

 

The next milestone would be the Philadelphia Phillies’ drought of 8,945 games, which lasted for 58 years, 1 month, 18 days between 1906 and 1964. The streak, though not a beginning-of-franchise mark, began on May 3, 1906, one game after Phillies’ southpaw Johnny Lush threw a 6-0 no-hitter against the Brooklyn Superbas. It ended on June 21, 1964, when Jim Bunning threw a 6-0 perfect game against the Mets during a Father’s Day doubleheader at Shea Stadium.

Gooden throws Yankees no-hitter, 22 years ago today

Dwight Gooden threw a no-hitter for the New York Yankees, 22 years ago today.

On Tuesday, May 14, 1996, Gooden no-hit the Seattle Mariners for a 2-0 victory at Yankee Stadium. “Doc” appeared to be running out of steam in the ninth frame as he walked Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martínez and then threw a wild pitch to allow runners to reach second and third. But he recovered to strike out Jay Buhner and then got Paul Sorrento to pop out to short to complete the no-no. Teammates carried the 31-year-old hero off the Yankee Stadium field to the cheers of more than 20,000 fans.

Gooden thrice came close to getting a no-no while with the New York Mets:

On June 6, 1984, in just his 11th major-league start, the emerging strikeout artist reached the eighth inning with a no-hitter intact before yielding a lead-off single to the Pirates’ Doug Frobel. New York won 2-1 in 13 innings.
On September 7, 1984, Gooden threw a one-hit 10-0 shutout against the Chicago Cubs. The only Cubs hit was a 5th-inning single by Keith Moreland.
On June 5, 1988, Gooden again reached the eighth inning and again lost it on the leadoff batter as the Cubs’ Damon Berryhill singled. Gooden held on for an 11-3 complete-game victory.

Also throwing a no-hitter on this date was the Kansas City Royals’ Jim Colborn. On Saturday, May 14, 1977, Colborn no-hit the Texas Rangers for a 6-0 win at Royals Stadium.

Feature photo courtesy of Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Mets’ Gentry takes no-hitter into 8th inning, 48 years ago today

The New York Mets’ Gary Gentry took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, 48 years ago today, settling instead for the franchise’s fifth one-hitter as the Mets topped the Cubs 4-0.

Gentry, the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the 1969 World Series, retired the first 12 batters during this Wednesday afternoon contest at Wrigley Field before issuing a leadoff walk to Ron Santo in the fifth. Gentry got Johnny Callison to ground into a 6-3 double play and kept his no-hitter alive until the eighth inning, when the legendary Ernie Banks hit a two-out single to left and extended the Mets’ no no-hitters streak to 1,330 games.

Gentry hit pinch-hitter Willie Smith with a pitch in the ninth but retired the next two batters for a Mets 4-0 win and the team’s fifth one-hitter.

Gentry helped his cause with the bat in the fifth inning by singling home Wayne Garrett, who had a 2-for-3 day with a double and triple after replacing third-baseman Joe Foy, who was hit by a pitch in the second.

When would the next Mets’ one-hitter come? Two days later during the club’s very next game in Philadelphia. Tom Seaver was on the hill at Connie Mack Stadium, but his no-no was killed in the third inning on a Mike Compton single.