The
next, and sadly the last no-hitter profiled in this long-running thread
of No-No’s through the 1970’s is the gem tossed by one of the all-time
greats, Tom Seaver, which sadly for New York Mets fans came AFTER he was
spending his days at Shea Stadium:
On June 16th of 1978 “Tom Terrific”, not one year away from the shocking
trade that brought him to the Cincinnati Reds, threw a gem of a game
against the St. Louis Cardinals, no-hitting them while sending the Reds
to a 4-0 win.
He faced the minimum 27 batters in the game even though he walked three
batters the Reds committed an error, though I don’t see any double-plays
or pick-offs by the Reds, so I’m a little confused as to how.
Nevertheless, Seaver was on his game as usual, though you may be shocked
to see that he only struck out three batters during his no-hitter.
Even though I was in Elementary School at the time, I remember well how
brutal this was for my Mets fans friends to see, with the face of their
team unceremoniously traded away a year earlier.
As we know, it wouldn’t be until Johan Santana in 2012 that the Mets’
faithful would get to see a no-hitter thrown by one of their own.
But on this day, Seaver added a cherry to his already HOF career.
Mike
Schmidt, Greg Luzinski, Garry Maddox, Bake McBride, all very good Major
League hitters in a packed line-up for the Philadelphia Phillies in the
1970’s.
And yet on a Sunday afternoon on April 16th, 1978, St. Louis Cardinals
pitcher Bob Forsch kept them all hitless, as well as the rest of the
Philly line-up, for the first of his two Big League no-hitters.
Here’s the next “no-hitter” special in my on-going thread through the decade, as we’re in the home-stretch:
It only took Forsch one hour and fifty-two minutes to dispatch the
Phillies 5-0 on that day, as he struck out only three while issuing two
walks.
He was off to a scorching start that year, improving to 3-0 with a
microscopic 0.71 earned run average, getting help from pinch-hitter
Roger Freed who hit a three-run double in the sixth.
Forsch was coming off his one and only 20-win season in 1977, and would
fall a bit to a record of 11-17 in 1978, though no fault of his own.
The Cardinals were not exactly a juggernaut, and Forsch would average
about 11 wins a season over the rest of his career, capped off with a
season and a half with the Houston Astros in 1988 and 1989.
In 1983 he would again work that magic, as he pitched a second
no-hitter, this time against the Montreal Expos, winning 3-0, at the
time becoming the 25th pitcher in Big League history to throw multiple
no-hitters.
All told, over the course of 16 seasons, Forsch would go 168-136, with
an ERA of 3.76 in 498 appearances, 422 of them starts, with 19 shutouts
and 1133 strikeouts.
The
next no-hitter profiled in the long-running thread is the second
consecutive gem tossed by a future Hall of Famer, this time it’s Bert
Blyleven of the Texas Rangers, who held the California Angels hitless on
September 22nd, 1977, winning 6-0:
Blyleven faced the minimum 27 batters that day, allowing only a walk to
pinch-hitter Carlos May, while shortstop Bert Campaneris committed an
error that was quickly erased by an Andy Etchebarren double-play.
In just two hours and seven minutes, the “Frying Dutchman” struck out
seven on his way to improving his record to 14-12 while lowering his ERA
to 2.72 on the season.
Sadly, only 8031 fans were on hand to see the gem on that Thursday night
at Anaheim Stadium, due in part to the Angels record of 72-79 at that
point, while the Rangers improved to a 86-67 record, though still 10.5
games behind the division leading Kansas City Royals, who would
steam-roll to the West title and a meeting with the defending American
League champion New York Yankees.
As for Blyleven, he finished the season with that 14-12 record as well
as “only” 182 strikeouts, the first time he didn’t top 200 K’s since his
rookie year of 1970.
Nevertheless, he’d go on to collect 3701 strikeouts over his HOF career,
along with 287 wins, 60 shutouts and a very nice 3.31 ERA in 22 years.
The
next No-Hitter profiled in the long-running thread through the 1970’s
is the gem tossed by future Hall of Famer Dennis Eckerlsey on May 30th,
1977:
“Eck” was still a young stud starting pitcher for the Cleveland Indians
in 1977, and perhaps reached the pinnacle of his career when he faced
the California Angels on a cool May evening at Cleveland Stadium.
