Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 76

Baseball’s neutral-site no-no, 8 years ago today

The Chicago Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano threw a neutral site no-hitter, eight years ago today.

The Houston Astros had a game scheduled against the Cubs on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, but the team was forced to play the game outside of Houston because of Hurricane Ike. The Brewers offered Miller Park, and the stadium’s close proximity to Chicago made the game feel like a Cubs’ home game.

Zambrano held the Astros hitless while striking out 10 batters and walking one to lead Chicago to a 5-0 win in front of 23,441 fans.

‘Dazzy’ Vance throws Brooklyn no-hitter, 91 years ago today

Hugh Daily, pictured, and Charles ‘Dazzy’ Vance, pictured above, threw no-hitters on this date.Charles “Dazzy” Vance threw a no-hitter for the Brooklyn Robins, 91 years ago today.

The Hall of Famer beat Philadelphia 10-1 in the first game of a September 13, 1925 doubleheader at Ebbets Field while holding the Phillies to no hits. The Phillies scored their lone run on two Brooklyn errors and a sacrifice fly. The no-hitter actually completed 15⅔ consecutive no-hit innings for Vance, who threw a one-hit shutout against the same Phillies five days earlier. The only hit in the earlier game came with one out in the second inning.

Vance was only able to extend his streak to an even 16 in his next start, as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Max Carey reached base on a one-out bunt single in the first inning.

Also throwing a no-hitter on this day in 1883 was Hugh Daily, the only no-hit pitcher born in Ireland.

Daily, throwing for the National League’s Cleveland Blues, no-hit the Philadelphia Quakers on Sept. 13, 1883 at Recreation park in Philadelphia. Daily, who had one arm due to a gun accident years earlier, was purported to be a hard thrower with a surly disposition.

Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks takes no-no into 9th vs. Cardinals

The Chicago Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks came 3 outs within no-hitting the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night before giving up a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to Jeremy Hazelbaker. The Cubs held on for a 4-1 victory at Busch Stadium.

Hendricks walked two and struck out seven while trying to complete the 296th no-hitter in major league history and the second one this season by a Cubs pitcher. Teammate Jake Arrieta no-hit the Reds on April 21, and there have been none since.

Aroldis Chapman came in to relieve Hendricks after the dinger and got the save.

Hendricks’ near no-no marked the 32nd to reach at least the 7th inning this season but fail.

Dave Roberts: A modern-day Preston Gomez

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is quickly becoming a modern-day Preston Gomez.

Roberts pulled Rich Hill after Hill threw seven innings of perfect baseball Saturday, and the bullpen couldn’t complete what could have been the majors’ first combined perfecto as the Dodgers topped the Marlins in Miami 5-0.

Rich Hill had himself quite the night: https://t.co/LOhZNpAqZ1 pic.twitter.com/0meaTAWPnC

— MLB (@MLB) September 11, 2016

Outfielder Yasiel Puig had just saved Hill’s perfect game in the seventh with a spectacular diving catch, and it was beginning to look like Hill might be poised to throw baseball’s 24th perfecto/296th no-hitter.

But Manager Dave Roberts decided to pull Hill after 89 pitches, opting for reliever Joe Blanton, and Hill clearly wasn’t happy. Blanton retired the first two batters before the pesky Jeff Francoeur drilled a 2-2 pitch off the glove of shortstop Corey Seager. It (weak argument here) could have been ruled an error, which would have killed the combined perfecto but kept the combined no-no intact, but it was properly ruled a base hit.

(Note that Rich Hill threw 5 2/3 innings of no-hit ball back on Sept. 3.)

The situation prompted flashbacks to April 9, when the Dodgers’ Ross Stripling tossed 7⅓ innings of no-hit ball in his first major-league appearance before being pulled for a reliever who lost the no-no. When Stripling hit 100 pitches, Roberts took the ball and handed it to Chris Hatcher, who yielded a two-run homer to Trevor Brown to kill the chance of a combined no-hitter and even the score at 2-2. The Giants wound up winning that game in the bottom of the 10th on a walk-off homer by Brandon Crawford.

Preston Gomez, of course, is known for twice pulling pitchers with no-hitters intact in which they were trailing in the runs column, once with the Padres’ Clay Kirby in 1970 and another with the Astros’ Don Wilson in 1974.

On a personal note, I was watching the MLB.tv broadcast of the game’s late innings on my cell phone while sitting at U.S. Cellular Field. (Fans around me were wondering why I kept looking down at my phone when the Sox had the bases loaded.)

Heading to new Comiskey on 49th anniversary of Horlen’s no-no

Joel “Joe” HorlenI’m heading to New Comiskey this evening on the 49th anniversary of Joel “Joe” Horlen’s Chicago White Sox no-hitter.

Sure, the new Comiskey is now called U.S. Cellular Field and will soon be branded Guaranteed Rate Field, but since it’s built next door to the historic park, I’d rather consider it New Comiskey as I watch the Chisox take on the Kansas City Royals.

It was 49 years ago today, during the first game of a Sunday doubleheader at the old Comiskey Park, that Horlen no-hit the Detroit Tigers for a 6-0 win. Hoping that James Shields can duplicate the feat tonight.

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.

(Feature photo U.S. Cellular Field (Comiskey Park), Chicago, Illinois by Ken Lund under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Koufax perfecto sets new career no-no mark, 51 years ago today

Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax threw his fourth no-hitter in the form of a perfect game, 51 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 4 and extend his record to 7. 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)

Astros’ Darryl Kile no-hits Mets, 23 years ago today

Darryl Kile threw a Houston Astros no-hitter, 23 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 Mets 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.

Evers hits majors’ only two-triple cycle, 66 years ago today

Hoot Evers (Photos from Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library)The Detroit Tigers’ Hoot Evers became the only major league player to notch two triples while hitting for the cycle, 66 years ago today.

Evers accomplished the feat on Thursday, September 7, 1950, on the road at Cleveland’s Briggs Stadium, and the Indians had already built a 7-0 lead and knocked Tigers starter Art Houtteman off the mound before Evers got his first at bat. Evers immediately got the toughest part out of the way by tripling off the Indians’ Bob Feller to score Vic Wertz and cut the Indians’ lead to 7-3. That led Cleveland skipper Lou Boudreau to yank Feller after just a third of an inning in place of Jesse Flores.

Evers came up in the third inning and hit an RBI double off Flores, which again prompted Boudreau to go to the bullpen. Evers grounded out to short in the fifth before hitting a second RBI triple in the sixth, this one off of Al Benton. He then hit a two-run home run off in the eighth off Sam Zoldak before singling off Marino Pieretti to complete the cycle in the bottom of the 10th. The game was called after 10 as a 13-13 tie.

Terriers’ Davenport, Red Sox’s Ehmke, Hilldale’s Carter threw no-nos on this date

The St. Louis Terriers’ Dave Davenport, the Boston Red Sox’s Howard Ehmke and Hilldale’s Paul Carter threw no-hitters on this date.

In the Federal League, Davenport pitched the fifth and final no-hitter in the league’s short history on September 7, 1915 during the opening game of a Tuesday doubleheader at St. Louis’ Handlan’s Park. The Terriers topped the Chicago Chi-Feds/Whales 3-0.

In the American League, Ehmke no-hit the Philadelphia Athletics on the road at Shibe Park on Friday, September 7, 1923, for a 4-0 victory.

In the Negro Leagues, Carter no-hit the Baltimore Black Sox, on September 7, 1931 during the second game of a Monday doubleheader.

Smith, Tesreau and Sanchez tossed 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.