Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 56
March 21, 2018
Mets’ first no-hitter, 53 years ago today
Fifty-three years ago today, the New York Mets threw the club’s first no-hitter, with Gary Kroll and Gordie Richardson combining for nine innings of no-hit ball during a 6-0 spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Kroll pitched the first six innings on March 21, 1965, walking three batters in the first inning. Richardson threw the last three frames, with Del Crandall reaching first in the eighth inning on an error by shortstop Roy MacMillian.
Murray Chass’ report for the AP noted that the no-hitter “marked the first time the Mets had a hitless game pitched for them in exhibition or regular season play, instead of against them,” referring to Sandy Koufax’s 1962 no-no and Jim Bunning’s 1964 perfect game.
Little did anyone know back then that it would be another 47 years before a Mets pitcher would finally throw an official no-hitter – Johan Santana on June 1, 2012.
Happy birthday Carlos Carrasco, lost no-no with 2 outs in 9th in 2015
Happy 31st birthday to the Cleveland Indians’ Carlos Carrasco, who lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning in 2015.
Carrasco was one strike from completing the no-no against the Tampa Bay Rays on July 1, 2015, when Joey Butler singled on an 0-2 pitch to end the bid. Carrasco had been perfect through 6⅓, and it was Butler who drew a walk to kill the perfecto bid.
Carrasco got off to a rough start in the ninth, walking Asdrubal Cabrera and hitting Brandon Guyer before settling down to get the first and second outs. Then, Butler lined the ball over the head of a jumping Jason Kipnis, killing both the no-no and the shutout. The Indians won 8-1, with Austin Adams coming in to retire the final batter. (Watch the game recap above.)
Just two days earlier, the Indians’ Cody Anderson took a perfect game against the Rays into the seventh inning before giving up a one-out home run to Grady Sizemore.
The last Indians no-hitter was a perfect game thrown against the Toronto Blue Jays by Len Barker on May 15, 1981. That no no-no streak is the longest except for the San Diego Padres, who have never thrown a no-hitter.
March 20, 2018
No-no throwers Kennedy, Shoun born on this date
Top photo, Clyde Shoun; above, Vern Kennedy.
No-no throwers Vern Kennedy and Clyde Shoun were born on this date.Kennedy, a Chicago White Sox pitcher born on this date in 1907, threw a no-no against the Cleveland Indians at Comiskey Park on August 31, 1935.
The Cincinnati Reds’ Shoun, born in 1912, no-hit the Boston Braves at Crosley Field on May 15, 1944.
March 19, 2018
Happy 30th birthday, Clayton Kershaw
Happy 30th birthday to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who threw a no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies in 2014.
The June 18, 2014, accomplishment came less than a month after the Dodgers’ Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Phillies in Philadelphia. “Beckett told me he’s going to teach me how to do that,” Kershaw said after the game. “So I have Josh to thank.”
Kershaw struck out 15 and walked none.
The Texas-born southpaw had a perfect game going in the seventh when shortstop Hanley Ramirez committed a throwing error on a ball hit to him by Corey Dickerson. Kershaw nearly lost the no-hitter soon after when Troy Tulowitzki hit a hard grounder to third, but Miguel Rojas fielded the ball behind the bag and made a long, accurate throw to first, which was aptly scooped by Adrian Gonzalez.
Kershaw has since taken two no-hitters into the seventh inning but hasn’t been able to duplicate the feat:
6⅓
Clayton Kershaw
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Spoiler: Chris Owings, one-out infield hit to second in the seventh inning.
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Arizona Diamondbacks 3
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)
6
Clayton Kershaw
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL)
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Spoiler: Curtis Granderson, single to right to lead off the seventh inning to break up perfect game bid
Los Angeles Dodgers 3, New York Mets 0
Citi Field (New York)
March 17, 2018
Happy birthday to ‘Nixey’ Callahan, threw first AL no-hitter
Today would be the 144th birthday of James “Nixey” Callahan, who threw the first American League no-hitter.
Callahan, pitching for the Chicago White Sox during the first game of a September 20, 1902 doubleheader at Chicago’s South Side Park, no-hit the Detroit Tigers for a 3-0 victory. The Sox scored all three runs in the first inning, and the Tigers put three runners on base – two on walks and one on an error.
Callahan later managed for the White Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Luck of the Irish for ’52 Giants, ’17 Yankees
Two New York teams, the 1952 Giants and the 2017 Yankees, own baseball’s two St. Patrick’s Day no-hitters.
