Dirk Lammers's Blog, page 92

Yankees’ Eovaldi takes no-hitter into 7th vs. Rangers

The New York Yankees’ Nathan Eovaldi took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the Texas Rangers on Monday night before losing his bid on a lead-off seventh-inning single by Nomar Mazara.

Eovaldi, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound right-hander, attended the same Texas high school as Nolan Ryan – Alvin High School. And Eovaldi wears No. 30 for the Yankees, the number Ryan wore when he threw four no-nos for the California Angels.

Nate Eovaldi has no-hit the Rangers through 6 frames in Texas: https://t.co/TlNHIIpRMy pic.twitter.com/b1FUo64uE2

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2016

But it wasn’t to be on Monday night. Eovaldi gave up two hits in the seventh but kept the Rangers from notching a run. The Yankees went on to win by a score of 3-1.

The Yankees’ last no-hitter was 17 years ago, when David Cone threw a perfect game at Yankee Stadium against the Montreal Expos.

The last time the Rangers fell victim to a no-hitter was in 2008, when the Chicago White Sox’s Mark Buehrle no-hit Texas on Wednesday, April 18, 2007, at U.S. Cellular Field.

Top of post Photo by Rich Anderson

Mullane, threw majors’ sixth no-no, died 72 years ago today

Tony MullaneTony Mullane, the Louisville Eclipse pitcher who threw the sixth no-hitter in major-league history, died 72 years ago today.

On Monday, September 11, 1882, Mullane no-hit the Cincinnati Red Stockings for a 2-0 win at Cincinnati’s Bank Street Grounds.

Mullane, who could throw both lefty and righty, pitched for 13 seasons, amassing a 284-220 record with a 3.05 ERA. He also holds the major-league record for wild pitches with 343.

Mullane died on April 25, 1944.

Happy birthday to Hall of Famer Andy Cooper

Andy CooperToday would be the 120th 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.

Happy birthday, Bill Singer and Howard Ehmke

Bill Singer and Howard EhmkeHappy birthday to two no-no pitchers, Bill Singer and Howard Ehmke.

Singer, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher celebrating his 72nd birthday, no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium on Monday, July 20, 1970 for a 5-0 win.

Ehmke, born 122 years ago today, pitched for the Boston Red Sox. On Friday, September 7, 1923, he no-hit the Philadelphia Athletics on the road at Shibe Park for a 4-0 victory.

Johnson throws a no-hitter and loses, 52 years ago today

Ken Johnson of the Colt .45’s.Ken Johnson threw a no-hitter and lost, 52 years ago today.

I had the honor of interviewing Johnson on May 2014 as I was just beginning to write Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders. He talked with me about that April 23, 1964 Houston Colt .45’s game against the Cincinnati Reds at Colt Stadium, in which he threw nine innings of no-hit ball yet lost 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 game remains the only nine-inning no-hitter lost by a single pitcher. The Orioles tandem of Steve Barber and Stu Miller duplicated the feat three years later.

Johnson seemed touched that someone still wanted to talk at length about that game.

“I can’t believe anyone still remembers,” Johnson told me.

Johnson died in November at the age of 82.

Happy birthday Warren Spahn

Warren Spahn (Images courtesy of the Ernie Harwell Sports Collection, Detroit Public Library)Today would be the 95th birthday of two-time no-no thrower Warren Spahn.

The southpaw from Buffalo, N.Y., spent the majority of his 21-year career with the Boston and Milwaukee Braves, compiling a 363-245 record with a 3.09 ERA. The Hall of Famers was a 14-time All Star and won the Cy Young Award in 1957. He led the American League in complete games for nine seasons, and captured the AL strikeout crown for four straight seasons from 1949-1952.

Spahn threw his two no-hitters within a 7-month stretch in 1960-’61 at Milwaukee County Stadium:

1
Warren Spahn


 
Milwaukee Braves (NL)


 
Friday, September 16, 1960
Milwaukee Braves 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0
Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee)
(His first of two no-hitters)


2
Warren Spahn


 
Milwaukee Braves (NL)


 
Friday, April 28, 1961
Milwaukee Braves 1, San Francisco Giants 0
Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee)
(His second of two no-hitters)

70th anniversary of Ed Head’s no-no

Ed HeadEd Head threw a no-hitter for the Brooklyn Dodgers, 70 years ago today.

Head, a 6-foot-1 right-hander from Selma, Alabama, no-hit the Boston Braves on April 23, 1946, for a 5-0 victory at Ebbets Field. Four Braves reached base – three on walks issued by Head and one on an error by Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese.

Head told the AP after the game: “I knew I had it all the time – don’t ask me how, but I knew it.”

Baseball’s first same-day no-nos, 118 years ago today

Jim Jay Hughes and Ted BreitensteinTed Breitenstein and Jim Jay Hughes threw no-hitters on the same day, 118 years ago today.

Ted Breitenstein, who pitched for the Cincinnati Reds, no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati’s League Park on Friday, April 22, 1898. That same day, Jim Jay Hughes, of the National League Baltimore Orioles, no-hit the Boston Beaneaters.

The feat wasn’t duplicated until 1991, when the Oakland Athletics’ Dave Stewart and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela threw same-day no-nos.

Cubs’ Arrieta no-hits the Reds

.@JArrieta34 is through SEVEN no-hit frames. Here we go: https://t.co/tUXhXzuzCV pic.twitter.com/6QLOjPg8A0

— MLB (@MLB) April 22, 2016

The Chicago Cubs Jake Arrieta no-hit the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday night, less than eight months after throwing one against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Arrieta walked four and struck out six as the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 16-0 at Great American Ballpark. Arrieta’s last no-no was on Sunday, August 30, 2015, when he no-hit the Dodgers for a 2-0 win at Dodger Stadium.

The Reds had last been no-hit on Wednesday, October 6, 2010, when the Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay no-hit Cincinnati during the opening game of the NLDS. To find the last regular season no-hitter against the Reds, you have to go back more than 44 years. On Wednesday, June 23, 1971, the Phillies’ Rick Wise no-hit the Reds for a 4-0 win at Riverfront Stadium.

(Feature photo Great American Ballpark by peterrieke under CC BY 2.0)

Fourth anniversary of Humber’s perfecto

Philip Humber retires from baseball https://t.co/qEUTMrkKmK pic.twitter.com/Yej8s1Nn3Y

— Gaslamp Ball (@gaslampball) March 29, 2016

Philip Humber threw a perfect game for the Chicago White Sox, four years ago today.

On April 21, 2012, Humber blanked the Seattle Mariners for a 4-0 win at Safeco Field, retiring every Mariners batter he faced.

Twenty-seven consecutive outs almost weren’t enough. Humber won the game on a strikeout of pinch hitter Brendan Ryan, but it required a 2-3 putout to put the game in the books. Humber’s low-and-outside pitch got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski, and Ryan paused to argue the call with home plate umpirer Paul Runge before running to first base. Pierzynski threw the ball to first and Humber had his perfecto.

Humber, the New York Mets’ first-round draft in 2004, made his first Major League start in September 2007 against the Washington Nationals. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins in the Johan Santana deal, but his next start wasn’t until August 2010 as a Kansas City Royals pitcher. When Humber threw his perfect game, he became the seventh ex-Met to do so (See the archive of our No-hitters … after they left the Mets page. He retired this season after failing to make the San Diego Padres’ roster.

Santana, of course, finally broke the Mets’ curse less than two months later.

(Feature photo Daytime Safeco Field by Richard Eriksson under license CC BY 2.0)