Facing off against California’s Frank Tanana, who was having himself an
excellent year, Eckersley was just a touch better when he held the
Angels hitless, issuing only one base-on-balls to first baseman Tony
Solaita while striking out 12 and facing the minimum 27 batters.
Sadly for Tanana, he gave up a run over eight innings, striking out six
and lowering his season ERA to 2.08, dropping to 8-2 on the season,
while Eckersley improved to 5-3, with his ERA getting down to 2.98.
Of course, after another seven seasons or so of being a starter,
Eckersley transformed his career and became the Hall of Fame relief
pitcher who would pitch well into his 40’s, winning not only a Cy Young
Award in 1992 but the league’s MVP Award as well.
Incredible to think that at the moment of his no-hitter, Eckersley STILL had another 21 seasons of his MLB career to go!
Time
to spotlight another no-hitter from the 1970’s, the first one thrown
during the 1977 season, that of Kansas City Royals pitcher Jim Colborn,
who tosses quite a gem against the Texas Rangers on May 14th at Royals
Stadium:
First off, I was really hoping to find a better image of Colborn in a
Royals uniform for this card. But sadly, this was the best (and ONLY)
one I could find that had the adequate resolution. So forgive the
slightly “off” clarity.
Colborn came over from the Milwaukee Brewers over the Winter and put
together a great season for the eventual American League West champions,
going 18-14 with an earned run average of 3.62 over 36 appearances, all
but one starts.
A former 20 game winner with the Brewers in 1973 (the first 20-game
winner in franchise history), he made the only All-Star team of his
10-year career that season when he paired those 20 wins with a 3.18 ERA
and four shutouts over 43 appearances and 36 starts.
The 1977 season would end up being his second best season under the Big
League sun, and it’s peak was that May 14th evening when he went on to
face only 26 “official” batters, getting the only blemish on his night, a
walk to catcher Jim Sundberg, was quickly erased by a double-play off
the bat of Juan Beniquez.
He would strikeout six batters, while cruising along to a no-hit gem in
two-hours and 10 minutes, improving his record to 5-3 at that time, with
a sparkling 2.23 ERA.
Ironically, that 1977 season would be his last solid year as a Big
League pitcher, and as a matter of fact he’d play ony one more year,
1979, when he split the year with the Royals and Seattle Mariners, going
a combined 4-12 with a 5.24 ERA over 28 appearances.
But just like that, his career was over at the age of 32, finishing up
with a record of 83-88, with an ERA of 3.80 over 301 appearances and
1597.1 innings pitched between 1969 and 1978.
The
next no-hitter through the 1970’s that gets a spotlight in my long
running thread is the gem tossed by young “cocky” San Francisco
right-hander John Montefusco:
The reigning National league Rookie of the Year came into the 1976
season with high expectations and didn’t disappoint, culminating with a
9-0 win over the Atlanta Braves, keeping them hitless and giving the
Major Leagues their fourth no-hitter of the Bicentennial season.
Coming into the game with a 15-14 record, Montefusco came within one
pitch of a Perfect Game, settling for the no-hitter that only had a walk
to lead-off hitter Jerry Royster .
He struck out four while completing his no-no in just under two hours,
at one hour and 59 minutes to be exact. Can you imaging a game these
days coming in under two hours?
The no-hitter gave Montefusco an NL leading six shutouts for the season,
finishing up with a 16-14 record, along with an ERA of 2.84 with 11
complete games and 172 strikeouts in 253.1 innings of work.
Next
up in my No-Hitters through the 1970’s thread is the gem spun by
fellow-Brooklyn native John Candelaria of the Pittsburgh Pirates on
August 9th of 1976 against the Los Angeles Dodgers:
The 22-year-old lefty was having himself a great season so far, coming
into the game with a 10-4 record in his first full-season of Major
League ball.
Against a powerful Dodger line-up that included Steve Garvey, Ron Cey
et. al, he went on to strike out seven batters against one walk, beating
fellow starter Doug Rau.
