22
2012
MMO Encore Presentation: A Not-So-Brief Discussion On No-Hitters And The Mets
An article by 
The always witty and original Ed Leyro, penned this fantastic piece on the Mets futility in tossing a no-hitter only three days ago. But in light of the exploits of one Philip Humber, I felt this was definitely worth a second read. Enjoy… JD
When R.A. Dickey gave up a second-inning double to the Braves’ Freddie Freeman during Wednesday’s rubber match with Atlanta, it marked the 7,980th consecutive game that a Mets pitcher has failed to pitch a no-hitter. How many games have the Mets played in their half century of existence? 7,980.
Barring any rainouts or (heaven forbid) an actual no-hitter in the next 20 games, the Mets’ streak will reach 8,000 games on Friday, May 11 when the team plays the Miami Marlins in their new park for the first time. These are the same Marlins who have only been in existence since 1993, but have registered four no-hitters of their own (tossed by Al Leiter, Kevin Brown, A.J. Burnett and Anibal Sanchez).
As of this writing, there have been 272 no-hitters in major league history, with 229 of them occurring in the modern era (since the forming of the American League in 1901). The Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers have pitched the most no-hitters in history with 20, while the Mets and San Diego Padres have yet to pitch their first.
Of course, may of those 272 hitless games took place before the Mets came into existence in 1962. Since the Mets played the first of their 7,980 games, there have been a total of 129 no-hitters pitched in the big leagues. Let’s look at that list to see what random goodies we can find.
Tom Seaver came close to pitching a no-hitter for the Mets on several occasions.
When the Mets came into the league in 1962, they were one of two teams to join the National League. The Houston Colt .45s (you know them as the Astros) were also National League neophytes in 1962, but they didn’t take very long to join the no-hit parade. On May 17, 1963, Houston’s Don Nottebart pitched the first no-hitter in the team’s short history, holding the Philadelphia Phillies hitless (but not scoreless) in a 4-1 victory. If you just said “Don who?” when you read the last sentence, you’re probably not alone. It was one of only 36 wins in Nottebart’s nine-year career, a career in which he was used mostly as a reliever (Nottebart appeared in 296 games in the majors, of which only 89 were starts).
Although the Mets have never pitched a no-hitter, they have had three occasions in which a no-hitter was taken into the ninth inning, with Tom Seaver being on the mound for all three. Of course, the one everyone remembers is the “imperfect game”. On July 9, 1969, Seaver was two outs away from a perfect game when the Cubs’ Jimmy Qualls broke up the bid with a single. “The Franchise” retired the next two hitters and settled for a one-hit shutout. Seaver’s mound opponent that night, Ken Holtzman, clearly learned a thing or two from watching Tom Terrific’s performance. On August 19, 1969, exactly 41 days after No. 41′s near-perfecto, Holtzman pitched the first of his two career no-hitters. You just can’t make that stuff up.
Tom Seaver took two other no-hitters into the ninth inning during his tenure with the Mets. On July 4, 1972, in the first game of an Independence Day doubleheader, Seaver once again recorded 25 outs before allowing his first hit (although this time he mixed in four walks). But the Padres’ Leron Lee broke up Seaver’s no-hit bid in the ninth with a one-out single to center, just one batter before Nate Colbert ended the game by grounding into a double play. Three years later, Seaver was once again on the precipice of baseball immortality, but this time he got a little closer.
On September 24, 1975, six years after his first date with no-hit destiny, Seaver held the Cubs hitless through eight innings. After striking out Don Kessinger and Rick Monday to start the ninth inning, Seaver became the first Met to come within one out of a no-hitter. There was only one problem. He wasn’t winning the game at the time. The Mets and Cubs were locked in a scoreless battle when Joe Wallis came up to the plate with two outs in the ninth. If Seaver had retired Wallis, he’d have pitched nine hitless innings, but would technically not have pitched a no-hitter since the game would not have ended there. Alas, Seaver did not retire Wallis, as the Cubs’ rightfielder broke up the no-hit bid with a single. The game went into extra innings, with Seaver allowing two more hits in the tenth, before Skip Lockwood lost the game in the 11th on a single and three walks.
No other pitcher has taken a no-hitter into the ninth inning for the Mets, but Tom Glavine and John Maine came the closest to doing so, both pitching 7⅔ hitless innings in their gems in 2004 and 2007, respectively. (Dang you, Kit Pellow and Paul Hoover, for being the no-names who broke up those no-hitters!)
