Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 50

Braves’ Spahn no-hits Giants, 57 years ago today

The Milwaukee Braves’ Warren Spahn threw his second of two no-hitters, 57 years ago today.

On Friday, April 28, 1961, Spahn no-hit the San Francisco Giants for a 1-0 victory at Milwaukee County Stadium. Just two Giants reached first base on walks, but each was immediately sent back to the dugout on a double play. The Braves’ sole error was in the ninth inning on a foul ball behind the plate hit by Ed Bailey that was dropped by Braves catcher Charlie Lau.

Image courtesy of the Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library

Baltimore-born Phoebus tosses hometown no-hitter, 50 years ago today

Baltimore native Tom Phoebus tossed a no-hitter for his hometown Orioles, 50 years ago today.

On Saturday, April 27, 1968 at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, Phoebus struck out nine and issued three walks while holding the Red Sox hitless, with the O’s topping Boston 6-0.

Rico Petrocelli, who played shortstop for Boston in that game, reminisced about it when I was a guest with him and Ed Randall in 2016 on Sirius XM’s “Remember When.” Petrocelli said he didn’t remember Phoebus having his best stuff that day (newspaper reports note that Phoebus was recovering from a sore throat and head cold and it was questionable whether he’d start) but the Orioles made some great plays behind him.

Orioles’ third baseman Brooks Robinson saved the no-no in the eighth inning with an artful diving snag of Petrocelli’s hard liner to the hole between third and short. In the third inning, shortstop Mark Bellanger scooped up a high chopper that deflected off of Phoebus’ glove and threw to first to retire Mike Andrews.

No-no birthdays for 5: Caldwell, Barnes, Trucks, Maglie and Scott

Ray Caldwell, born this day in 1888, threw a no-hitter for the Cleveland Indians in 1919.

Today is one of two days throughout the calendar year in which we’re most flush with no-no birthdays. Five pitchers of no-hitters celebrate April 26 as the day of their entrances into the world: Ray Caldwell (pictured to the right, born in 1888), Jesse Barnes (born in 1892), Virgil Trucks (pictured above, born in 1917), Sal Maglie (born in 1917) and Mike Scott (born in 1955, turns 63 today).

The other day with five no-no throwers born is June 1.

Here are the no-hitters pitched by those celebrating birthdays today:

91 of 296
Ray Caldwell


 
Cleveland Indians (AL)


 
Wednesday, September 10, 1919 (First game of doubleheader)

Cleveland Indians 3, New York Yankees 0

Polo Grounds (New York)


94 of 296
Jesse Barnes


 
New York Giants (NL)


 
Sunday, May 7, 1922

New York Giants 6, Philadelphia Phillies 0

Polo Grounds (New York)


127 of 296
Virgil Trucks


 
Detroit Tigers (AL)


 
Thursday, May 15, 1952

Detroit Tigers 1, Washington Senators 0

Briggs Stadium (Detroit)

(His first of two no-hitters)


129 of 296
Virgil Trucks


 
Detroit Tigers (AL)


 
Monday, August 25, 1952

Detroit Tigers 1, New York Yankees 0

Yankee Stadium (New York)

(His second of two no-hitters)


135 of 296
Sal Maglie


 
Brooklyn Dodgers (NL)


 
Tuesday, September 25, 1956

Brooklyn Dodgers 5, Philadelphia Phillies 0

Ebbets Field (Brooklyn)


215 of 296
Mike Scott


 
Houston Astros (NL)


 
Thursday, September 25, 1986

Houston Astros 2, San Francisco Giants 0

Astrodome (Houston)

(Game clinches National Leauge West division for Astros.)

Nippon Ham Fighters’ Shibata throws Japanese no-hitter, 28 years ago today

The Nippon Ham Fighters’ Yasumitsu Shibata no-hit the Kintetsu Buffaloes, 28 years ago today.

On Saturday, April 25, 1990, at the Tokyo Dome, Shibata yielded no hits and just one walk for a 3-0 win. His lone base on balls was issued to Jim Traber in the fifth inning, but Shibata faced the minimum 27 because the Ham Fighters quickly retired Traber on a double play.

Click here for a list of all Japanese no-hitters.

Title image: Untitled by Takako Tominaga licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped and shaded.

Mogridge tosses Yankees’ first no-no, 101 years ago today.

George Mogridge threw the New York Yankees’ first no-hitter, 101 years ago today.

