A
no-hitter (also known as a
no-hit
game, or colloquially, a "
no-no") is a
baseball game in which one team has no
hit. In
Major League Baseball, the team must
be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at
least nine innings. A
pitcher who prevents
the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a
no-hitter". Throwing a no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a
pitcher or pitching staff: only 263 have been thrown in Major
League Baseball history since 1875, an average of about two per
year. In most cases in MLB, no-hitters are recorded by a single
pitcher who throws a
complete
game.
As it is possible to reach base without a hit (most commonly via a
walk or
error), a pitcher can throw a no-hitter and
still lose the game, although this is extremely uncommon. A game in
which a team allows no runners to reach base at all is a
perfect game, as well as being a no-hitter and
a
shutout victory.
Major League Baseball
Definition
A no-hitter is defined by
Major
League Baseball as follows: "An official no-hit game occurs
when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire
course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings."This
definition was specified by MLB's Committee for Statistical
Accuracy in 1991, causing previously recognized no-hitters of fewer
than nine innings or where the first hit had been allowed in extra
innings to be stricken from the official record books. Note games
lost by the visiting team in 8 1/2 innings but without allowing any
hits do not qualify as no-hitters, as the visiting team has only
pitched eight innings.
Records
Frequency
There are 263 no-hitters officially recognized by
Major League Baseball, between 1876
and 2009; only 18 of those were perfect games. Multiple no-hitters
have been thrown on the same day twice:
Ted Breitenstein and
Jim Hughes on April 22, 1898; and
Dave Stewart and
Fernando Valenzuela on June 29,
1990.
The highest number of no-hitters thrown in a year is eight, in
1884. The most thrown in one year
in the modern era (since
1901) is
seven, in both
1990 and
1991, making for the most in any two-year
span, with fourteen.
The longest period between any two no-hitters in the modern era is
3 years, 44 days between
Bobby Burke on
August 8, 1931, and
Paul "Daffy"
Dean on September 21, 1934. There was a drought of 3 years, 11
months without a no-hitter after the first
National League no-hitter on July 15, 1876,
pitched by
George Bradley. The most
recent year that did not have any no-hitters is
2005.
The most number of games played between any two no-hitters is
6,364, between
Randy Johnson's perfect
game on May 18, 2004 for the
Arizona Diamondbacks, and
Anibal Sánchez's no hitter on September
6, 2006 for the
Florida Marlins. The
previous record was a 4,015-game streak without a no-hitter from
September 30, 1984, to September 19, 1986.
Individual
The pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is
Nolan Ryan, who threw seven in his long
career and was regarded as the undisputed king of no-hitters. His
first two came exactly two months apart, while he was with the
California Angels: the
first on May 15, 1973 and the second on July 15. He won two more
with the Angels: September 28, 1974 and June 1, 1975. Ryan threw
his fifth no-hitter with the
Houston
Astros on September 26, 1981, which broke
Sandy Koufax's previous record. His sixth and
seventh no-hitters came with the
Texas Rangers on June 11, 1990, and
May 1, 1991, respectively. When he tossed number seven at age 44,
he was also the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.
Only Nolan Ryan (seven),
Sandy Koufax
(four),
Cy Young (three),
Bob Feller (three), and
Larry Corcoran (three) have pitched more than
two no-hitters. Corcoran was the first pitcher to throw a second
no-hitter in a career (in 1882), as well as the first to throw a
third (in 1884).
Twenty-six men in all have thrown more than one no-hitter. Of these
pitchers,
Randy Johnson has the
longest gap between no-hitters: Johnson threw a no-hitter as a
member of the
Seattle Mariners on
June 2, 1990 and a
perfect game as an
Arizona Diamondback on May 18,
2004. The pitcher who holds the record for the
shortest
time between no-hitters is
Johnny
Vander Meer, as the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters
in two consecutive starts, while playing for the
Cincinnati Reds in 1938.
Jim Abbott of the
New York Yankees threw a no-hitter on
September 4, 1993, defeating the
Cleveland Indians, 4-0. Abbott is the
second physically-disabled pitcher in MLB history to throw a
no-hitter.
Team
No team has thrown no-hitters in consecutive games, although it has
happened once on consecutive
days: On May 5, 1917,
Ernie Koob of the
St. Louis Browns no-hit the
Chicago White Sox, and teammate
Bob Groom repeated the feat in the second game of
a
doubleheader the following
day. In 2008, the
Chicago Cubs'
Carlos Zambrano no-hit
the
Houston Astros on September 14,
with teammate
Ted Lilly giving up just one
hit in the teams' next meeting the following day, September
15.