Despite not having a no-hitter to their credit, the Mets have pitched 35 one-hitters, with one coming in the post-season (Bobby Jones’ NLDS-clinching victory over San Francisco in 2000). However, a number of the pitchers who participated in these one-hitters went on to pitch no-hitters elsewhere. The first pitcher who comes to mind is Nolan Ryan, who pitched a record seven no-hitters over his career, but never threw one for the Mets. He did pitch one of the team’s 35 one-hitters, allowing only a first-inning single to the Phillies’ Denny Doyle on April 18, 1970. (Ironically, Ryan’s mound opponent in the game was Jim Bunning, who pitched a perfect game against the Mets in 1964.) Other pitchers who hurled one-hitters for the Mets and then went on to pitch a no-hitter elsewhere include Tom Seaver (June 16, 1978 for the Cincinnati Reds), Dwight Gooden (May 14, 1996 for the New York Yankees) and David Cone (July 18, 1999, also for the Yankees).
Shawn Estes (left), Tom Seaver (center) and R.A. Dickey (right) have combined to throw 20% of the Mets' 35 one-hitters. But Estes and Dickey have a long way to go if they want to catch "The Franchise" in wins.
Ryan, Seaver, Gooden and Cone are the only four pitchers to throw a one-hitter for the Mets before pitching a no-hitter elsewhere. However, they are not the only four who played for the Mets but pitched a no-hitter elsewhere. In fact, there have been a few former Mets who pitched no-hitters after leaving New York and even more who pitched their no-hitters before joining the Mets.
Mike Scott had a lackluster career for the Mets, to say the least, going 14-27 for New York from 1979 to 1982. But once he became a Houston Astro and learned the split-finger fastball from original Met Roger Craig, his career took off. Four years after throwing his final pitch for the Mets, Scott threw the last pitch of the first division-clinching no-hitter in league history. Another former Met who threw a no-hitter after leaving New York was Hideo Nomo, who pitched for the Mets in 1998 and then pitched a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox in 2001. Nomo also threw a no-hitter before joining the Mets, victimizing the Colorado Rockies in 1996 while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In addition to Nomo, nine other pitchers threw no-hitters before coming to the Mets. Those lucky nine include:
- Don Cardwell: no-hitter in 1960 (Chicago Cubs); was a Met from 1967-1970
- Warren Spahn: no-hitters in 1960 and 1961 (Milwaukee Braves); was a Met in 1965
- Dean Chance: no-hitter in 1967 (Minnesota Twins); was a Met in 1970
- Dock Ellis: no-hitter in 1970 while tripping on acid (Pittsburgh Pirates); was a Met in 1979
- John Candelaria: no-hitter in 1976 (Pittsburgh Pirates); was a Met in 1987
- Bret Saberhagen: no-hitter in 1991 (Kansas City Royals); was a Met from 1992-1995
- Scott Erickson: no-hitter in 1994 (Minnesota Twins); was a Met in 2004
- Kenny Rogers: perfect game in 1994 (California Angels); was a Met in 1999
- Al Leiter: no-hitter in 1996 (Florida Marlins); was a Met from 1998 to 2004
Notice that of the ten total pitchers (including Nomo), only three (Cardwell, Saberhagen, Leiter) were with the Mets for more than one season. If the Mets were hoping to get some of that no-hit magic from the other seven when they acquired them, they realized quickly that their best days were long behind them.
A no-no before coming to New York. A no-no after leaving New York. But no no-no for Nomo in New York. No fair.
Finally, not every streak that involves a no-hit drought involves the Mets. As mentioned earlier, almost every team has pitched at least one no-hitter and several teams have pitched more than a handful. But the Mets aren’t alone when it comes to no-hit futility. In fact, the Mets’ 50-year streak without a no-hitter isn’t the longest a team has gone without one. That “honor” belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies, who once went 58 years without a no-no. After Johnny Lush kept the Brooklyn Superbas (that’s what the Dodgers called themselves back then) hitless on May 1, 1906, no Phillies pitcher was able to match Lush’s performance until Jim Bunning turned the trick with a perfect game on June 21, 1964 against the Mets. Although Bunning’s gem was the second of six no-hitters pitched against the Mets, it remains the only perfect game tossed against New York.
So there you have it, my friends. You’ve just read my not-so-brief discussion on the Mets and their history (or lack of) with no-hitters. By this time next month, the Mets might have played their 8,000th consecutive game without celebrating a no-no. But the Mets have been known to surprise us in the past, and the possibility remains, however slim, that the streak will end before it reaches the magic 8,000-game mark.
Hey, if Don Nottebart could do it, than why can’t a Met? It’s just one of those incredible things that makes baseball (and being a Mets fan) so amazin’.