On April 24, 1917, Mogridge walked three, struck out three and overcame three Yankees errors while holding the Boston Red Sox hitless for a 2-1 win in front of 3,219 fans at Fenway Park.

The Yankees had accomplished nine one-hitters during the team’s first 14 years in New York but no pitcher could complete a game with a 0 in the H column until Mogridge. The one-hitter pitchers were Bill Wolff, Jack Chesbro, Billy Hogg, Al Orth, Joe Doyle, Joe Lake, Louis Brockett, Jack Warhop and Russell Ford.

Detroit Stars’ Cooper, no-hit ABCs in 1925, born 122 years ago today

Today would be the 122nd birthday of Andy Cooper, who threw a Negro National League no-hitter for the Detroit Stars in 1925.

On Sunday, June 28, 1925, during the second game of a Sunday doubleheader, Cooper no-hit the Indianapolis ABCs for a 1-0 win.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound southpaw from Waco, Texas, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Houston’s Johnson tosses no-no and loses, 54 years ago today

The Houston Colt .45’s Ken Johnson threw a no-hitter and lost, 54 years ago today.

Johnson threw nine innings of no-hit ball at Colt Stadium on April 23, 1964, yet lost the game 1-0.

The Reds clawed for that run on a ninth-inning bunt attempt by Pete Rose in which Johnson threw the ball into the outfield (it apparently wasn’t taboo to bunt to break up a no-no back then). After Rose advanced to third on a ground out, Vada Pinson stepped to the plate and hit a routine two-out grounder to second that was booted by Nellie Fox, allowing Rose to score. The Colts had a chance to respond in the bottom of the ninth, but Reds starter Joe Nuxhall overcame a two-out error by third baseman Chico Ruiz to keep Houston off the scoreboard and secure his complete-game victory.

Johnson had to settle for a complete-game loss, albeit a no-hitter. And hey, Mets fans: Guess who was the catcher of Johnson’s no-no … Jerry Grote.

The game remains the only nine-inning no-hitter lost by a single pitcher. The Orioles tandem of Steve Barber (8⅔ inn.) and Stu Miller (8#8531; inn.) duplicated the feat three years later, and there have been four instances in which a road team no-hit the home team yet lost, but those aren’t considered official no-hitters because the no-no pitcher or pitchers only had to throw 8 innings. That’s because when the home team leads after 8 1/2 innings, they’ve already won so they don’t have to bat in ninth.

Here are those instances:

1
Silver King



Chicago Pirates (PL)



Saturday, June 21, 1890

Brooklyn Ward’s Wonders 1, Chicago Pirates 0

South Side Park (Chicago)


2
Andy Hawkins



New York Yankees (AL)



Sunday, July 1, 1990

Chicago White Sox 4, New York Yankees 0

Comiskey Park (Chicago)


3
Matt Young



Boston Red Sox (AL)



Sunday, April 12, 1992 (First game of doubleheader)

Cleveland Indians 2, Boston Red Sox 1

Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland)


4
Jered Weaver (6 inn.)

Jose Arrendondo (2 inn.)



Los Angeles Angels (IL)



Saturday, June 28, 2008

Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Los Angeles Angels 0

Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)

Saturday night’s no-hitter was 1st called by umpire Hunter Wendelstedt; his dad called 5

Saturday night’s no-hitter by the Oakland Athletics’ Sean Manaea was the first no-hitter that featured umpire Harry Wendelsted behind the plate. Hunter’s dad, the late Harry Wendelstedt was behind the plate for five National League no-hitters.

Hunter (or more formally Harry Hunter Wendelstedt III) has been a major league umpire since 1998, starting in the NL (1998–1999) until MLB standardized umpiring across the leagues in 2000.

Hunter’s father, Harry (or more formally Harry Hunter Wendelstedt Jr.), was an NL umpire from 1966 to 1998, and he was behind the plate for five NL no-nos:

165 of 297
George Culver


 
Cincinnati Reds (NL)


 
Monday, July 29, 1968 (Second game of doubleheader)

Cincinnati Reds 6, Philadelphia Phillies 1

Connie Mack Stadium (Philadelphia)


166 of 297
Gaylord Perry


 
San Francisco Giants (NL)


 
Tuesday, September 17, 1968

San Francisco Giants 1, St. Louis Cardinals 0

Candlestick Park (San Francisco)


180 of 297
Bob Gibson


 
St. Louis Cardinals (NL)


 
Saturday, August 14, 1971

St. Louis Cardinals 11, Pittsburgh Pirates 0

Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh)


210 of 297
Bob Forsch


 
St. Louis Cardinals (NL)


 
Monday, September 26, 1983

St. Louis Cardinals 3, Montreal Expos 0

Busch Stadium (St. Louis)

(His second of two no-hitters)


231 of 297
Kent Mercker (6 inn.)

