Over the course of nearly 150 years of major-league baseball, and thousands upon thousands of games played, fewer than 300 pitchers have thrown an official no-hitter. The figure through the 2016 season is maybe 294 or 295 or so, depending on your definitions. And if you include a handful of no-hitters that were deemed not to be no-hitters, the figure climbs to a little over 300.

The number of games played, using Retrosheet standards for what constitutes a major-league game and counting forfeits (both played and unplayed) is 213,307 games through the end of the 2016 season.1

If we go by 295 no-hitters, that’s more or less one no-hitter every 723 games, or 0.0013829. It’s a rare thing.

Fewer than half the pitchers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame have thrown a no-hitter. Many of the biggest names in pitching have never done it. We won’t mention names here, but chances are that our average reader can easily name a few.

Some pitchers have pitched more than one. It’s just the way things are in baseball.

About a year or so after work for this book got underway, there appeared a book we would like to highly recommend: Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders, by Dirk Lammers. It’s a really fat book, and it takes on the story of the no-hitter, looking at it from various perspectives and with a lot of good humor. We are pleased that Dirk and his publisher at Unbridled Books have granted us permission to include his chapter on Negro League no-hitters here. There are a lot of angles from which he looks at no-hitters and, again, we highly recommend the book.

This SABR Digital Library book focuses on pitchers who threw no-hitters and the no-hitters they threw. Naturally, we couldn’t present biographies of everyone who ever threw a no-hitter nor could we present Games Project accounts of all of them. That wasn’t our goal. What we wanted to do is to put together a book that encouraged SABR biographers to add another 30 or 40 bios to SABR’s BioProject and a similar number of games to the Games Project. Assembling the books we do is a labor of love meant to stimulate research and build up SABR’s body of work.

We wanted the book to touch on a variety of matters, and we wanted to have it span the decades so that there was some representation of the earlier eras of baseball right up to more recent years. Why isn’t Cy Young in the book? His bio was already written, and we were trying to stimulate new research so we selected some other people instead. We tried to hit certain themes — first no-hitter in each league; first no-hitter thrown at 60 feet 6 inches; first in which the losing team scored a run; first pitcher to debut with a no-hitter; first extra-inning no-hitter; etc. You’ll find those all in here and maybe a surprise or two as well.

Red Sox fan BILL NOWLIN has never seen the Red Sox held hitless but has been fortunate to see Red Sox pitchers throw four no-hitters — Dave Morehead, Derek Lowe, Jon Lester, and Devern Hansack.* He has written or edited more than 60 books, mostly about baseball, and has served on SABR’s Board of Directors since 2004. He’s also in the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Notes

1 Email from Tom Ruane, March 15, 2017.

Three decades before Don Larsen threw his perfect game in the ’56 World Series, a 22-year-old Negro League pitcher “down the Shore” beat his big-city counterpart to the postseason punch.

Claude “Red” Grier joined the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants midway through the 1925 season after spending a year and a half with the Washington (and later Wilmington) Potomacs. Grier boasted “a wide assortment of pitches and good control,” James Overmyer wrote in Black Ball and the Boardwalk, and the southpaw helped lead the 1926 Bacharach Giants to an Eastern Colored League championship.1

Atlantic City was set to face the Negro National League champion Chicago American Giants in the third-ever Colored World Series, with three of the games staged at neutral sites.

Game One ended in a tie, and Grier took the loss in Game Two.

On October 3, 1926, Grier got the start for Game Three at Maryland Baseball Park in Baltimore and dominated the American Giants lineup for a 10-0 no-hit victory in front of just 2,857 fans.

Grier’s gem is one of the dozens of no-nos thrown in the Negro Leagues before the majors integrated in 1947, though incomplete game accounts and the gray lines between professional, semipro, minor league, and barnstorming teams make it tough to come up with an exact number.

There’s no doubt that many Negro League pitchers could have etched their spots into the major-league record books if baseball had welcomed them earlier, but their numerous accomplishments received far less media attention.

“Cannonball” Dick Redding, who played for a variety of teams from 1911 through 1928, has been cited as throwing as many as 30 career no-hitters—seven in 1912 alone—but it’s difficult to uncover enough box scores to prove or disprove those estimates.

Redding’s August 28, 1912, no-no for the Lincoln Giants against the Cuban Stars in Atlantic City is considered the first documented no-hitter between two high-level African American teams.

“Redding’s speed was terrific, and the Cubans were helpless before his delivery,” noted a New York Press game account uncovered by researcher Gary Ashwill. “This was the second hitless game Redding has pitched this season.”2

The other 1912 no-no, according to the Press, was an August 5 perfect game against the Cherokee Indians during that club’s East Coast barnstorming tour. If there are others (and there most certainly are), they’re difficult to dig up.