About the Author: Ed Leyro
Ed Leyro was hatched in the Bronx, but spent most of his youth in Queens at Shea Stadium. Apparently, all that time spent at Mets games paid off as Ed met his wife (The Coop) for the first time at Citi Field during its inaugural season. Guess the 2009 season was good for something after all. In addition to his work at Mets Merized Online, Ed also owns, operates and is head janitor at Studious Metsimus, where he shares blogging duties with Joey Beartran. For those not in the know, Joey is a teddy bear dressed in a Mets hoodie. Clearly, Studious Metsimus is not your typical Mets blog.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 28 | .600 | - |
| Nationals | 34 | 35 | .493 | 7.5 |
| Phillies | 34 | 37 | .479 | 8.5 |
| Mets | 25 | 40 | .385 | 14.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 47 | .319 | 19.5 |
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Very interesting piece Ed. I was at a Doc Gooden one-hitter in 1985 against the Cubs. If I remember correctly the only base-runner of the game for Chicago was in the fifth inning when someone hit a swinging bunt up the third base line that went for an infield hit. It was Gooden at his best.
That game happened on September 7, 1984, when the Cubs and Mets were fighting it out for the division title. Doc struck out 11 batters and only surrendered a weak infield hit to Keith Moreland that night. Now that I think of it, that play just reminded me of John Maine’s near no-hitter in 2007. That one ended with a swinging bunt down the third base line as well.
The no-hitter will happen someday. It has to!
I thought it was Moreland, that bastard!
Hi Ed,
Great read, but actually the Mets did pitch a no hitter – back in 1965 during spring training when Gordon Richardson and Gary Kroll combined to no hit the Pirates at Al Lang Field. Though you write in terms of it, I did not actually read you referring strictly to the “regular season” so I think I’ve caught you on a technicality (a trick learned from Ryan Braun’s lawyer). LOL
Was listening to the game on the radio and getting all excited, thinking it was a big deal at the time. The Mets must have thought so for they included it as a highlight in their 1965 LP about the history of the team.
Also remember Nottebart’s no hitter, followed next season by another Colt 45, Ken Johnson, who unfortunately gained the dubious distinction of becoming the first pitcher in major league history (note – regular season LOL) to actually lose a no-hitter, 1-0 against Cincy.
Know what I’m afraid of? When that no hitter does happen someday (again, regular season LOL), not only like Ken Johnson will he lose the game 1-0 due to an unearned run, but that it will also be pitched on the road and due to the home team not needing to take it’s last licks it would not be considered a complete game and thus not make the record books ala Andy Hawkins. That would be just our luck, right?
Yes, I was referring to non-exhibition games. I do remember hearing about that spring training no-hitter, although it was a little before my time. (I was born soon after Jon Matlack gave up Roberto Clemente’s 3,000th career hit.)
The thing I’m afraid of is that the Mets will have a pitcher we strongly dislike (a la Oliver Perez) who’ll become the first to pitch a regular season no-hitter. That would be like rooting for Mickey Lolich to pitch one in 1976. (We never should have traded Rusty!!!)
That September 1975 game was interesting to read about. I had never read about that game before and was too young to remember. This was a a great post and I enjoyed all the information you included. At least we have two world series titles to the Padres’ none.
The Mets also have nine cycles to the Padres’ none. Of course, they have more Hall of Famers (Dave Winfield, Tony Gwynn) than we do, but that’ll change next year when Piazza goes in, right?
On the topic of no-hitters, this is how I see it. If the slow-footed John Olerud and Eric Valent could hit for the cycle with the Mets, then surely someday a Met will pitch a no-hitter. There’s no way the Padres are going to beat us to the no-hit punch. It would be way too hard to take if the Mets were to remain the only team out of all 30 teams to not have a no-hitter to their credit.
As i wrote in a similar piece on another blog two weeks ago, the big number is 8945. We will approach that in the last week if the 2017 season. It’s gotta happen, right? I just hope when it does happen, it isn’t one of those quirky combined jobs.
I love this subject. Just fascinates me. Does Jim Bibby court? He was Met prospect who threw one for the Rangers in 1977.
I actually wrote a piece a few years ago for MMO on the worst way the Mets could lose a no-hitter. It involved a runner getting hit in fair territory by a batted ball with two outs in the ninth. By MLB rules, although the runner would be out because he was hit by a ball in fair territory, the batter would be credited with a base hit. Therefore, at the same time the 27th out was recorded, the no-hitter would end. Here’s the link to that one if anyone’s interested in reading it:
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2011/09/mmo-flashback-the-worst-way-for-the-mets-to-lose-a-no-hitter.html
Great article. Just a sidenote – Frank Viola was part of a combined no-hitter in ’93. Sure, there probably were others before or after they were Mets who took part in this, but anyway, I just thought I’d throw in that little tidbit, which you probably were already aware of. Keep up the good work!