On Monday, March 17, 1952, at Olive Memorial Stadium in Burbank, California, the Giants’ Jimmy Hearn pitched 5 innings of no-hit ball, striking out four Chicago Cubs and walking two. Monty Kennedy took the ball in the sixth and finished the no-hitter, striking out three and walking three for a 10-0 win.
On Friday, March 17, 2017, at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida, the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka tossed 4⅓ no-hit innings, walking two Detroit Tigers batters and striking out six. Chasen Shreve (⅔) and Jordan Montgomery (4) were perfect to close out the combined no-no for a 3-0 win.
March 16, 2018
Pirates no-hit Tigers in Grapefruit League game, 58 years ago today
A pair of Pittsburgh Pirates no-hit the Detroit Tigers in a Grapefruit League matchup, 58 years ago today.
On Wednesday, March 16, 1960, at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Florida, the Pirates’ Bennie Daniels no-hit the Tigers for five innings, with his only blemish coming on a hit batsman (Eddie Yost) in the fourth. Jim Umbricht took the ball in the sixth and threw four perfect innings to complete the 5-0 no-hit victory. Each pitcher struck out four batters.
Daniels had a nine-year career with the Pirates and the Washington Senators, posting a 45-76 record with a 4.44 ERA. Umbricht pitched for five seasons with the Pirates and the Houston Colt .45s, posting a 9-5 record with a 3.06 ERA.
On this date in 1996, five Anaheim Angels pitchers no-hit the San Francisco Giants in a Cactus League game at Scottsdale Stadium in Arizona. Shawn Boskie (4 inn.), Julio Valera (2 inn.), Todd Frohwirth (1 inn.), Ken Edenfield (1 inn.) and Mark Eichhorn (1 inn.) teamed up for that no-no, a 15-0 victory.
March 15, 2018
Panama’s first MLB no-hitter, 4 years ago today
Four years ago today, the Miami Marlins accomplished something that no other major league team can claim – they no-hit a team in the country of Panama.
Four Miami pitchers combined for the 5-0 no-no against the New York Yankees in a March 15, 2014, game in Panama City honoring former Yankees’ closer Mariano Rivera.
Brad Hand threw the first five innings, striking out six while allowing a man to reach base on a hit batsman. Relievers Steve Cishek, A.J. Ramos and Arquimedes Caminero closed out the game, never allowing a hit.
We’ve had three preseason no-hitters since the Panama no-no, one in 2015 and two in 2017. See the full list here.
March 8, 2018
9 pitchers, 10 innings, 1 no-no, 3 years ago today
Nine Atlanta Braves pitchers teamed up for a Spring Training 10-inning no-hitter against the Houston Astros, three years ago today.
On Sunday, March 8, 2015, the pitchers combined to allow two earned runs on nine walks while striking out nine at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida, in a 10-inning game that ended in a 2-2 tie. They were: Cody Martin (2), Jim Johnson (1), Josh Outman (1), Brandon Cunniff (1), Ian Thomas (1), Mauricio Cabrera (1), Lucas Sims (1), Justin Jackson (1), Jairo Heredia (1).
The Astros’ runs came in the seventh inning when Cabrera walked the first two batters he faced and hit another, then issued a fielder’s choice and an RBI groundout. An A.J. Pierzynski RBI single in the first inning and a Todd Cunningham sacrifice fly in the eighth provided the Braves’ runs.
Note that only one official major league no-hitter ended in a tie, way back in 1884, and that one also lasted 10 innings. In that Oct. 4 game, the Brooklyn Atlantics’ Sam Kimber no-hit the Toledo Blue Stockings in an American Association game at Brooklyn’s Washington Park called with a score of 0-0.
Of course Spring Training no-hitters don’t count, but here are the Boston/Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves no-hitters that do count: Braves No-hitters.
March 7, 2018
Honoring Bobo Holloman
Today would be the 93rd birthday of Alva “Bobo” Holloman, who pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in 1953.
Holloman, a 6-foot-2, 207-pound hurler who liked to refer to himself in the third person as “Bobo,” no-hit the Philadelphia Athletics 6-0 at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, May 6 of that year. The game was the pinnacle of Holloman’s brief major league career, which ended after two seasons with a 3–7 record and a 5.23 ERA.
Holloman died in 1987 at the age of 64.