On two occasions, there have been back-to-back no-hitters thrown by
each team in a series. On September 17, 1968,
Gaylord Perry of the
San Francisco Giants no-hit the
St. Louis Cardinals, with the
Cardinals'
Ray Washburn no-hitting the
Giants the following day. On April 30, 1969,
Jim Maloney of the
Cincinnati Reds no-hit the
Houston Astros, with the Astros'
Don Wilson no-hitting the Reds the
following day.
Catchers
The record for most no-hitters caught by a catcher is four by
Boston Red Sox catcher
Jason Varitek. He caught no-hitters for
Hideo Nomo,
Derek
Lowe,
Clay Buchholz, and
Jon Lester.
Venue
Carlos Zambrano pitched
the only no-hitter at a neutral site for the
Chicago Cubs on September 14, 2008.
The game,
originally scheduled to be played in Houston, was played at
Milwaukee's Miller Park
because of Hurricane
Ike.
Combined no-hitters
There have been nine combined no-hitters in MLB history; that is,
when multiple pitchers collectively throw a no-hitter during a
game. The first was on June 23, 1917, when
Ernie Shore of the
Boston Red Sox relieved the
starting pitcher,
Babe
Ruth, who had been ejected for arguing with the umpire after
walking the first batter of the game. The runner at first was
caught attempting to steal second base, and Shore then
consecutively retired the next 26 batters without allowing any
baserunners. This game was long considered a
perfect game by Shore, since he recorded 27
outs in succession, but is only a combined no-hitter under current
rules. The second combined no-hitter did not occur until April 30,
1967, when
Stu Miller recorded the final
out in relief of
Steve Barber.
The first, and only, combined
extra
inning no-hitter to date occurred on July 12, 1997, when the
Pittsburgh Pirates'
Francisco Cordova (9 innings) and
Ricardo Rincon (1 inning) combined to no-hit
the
Houston Astros, 3-0. The extra
inning no-no was capped off by a three run
walk-off home run by
pinch hitter Mark Smith in the bottom of
the tenth inning.
The MLB record for pitchers combining to pitch a no-hitter is six,
set by the Houston Astros against the
New York Yankees on June 11, 2003. The
pitchers were
Roy Oswalt (the starting
pitcher), then relievers
Pete Munro,
Kirk Saarloos,
Brad Lidge,
Octavio
Dotel, and
Billy Wagner. Oswalt was
pulled after one inning because of injury. Munro pitched the most
innings, 2 2/3. He also allowed five of the six baserunners; three
on walks, he also hit Jason Giambi with a pitch and another runner
reached while he was in the game on an error by third baseman
Geoff Blum. The other baserunner was
allowed by Dotel who threw a third-strike wild pitch; Dotel ended
up being credited with four strikeouts in 1 inning of work.
Only one pitcher,
Mike Witt, has thrown a
no-hitter as a starter, and also contributed to a no-hitter as a
reliever. On September 30, 1984, Witt threw a 1-0
perfect game for the
California Angels against the
Texas Rangers. Witt
followed this on April 11, 1990, with an appearance in relief of
Mark Langston after 7 innings,
pitching the last two innings to get the
save in another 1-0 win for the
Angels over the
Seattle Mariners.
Opening Day, title-clinching, and post-season no-hitters
The
Cleveland Indians'
Bob Feller left the
Chicago White Sox hitless in the 1940
season opener on April 16. This remains the only official
Opening Day no-hitter to date.
No-hitters have twice been thrown on the final day of the season.
On September 28, 1975, four
Oakland
Athletics pitchers (
Vida Blue,
Glenn Abbott,
Paul Lindblad, and
Rollie Fingers) tossed a combined no-hitter
against the
California
Angels. On September 30, 1984,
Mike
Witt of the Angels pitched a
perfect
game against the
Texas
Rangers.
The
Houston Astros'
Mike Scott no-hit the
San Francisco Giants on September 25,
1986, a victory that also clinched the
National League West title for the
Astros; this is the only such coincidence in Major League history
to date.