Yes, Frank Viola was part of a combined no-hitter in 1993, but that was in a spring training game. On April 2 of that year, he combined with Cory Bailey to no-hit the Phillies.
There have also been a few other pitchers who participated in combined no-hitters during regular season play, who at one time or another pitched for the Mets, but they were all relievers. I only included starting pitchers in my piece.
In 1991, Alejandro Peña started the season with the Mets, but was traded to Atlanta in late August. Two weeks after his trade, Peña pitched the ninth inning of a combined no-hitter against the Padres. The other pitchers involved were starter Kent Mercker (who pitched the first six innings) and reliever Mark Wohlers (seventh and eighth innings).
In 1997, Ricardo Rincon (the same guy Billy Beane famously wanted so badly in “Moneyball”) combined with the Pirates’ Francisco Cordova to pitch a 10-inning no-hitter against the Astros. 11 years later, he pitched in eight games for the Mets.
In 2003, six Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Yankees. One former Met and one future Met pitched the final two innings of that game, as Octavio Dotel (a Met in 1999) held the Yankees hitless in the eighth and Billy Wagner (a Met from 2006 to 2009) closed out the unprecedented six-pitcher no-hitter.
Part of the problem with no hitters these days is the change of the strike zone from the days when guys like Seaver pitched.
They used to call the high strike more back then than they do now.
But also Pitchers get pulled pretty quick these days and hardly any have the stamina to last long enough to complete the no hitter. They get tired around the 7th and 8th and give it up!
Considering the Mets have always played in what is called a Pitcher’s Park it does seem odd that we have not had a no hitter yet.
Maybe if we had not traded Seaver and Ryan when we did we might have had one by now!
Hi Metsi,
The strike zone hasn’t really changed much since 1969 when it was decreased and the mound was lowered by six inches. I think the rash of no hitters in the mid sixties was thus due to the opposite – the increased strike zone that commenced in 1963 which resulted in batting averages getting lower year to year as pitchers learned how to use more of the plate above and below. As we know, it got ridiculous by 1968.
Ford Frick and other baseball old-timers of the time pushed for the larger strike zone because they thought this would stop players who they thought were not worthy, like Roger Maris, from ever again approaching Babe Ruth’s record.
Great article. I am surprised that no one has come up with the real reason why no Met has thrown a no hitter – The Nolan Ryan Curse. We traded Ryan for a washed up Jim Fergosi and a pox was upon us. Not only does no Met throw a no-hitter, we come very close. And, some of our best pitchers (Seaver, Gooden, etc) have to go else where to notch theirs.
During those great 1980s teams, I always thought Sid Fernandez would be the one to toss the no-no.
Some other gems that were not mentioned:
Jerry Koosman took a no hitter to the seventh or eight inning in Game 2 of the 1969 Series.
Randy Tate – anyone remember him? I do because I was at a game in 1975 where he no hit the Expos (remember them?) for seven innings. It all spiraled downward after that. Past and future met Mike Jorgensen hit a three run shot later that inning giving the Expos the lead and eventually the win.
Dwight Gooden took a no hitter into the eighth against the Cubs. I was at that game too, but am drawing a blank on the year. Anyway, he hit a home run in the seventh and said he was thinking about his hitting that he took his mind off pitching, and surrendered a hit to the next batter he faced.
I believe the first Met no hitter will come from an unknown. Given the Mets history, it will someone unheard of outside of the NY fan base. I am thinking of a pitching version of George Theodore or Benny Agbayani. A true NY Met folk hero. Rick Reed should have been the first to pitch one. He was popular with the fans, yet beyond the walls of Shea, not many people knew of him.
OMG – PHILIP HUMBER!!!!!!
Boy, were you on this!
I figured since Philip Humber turned me into some sort of prophet, I should add more information about his feat.
It was the 18th no-hitter in White Sox history and the third perfect game. It was also the third no-hitter in the past six seasons for the Pale Hose. Adding to the Mets connection, in each of the last two no-hitters (both of which were perfect games), a former Met was involved. Mark Buehrle’s perfect game in 2009 was caught by former Met Ramon Castro and Humber’s perfect game saw Robin Ventura in the dugout as the White Sox manager.
So here’s a tip to fans of no-hitters. If you want to see one in person, find a major league matchup that features the most former Mets. Your chances to be an eyewitness to history will increase dramatically if you do.
LOL Ed…thats one way…
No one has said it yet so I guess I will, and not to take away from Humber but he did do it against the Mariners who have been the poster boys of suck for few years now!
LOL