With the game scoreless going into the bottom of the fifth, the Pirates
got a some men on base for third baseman Bill Robinson, who drove in
what ended being the only two runs of the game with a double.
Candelaria took care of the rest, pitching the final four innings and securing his place in MLB history with the no-hitter.
He would go on to pitch 19-seasons in the Big Leagues, winning 177 games
with a very nice 3.33 earned run average over 600 appearances, with 13
shutouts and 1673 strikeouts along with 29 saves.
Following
the combined four-pitcher No-Hitter the A’s threw in 1975 that I
previously profiled here on the blog, I offer up a “No-Hitter”-thread
version of the combined two-pitcher gem spun by John “Blue Moon” Odom
and Francisco Barrios of the Chicago White Sox some 10 months later:
As with the A’s no-no, I originally profiled the White Sox no-hitter for
my earlier “Highlights of the 1970’s” thread from years ago, but I
wanted to include it in my recent “No-Hitter” thread that I started last
year.
And as I did with the Oakland card, I pictured the man who closed it
out, in this case Francisco Barrios, who relieved John Odom in the sixth
inning, pitching the final four innings and closing out this bit of
history.
What follows below is the original text from my first post on August 12th, 2014:
“White Sox pitchers John Odom (an Oakland A's pitcher up until the prior
season), and Francisco Barrios teamed up to stifle the A's on July
28th, 1976, with Odom keeping Oakland hitless for the first five
innings, and Barrios wrapping it up the final four.
While it was a no-hitter, it certainly was not perfect, as Odom managed
to walk NINE A's batters in his five innings of work, and future Hall of
Famers Billy Williams scoring the lone A's run in the bottom of the
fourth inning when Claudell Washington stole second, allowing Williams
to score on a bad throw from catcher Jim Essian.
All told, Odom and Barrios walked a combined eleven batters, while striking out five and allowing three stolen bases.
But in the end it was (and is) an official no-hitter, and would end up
being the last combined no-hitter until the California Angels pulled the
trick on April 11, 1990 when Mark Langston and Mike Witt combined to
no-hit the Mariners.
Just a year later in 1991 there would be TWO more combined no-hitters,
spun by the Baltimore Orioles and then the Atlanta Braves.
Since then there have been two more combined no-no's, the July 12th
effort by the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Houston Astros in 1997, and
the June 11, 2003 no-hitter thrown by SIX Houston Astros against the
New York Yankees.
Ironically enough, the 1976 combined no-no would end up being one of
Blue Moon Odom's last Major League games, as he was out of the Majors
after only eight games in 1976, finishing off a 13-year career.”
The
next no-hitter chronologically profiled in my long-running thread
through the decade, the Astros’ Larry Dierker’s gem spun against the
Montreal Expos on July 9th, 1976:
Dierker came into the game with a record of 7-8, carrying an earned run
average above 4.00, but he had his A-game going as he proceeded to
strikeout eight batters against four walks.
He even helped his own cause with a sacrifice fly, contributing to the
six runs that led to a 6-0 victory just days after the nation’s
Bicentennial celebration.
The 29-year-old was already in his twelfth season in the Big Leagues,
all with the Houston organization, and would finish the season with a
record of 13-14 along with an ERA at 3.69 over 28 appearances, all
starts, with four shutouts and seven complete games.
He’d finish his playing career the following year, with the St. Louis
Cardinals, going 2-6 with a 4.58 ERA over 11 appearances before retiring
with a record of 139-123 with a very nice 3.31 ERA over 356 games and
2333.2 innings pitched.
Although
I created a “Highlights from the 1970’s” card for the Oakland A’s
four-pitcher combined no-hitter some five years ago here on the blog, I
had to include it in my long-running “no-hitters through the 1970’s”
series:
Whereas I originally created a card showing all four pitchers who
contributed to the gem spun on the last day of the 1975 season, today I
wanted something different, so I pictured the guy who closed out the
game, Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers.
Since I already wrote about it in the original post, I’ll take the liberty to copy-paste it here:
On the very last day of the season the A's closed out yet another
successful year, no-hitting California and winning 5-0, giving them 98
wins for the season and their fifth straight division championship.
Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers each
contributed to the no-hitter, with Blue giving up the only two walks.
What I also find incredible is the fact that the A's switched catchers during the game as well!
Gene Tenace started the game behind the plate, then switched over to
first base while Ray Fosse came in at the top of the seventh inning to
catch Lindblad.
For the life of me I can't (off the top of my head) remember another no-hitter where the starting catcher was pulled.
Anyone know another such game?
I'll have to look it up for sure!
As a kid I always remember the two combined no-hitters of the '70's:
this game and the one that happened the very next year with two Chicago
White Sox pitchers doing the same.
I'll be designing a card for THAT game as well in the near future, so keep an eye out for it.
For anyone interested in the Oakland no-hit game particulars, here's a
link to the box score on the Godly web-site, "Baseball-Reference.com":
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK197509280.shtml
Another item to point out: Reggie Jackson hit two home runs in the game,
the second of which gave him a tie for the home run crown in 1975 with
Milwaukee Brewer George Scott, one of THREE such occasions that Reggie
would share a home run crown in his career with a Milwaukee Brewer!
And all three times while he was playing for a different team!
How freakin' strange is that?
He's also share the crown in 1980 with Ben Oglivie while playing for the
Yankees, and with Gorman Thomas in 1982 while with the Angels.
Man I love this game!
The
next no-hitter profiled on the long-running thread is that of young San
Francisco Giants pitcher Ed Halicki on August 24th 1975 against the New
York Mets:
The 24-year-old was in his first full season when he turned in the
performance of his career, striking out 10 while walking two, on his way
to the no-hitter at home in Candlestick Park.
Gary Thomasson and Willie Montanez drove in two runs each, supplying
more than enough offense to give Halicki the support for the win,
improving his record to 8-10 and lowering his ERA to 3.48.
Turns out Giants fans would have to wait another 35 years before another
of their pitchers threw a no-hitter, when Jonathan Sanchez did just
that on July 10th of 2010.
Nevertheless, Halicki, though he did put in a nice seven-year Major
League career, reached the pinnacle of his Big League days that day in
1975.
Ho-Hum.
Time for another No-Hitter entry, and yep, it’s another gem tosses by
legend Nolan Ryan, who threw his record-tying fourth such game on June
1st, 1975, matching the great Sandy Koufax for the most in one career:
Facing the Baltimore Orioles on a bright Sunday afternoon, Ryan went on
to strike-out nine batters, while walking four, winning the game 1-0
thanks to a Dave Chalk third-inning single that brought speedster Mickey
Rivers home.
Baltimore pitchers Ross Grimsley and Wayne Garland fought the good
fight, allowing that one run while only walking one other batter, but
alas, the “Ryan Express” was in full-swing in the mid-70’s, and just
like that, in the course of a few seasons, he had four No-Hitters under
his belt.
That Baltimore line-up was no slouch either!
Leading off for them was Ken Singleton, and they also had Al Bumbry, Don
Baylor, Bobby Grich, Lee May and Brooks Robinson starting that day,
with former two-time batting champ Tommy Davis pinch-hitting!
Just amazing.
Little did we know that Ryan still had three more no-no’s in that arm
left, and he’d be slinging BB’s for another 18 years before hanging them
up!
The
next no-hitter through the 1970’s profiled on the blog is the third
such gem spun by the legend himself, Nolan Ryan, who reeled off another
masterpiece, this time against the Minnesota Twins on September 28th,
1974:
“I knew this would probably be my last start of the season,” remarked
California Angels speedballer Nolan Ryan. “I said to [catcher] Tom Egan ,
‘I think I’ll let it all hang out. What do I have to lose?’”
Ha!
Having already thrown two no-hitters in 1973, Ryan came back and added
to what would become one of the legendary careers in Major League
baseball by striking out 15 batters (while also walking eight), keeping
the Twins hitless for the third no-no in two seasons.
Just incredible.
And yet, little did any of us realize that the man would not only throw
another FOUR no-hitters before he was done, but that the seventh and
final no-hitter of his astonishing career would be SEVENTEEN years after
this one, in 1991.