On October 8, 1956,
Don Larsen of the
New York Yankees threw a
perfect game in Game 5 of that year's
World Series against the
Brooklyn Dodgers. Larsen is still the only
person in Major League history to throw a no-hitter of
any
kind during a
postseason game of
any kind. The feat had nearly been accomplished nine years
earlier by the Yankees'
Bill Bevens, who
came within one out of a no-hitter (though not a perfect game)
against the
Brooklyn Dodgers in
Game 4 of the
1947 World Series,
only to lose the game on a pinch-hit double by
Cookie Lavagetto. There have been other
one-hitters in the World Series, with the lone hit coming earlier
in the game than in Bevens' feat.
Rookie no-hitters
Twenty-one MLB rookies have pitched a no-hitter since 1901. Two
pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in their first major league
starts; two others have done it in their second major league
starts.
Bumpus Jones of the
Cincinnati Reds threw a no hitter on October
15, 1892 in his first major league game. Jones pitched only eight
games in the big leagues, finishing with a career win/loss record
of 2-4 and a career
earned run
average of 7.99.
Ted Breitenstein pitched a
no-hitter in his first Major League start on October 4, 1891,
however, it was not his first Major League game. He later threw a
second no-hitter on April 22, 1898.
On May 6, 1953,
Bobo Holloman pitched
a no-hitter for the
St. Louis
Browns in his first major league start (also not his first
major league game). This game would prove to be one of only three
major league wins that Holloman achieved, against seven losses, all
in 1953.
Bill Veeck, then-owner of the
Browns, in his autobiography described the 27 outs of Holloman's
no-hitter as consisting of hard-hit ground balls, screaming line
drives, and deep fly balls.
On August 11, 1991,
Wilson Alvarez of
the
Chicago White Sox pitched a
no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's
first career start, he had allowed three runs on a pair of home
runs and did not retire a single batter. Unlike Jones and Holloman,
Alvarez went on to win 102 games over a 16-year career.
On September 6, 2006,
Anibal
Sánchez threw a no-hitter for the
Florida Marlins, winning 2-0 against the
Arizona Diamondbacks.
Clay Buchholz pitched a no-hitter for
the
Boston Red Sox in his second
major league start on September 1, 2007 at Fenway Park. The game
ended in a 10-0 victory for the Red Sox over the
Baltimore Orioles.
No-hitters in a losing cause
Unlike a perfect game, in which no batters reach base, in regular
no-hitters batters can reach base in other ways, such as a walk, an
error, or a hit batsman, and so it is possible to lose a no-hitter.
On April 23, 1964,
Ken Johnson of the
Houston Colt .45s became the only
pitcher to lose a
complete game
no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten 1-0 by Cincinnati. The
winning run was scored by
Pete Rose in the
top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.
In 1967,
Steve Barber and
Stu Miller of the
Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined
no-hitter, but lost 2-1 to the
Detroit
Tigers. Also see "
No-hitters thrown by visiting team
during defeat".
Near no-hitters
Shortened no-hitters
A game that cannot continue due to weather or darkness may be
considered a completed official game, as long as at least five
innings have been completed. Until 1991, any such game in which a
pitcher held the opposing team without hits was considered an
official no-hitter; however under the current rule, a no-hitter
must last for at least nine innings to count. As the rule was
applied retroactively,
thirty-six
games in which a no-hitter was interrupted by weather or
darkness, with lengths ranging from 5 to 8 innings, are no longer
considered no-hitters.
No-hitters by defeated visiting team
In games where the home team leads after the top of the ninth, the
visiting pitcher will only pitch 8 innings, and so can complete a
full game without allowing a hit but not be credited with an
official no-hitter. This has happened five times in MLB history:
Silver King (1890),
Andy Hawkins (1990), and
Matt Young (1992) pitched
complete games without allowing a hit, but
pitched only 8 innings as the losing pitcher from the visiting
team, and thus are not credited with a no-hitter.
On June 28, 2008,
Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
threw 8 no-hit innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium
, but lost the game 1-0 and are not credited with a
no-hitter. This is the first near no-hitter of this kind in
which more than one pitcher was involved.
No-hitters lost in extra innings
A game that is a no-hitter through nine innings may be lost in
extra innings. Under current rules,
such a game is not considered an official no-hitter because the
pitcher did not keep the opponent hitless for the entire course of
the game.