Mark Wohlers (2 inn.)

Alejandro Pena (1 inn.)


 
Atlanta Braves (NL)


 
Wednesday, September 11, 1991

Atlanta Braves 1, San Diego Padres 0

Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta)

 

On Saturday night, Manaea no-hit the Boston Red Sox for the 97th no-hitter in MLB history. Manaea struck out 10 and walked two en route to a 3-0 no-hit victory at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.

Red Sox’ no-hit streak would have reached 25 years today if not for Manaea

The Boston Red Sox’ streak of avoiding a no-hitter would have reached the 25-year mark today had the Oakland Athletics’ Sean Manaea not hurled his gem last night.

Manaea struck out 10 and walked two Saturday night en route to a 3-0 no-hit victory at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum for the last no-hitter against the Red Sox since Thursday, April 22, 1993. In that game at Seattle’s Kingdome, the Mariners’ Chris Bosio, pictured above, no-hit Boston for a 7-0 win. The Red Sox hade’t fallen victim to a no-no since … until Saturday night.

The streak was the second longest active streak in the majors. The Oakland Athletics’ streak, just shy of 27 years, dates back to Saturday, July 13, 1991, when four Baltimore Orioles pitchers no-hit the A’s for a 2-0 win at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum.

Both marks pale when compared to the Chicago Cubs’ streak, which nearly reached 50 years when the Philadelphia Phillies’ Cole Hamels zapped them at Wrigley Field on Saturday, July 25, 2015.

Oakland Athletics’ Sean Manaea no-hits Red Sox

The Oakland Athletics’ Sean Manaea no-hit the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night, the 297th no-hitter in MLB history.

Manaea struck out 10 and walked two en route to a 3-0 no-hit victory at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. Another Red Sox base runner reached base in the fifth inning on an error by A’s shortstop Marcus Semein, who failed to make an over-the-shoulder snag of a fly ball that could have easily been called a hit. Manaea had assumed it was ruled a hit, so he didn’t realize his no-hitter was still intact until the eighth inning.

Manaea was the beneficiary of another generous call in the sixth inning on what appeared to be an infield single by Andrew Benintendi, whose roundabout head-first slide into first avoided a tag by first baseman Matt Olson. The umpires huddled up and ruled that Benintendi left the baseline and they called him out.

The last no-hitter thrown by an A’s pitcher was Dallas Braden’s Mother’s Day perfect game on Sunday, May 9, 2010, at the Coliseum, a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. (It was cool to see Braden, now an A’s sideline commentator, conduct the on-field post-game interview with Manaea.) Manaea’s no-no marked the 10th thrown at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, putting in behind only Fenway Park (14) and Dodger Stadium (12) for no-nos at current ballparks.

The last no-hitter thrown against the Red Sox was by the Seattle Mariners’ Chris Bosio, way back on Thursday, April 22, 1993, at the Kingdome, a 7-0 win by the Mariners. The Red Sox’s streak of avoiding a no-hitter was set to turn 25 tomorrow.

Just over a year ago, Manaea was pulled from a no-hitter in progress after throwing five innings of no-hit ball while nursing a 5-0 lead on Saturday, April 15, 2017, only to get into a heap of trouble in the sixth inning.

Manaea loaded the bases by walking George Springer, Alex Bregman and José Altuve, and then Springer scored as Carlos Correa reached base on an error by shortstop Adam Rosales and Bregman scored on an error by center fielder Jeff Decker. Manager Bob Melvin gave the ball to Ryan Dull, who limited the damage to 5-2 and kept the no-no going. Liam Hendricks took over for the seventh and immediately gave up a leadoff single to the Astros’ Nori Aoki as the A’s eventually lost 10-6.

On Saturday night, Manaea became just the second no-no thrower to wear No. 55 during his accomplishment, matching the San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum, who wore No. 55 while no-hitting the Padres twice.