I mean, where do you even begin to explain to someone not familiar with baseball just how extraordinary this is?!
“The Ryan Express” is not of this earth!
The
next no-hitter to get the spotlight in my “No-Hitters through the
1970’s” is the gem thrown by former Cleveland Indians Dick Bosman:
Bosman threw his no-hitter against the Oakland A’s on July 19th of 1974,
allowing not only no hits but also no walks, a perfect game eluding him
because of an error by the pitcher himself in the top of the fourth
when he threw a check-swing slow-roller wide of first base off the bat
of Sal Bando.
By the time the game was over, Bosman finished with only four
strikeouts, not over-powering the eventual World Champs, but throwing
strike after strike, just keeping his pitches in the strike zone batter
after batter.
It was only Bosman’s second win of the year at this point, and he would
go on to finish 1974 with a record of 7-5 with a 4.10 earned run average
over 25 appearances.
Ironically, in just the very next year, 1975, Bosman would join the A’s,
helping them to another division championship when he’d go 11-4 after
an in-season trade.
I think this design came out nice!
The next no-hitter in my on-going sub-set celebrating the gems of the
decade is a historic one, Steve Busby and his second no-hitter in only
his second full Major League season, thrown on June 19th:
Busby became the first pitcher to ever toss no-no’s in his first two
seasons, this one against the Milwaukee Brewers in which he faced only
28 batters, winning 3-0 in Milwaukee County Stadium.
Busby struck out four while walking six, while getting some offensive
help from Amos Otis and Ed Kirkpatrick who both hit homers.
It would be the high point of his best season in the Big Leagues, as he
would go on to post 22 wins with a 3.39 earned run average over 38
starts, 20 of which he completed.
He also tossed three shutouts while striking out a career-high 198
batters, throwing 292.1 innings and getting named to his first All-Star
team.
Sadly, after another fine season in 1975 in which he posted 18 wins
along with an ERA at 3.08 over 34 starts, getting named to his second
straight All-Star team, Busby developed a torn rotator cuff and became
the first player to undergo rotator cuff surgery, forcing him to miss
most of 1976 and all of 1977.
He made it all the way back in 1978, though only four seven games, and
was able to pitch in 22 games the following year. But after eleven
appearances in 1980 to which he went 1-3 with an ERA at 6.17 his career
was over.
A once promising career for the young right-hander ending prematurely at the age of 30.
Next
up in my on-going journey celebrating no-hitters through the 1970’s is
the very first gem tossed for the Braves after relocating to Atlanta,
Hall of Famer Phil Niekro’s No-No tossed against the San Diego Padres on
August 5th:
Niekro used a mix of fastballs and sliders during the first seven or so
innings of the no-hitter, then switched to a heavy knuckleball for the
final two innings, striking out four while walking three, improving his
record to 11-5 and lowering his earned run average to 3.44 in the 9-0
win.
Dusty Baker and Frank Tepedino both helped the cause with two RBIs each,
while lead-off hitter Ralp Garr went 3-for-3 with three runs scored for
the bulk of the Braves offense.
Niekro finished his no-hitter on this Sunday afternoon in just under 2
1/2 hours in front of only 8,748 in attendance watching two teams
struggling to stay out of the basement, the Padres at 37-73 and the
Braves at 52-64.
The
next no-hitter up in my ongoing “No-Hitters through the 1970’s” thread
is the first No-Hitter thrown for the Texas Rangers franchise, Jim
Bibby’s gem on July 30th, 1973:
Fresh from coming over to the Rangers from the St. Louis Cardinals just
under two months prior, Bibby faced the World Champion Oakland A’s at
Oakland-Alameda County Stadium and proceeded to strike out 13 batters,
though walking six, on his way to baseball history.
Relying on his fastball, Bibby outdueled Oakland’s ace Vida Blue, and
even had Reggie Jackson state that in the ninth-inning, after striking
out, “That’s the fastest ball I ever saw. Actually I didn’t see it. I
just heard it”.
Bibby would go on to pitch well for the Rangers over the rest of the
season, finishing up with a record of 9-10 for the hard-luck team, with
an ERA at 3.24 with two shutouts over 23 starts.