On May 2, 1917, a game between the
Chicago
Cubs and the
Cincinnati Reds
reached the end of nine innings in a hitless scoreless tie, the
only time in baseball history that
neither team has had a
hit in regulation. Both
Hippo Vaughn of
the Cubs and
Fred Toney of the Reds
continued pitching into the tenth inning. Vaughn lost his no-hitter
in the top of the tenth, as the Reds got two hits and scored the
winning run. Toney retired the side in the bottom of the tenth and
recorded a ten-inning no-hitter. This game was long considered a
"double no-hitter," but Vaughn is no longer credited with a
no-hitter under the current rules.
Of the
thirteen potential no-hitters that have been lost in extra
innings, two were
perfect games up
until the first hit was surrendered. On May 26, 1959,
Harvey Haddix of the
Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a remarkable
twelve perfect innings before losing the no-hitter and the game to
the
Milwaukee Braves in the
thirteenth inning. On June 3, 1995,
Pedro Martínez of the
Montreal Expos pitched nine perfect innings
against the
San Diego Padres before
giving up a hit in the tenth and exiting the game, which the Expos
then won 1-0.
Teams without no-hitters
Four existing teams in Major League Baseball have not had a pitcher
toss a no-hitter. Two of the four are recent expansion teams: the
Tampa Bay Rays (1998) and the
Colorado Rockies (1993). The other
two are longer-established teams. The
San Diego Padres (1969) have gone 40 years
without a no-hitter. The Padres' closest bid came against the
Philadelphia Phillies on July
18, 1972;
Steve Arlin came within one
out of a no-hitter before a
Denny Doyle
single broke up the bid.
The team that has been in the majors the longest without a
no-hitter is the
New York Mets, who
began play in 1962. As of the end of the 2009 season, the Mets had
played a total of 7,644 regular season games and 74 postseason
games without a single no-hitter. Mets' pitchers have thrown 33
one-hitters.
Avoiding no-hitters
Every modern-era MLB team, including all the expansion teams, has
suffered at least one no-hitter pitched against them. The team that
avoided being no-hit for the longest period of time was the
New York Yankees, from September
20, 1958 to June 11, 2003, a span of almost 45 years. The longest
current streak belongs to the
Chicago
Cubs, at 44-plus years, who were last victims of a no-hitter at
the hand of
Sandy Koufax's
perfect game on September 9, 1965.
Forbes Field
, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the middle of the
1909 season until the middle of the
1970 season, is the only long-term
home field where a no-hitter was never thrown during its
existence. There are several current recently-built fields
where no-hitters have not yet been thrown.
Superstitions
One of the most common
baseball
superstitions is that it is bad luck to mention a no-hitter in
progress, especially to the pitcher and in particular by their
teammates (who sometimes even go so far as to not even be
near the pitcher). Some
sportscasters observe this
taboo, while others have no reservations about
mentioning no-hitters before completion. When
Sandy Koufax pitched his no-hitter against the
Mets in 1962, one of their 120 losses
that season, Mets' coach
Solly Hemus,
apparently trying to jinx Koufax, kept heckling him through the
game about pitching a no-hitter, according to a post-game interview
Koufax gave after pitching his third no-hitter in 1964.
Some TV broadcasts will silently inform the viewers, by zooming in
on a scoreboard showing 0 hits, or especially in modern years, by
simply including the hit totals in the line score overlay on-screen
when cutting away for commercial break. Most major league
scoreboards are electronic, hence the line score begins with 0 runs
and 0 hits.
The electronic boards at Wrigley Field
are like this. However, it has been the
custom on the hand-operated main scoreboard to show the initial
hits for "Visitors" and "Home" as
blanks rather than the
number 0. Only when the first hit is achieved is a number
posted.
See also
References
- The Official Site of Major League Baseball:
Official info: Rules, Regulations and Statistics
- No Hitter Records by Baseball Almanac
- Johnny Vander Meer's Two Consecutive No-Hitters by
Baseball Almanac
-
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080519&content_id=2733852&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos
- The Official Site of Major League Baseball:
History: Rare Feats
- Retrosheet Boxscore: Cincinnati Reds 1, Houston Colt .45s
0
- Retrosheet Boxscore: Detroit Tigers 2, Baltimore Orioles 1
(1)
- American League No Hitters by Baseball Almanac
- The Chronology - 1890 |
BaseballLibrary.com
- June 3, 1995 Montreal Expos at San Diego Padres Box
Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com
- http://www.nonohitters.com/
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