He’d pitch through the 1984 season, ending up with a record of 111 and
101, winning 19 games twice (1974 and 1980), and being part of the 1979
World Champion “We Are Family” Pittsburgh Pirates team.
Fresh
off of Nolan Ryan’s first no-hitter profiled here on the blog, we have
his second, thrown just two months later on July 15th against the
Detroit Tigers, forever made famous when Tigers’ slugger Norn Cash came
to the plate with two-out in the ninth wielding a table leg instead of a
bat:
Cash had the right idea since Ryan was on a brutal roll, mowing down
batter after batter not only that game, but that season, when he would
finish with a (still) Major League record 383 strikeouts while posting
21 wins and a 2.87 ERA.
On this Sunday in particular, Ryan faced the Tigers at Tiger Stadium and
proceeded to strikeout 17 batters against “only” four walks, striking
out every Tiger batter at least once, shutting them out 6-0.
According to game re-caps, Ryan didn’t even need any great plays behind
him to keep the gem going. Only a sharp line drive off the bat of Gates
Brown with one out in the ninth was even considered a “sure hit” if not
for Rudy Meoli shading him a bit to the right, snaring the drive about a
foot over his head.
The “Ryan Express” was steaming his way into the record books, and to
think he STILL had 20 more seasons to go before he was done!
Amazing.
The
next no-hitter in my on-going thread celebrating the gems of the decade
will be the first of four such beauties by none other than Nolan Ryan,
“The Ryan Express”:
In what would be an astonishing seven career no-hitters over the course
of his incredible Hall of Fame career, Nolan Ryan set down the Kansas
City Royals one-by-one, facing the minimum 27 batters even though he
walked three.
Over those nine innings he whiffed 12 Royals, including clean-up hitter
John Mayberry all three at-bats, picking up his fifth victory against
three defeats, lowering his season earned run average to 2.71.
It was early in the record-breaking 1973 season for Ryan, as he would go
on to post 21 wins with an ERA at 2.87, with four shutouts and a STILL
MLB record 383 strikeouts over 41 appearances and 326 innings.
Thing about it: the man was in his seventh Major League season, and
still had another 20 to go, as he would win 324 games, strikeout a
ridiculous 5714 batters, and throw 61 shutouts to go along with those
seven no-hitters.
His career still boggles my mind.
Moving
along in my thread of No-Hitters through the 1970’s, we come to the
first gem of the 1973 season, Steve Busby’s no-no against the Detroit
Tiers on April 27th:
Busby, making just the tenth start of his career, would face veteran
pitcher Jim Perry at Tigers’ Stadium that evening, and would go on to
fan four while allowing six walks in throwing the first no-hitter in
Kansas City Royals history.
Thanks mainly to home runs by outfielders Ed Kirkpatrick and Amos Otis,
Busby was able to go to a 3-0 win, improving his record to 2-2 on his
way to a 16-15 rookie campaign that also saw him strikeout 174 batters
over 37 starts and 238.1 innings.
Of course, 1974 would see Busby toss yet another no-hitter, this time
against the Milwaukee Brewers on June 19th, becoming the first pitcher
to ever throw no-hitters in his first two full seasons, while also
winning a career-high 22 games while tossing three shutouts and striking
out 198 batters in 38 starts and 292.2 innings.
Only 24 years of age, Busby had a very bright career ahead of him, and
1975 was equally as successful, winning 18 games while lowering his
earned run average to 3.08 over 260.1 innings.
But sadly arm troubles took hold and he had rotator cuff surgery,
causing him to miss most of 1976 as well as all of 1977 before making it
all the way back for seven appearances in 1978.
But he could never again regain the form that allowed him to win 56 games in three seasons between 1973 and 1975.
He eventually retired after the 1980 season, a year which saw him appear
in 11 games, pitching to a record of 1-3 with an ugly 6.17 E.R.A.
All told, he finished with a record of 70-54, with an E.R.A. Of 3.72
over 167 appearances, with 659 strikeouts and seven shutouts over 1060.2
innings pitched.
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