Another Negro League pitcher of note is the Kansas City Monarchs’ Hilton Smith, who threw the Negro American League’s first no-hitter on May 16, 1937. Smith led the Monarchs to a 4-0 win over the Chicago American Giants.

Fans across the nation gushed over Bob Feller in 1940 when the Iowa farm sensation pitched the majors’ first Opening Day no-hitter, but detailed game accounts are scarce on Leon Day’s 1946 Opening Day no-no for the Newark Eagles of the Negro National League.

Like Feller prior to his second no-no, the quiet, soft-spoken Day had just returned from serving his country in World War II, having stormed Utah Beach during the Allied Forces’ invasion of France. In James A. Riley’s book Of Monarchs and Black Barons: Essays on Baseball’s Negro Leagues, Day said he had few opportunities to pitch while stationed overseas.

“I was discharged in February at Fort Dix, and went home to Newark until spring training,” Day recalled. “We trained in Tampa that year, but my arm wasn’t too good.”3

Day, as usual, was way too modest. The right-hander took the mound at Newark’s Ruppert Stadium on May 5, 1946, and used his illusory no-wind-up delivery to no-hit the Philadelphia Stars for a 2-0 win. He allowed just three runners to reach first via a pair of walks and an error, but he struck out just six batters. For Day, any game with a “K” count below 10 was a sign that he “didn’t have good stuff.”4

In stark contrast to Leon Day’s modesty was the larger-than-life Satchel Paige, who estimated he threw 55 no-hitters over his long, storied career that included stints with numerous teams. When Paige wasn’t pitching in league games, he was barnstorming across the country competing against anyone who would take the ball field against his All-Stars. Just two Paige no-hitters are documented. On July 15, 1932, he threw the first no-no at the newly built Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, the nation’s first black-built and black-owned major-league ballpark. His Pittsburgh Crawfords topped the New York Black Yankees 6-0.

“The elongated speed ball artist from the far South was at his best and literally had the Yanks eating out of his hand,” said a Pittsburgh Courier account.5

Paige’s second no-no for the Crawfords came against the Homestead Grays. On July 4, 1934, Paige struck out a Negro National League–record 17 batters.

It would be 14 years before he finally got the opportunity to face big-league batters in the regular season. In 1948, at the age of 42, he made his major-league debut with the Cleveland Indians.

The list of Negro Leagues no-hitters, as best as anyone has been able to verify, includes other such greats thrown by Bill Gatewood, “Smokey” Joe Williams, and Jesse “Nip” Winters.

DIRK LAMMERS is an award-winning Associated Press journalist and baseball blogger. He is an oft-quoted authority on no-hitters and the creator of NoNoHitters.com, the acclaimed gathering point for all things related to pitching’s greatest feat. His book “Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders” was published by Unbridled Books in 2016.

This article was published in SABR’s “No-Hitters” (2017), edited by Bill Nowlin.

Negro Leagues No-Hitters List

The following is a list of 35+ Negro Leagues no-hitters, but ongoing research may turn up more. Former Negro League pitchers such as “Toothpick” Sam Jones who threw their no-nos in the majors appear on the official Major League Baseball list.

Last updated: August 20, 2024.

John Goodgame
West Baden Sprudels
Friday, April 21, 1911 / West Baden Sprudels 3, French Lick Plutos 0

“Cannonball” Dick Redding
Lincoln Giants
Wednesday, August 28, 1912 / Lincoln Giants 1, Cuban Stars 0

Louis Decatur “Dicta” Johnson
Chicago American Giants
Sunday, June 8, 1913 / Chicago American Giants 9, Paterson Smart Set 0

Charles Dougherty
Chicago American Giants
Monday, June 9, 1913 / Chicago American Giants 8, Paterson Smart Set 0

Frank Wickware
Chicago American Giants
Wednesday, August 26, 1914 / Chicago American Giants 1, Indianapolis ABCs 0

Dizzy Dismukes
Indianapolis ABCs
Sunday, May 9, 1915 / Indianapolis ABCs 5, Chicago Giants 0

Dick Whitworth
Chicago American Giants
Sunday, September 19, 1915 (Game 1 of DH) / Chicago American Giants 4, Chicago Giants 0

Bill Gatewood
St. Louis Giants
Saturday, May 13, 1916 / St. Louis Giants 4, Cuban Stars 1
Note: Gatewood’s first of two no-hitters on this list.

Bernardo Baró
Cuban Stars
Sunday, July 21, 1918 (Game 1 of DH) / Cuban Stars 11, Indianapolis ABCs 0

“Smokey” Joe Williams
Lincoln Giants
Sunday, May 4, 1919 (Game 1 of DH) / Lincoln Giants 1, Brooklyn Royal Giants 0

Tom Johnson
Chicago American Giants
Tuesday, June 17, 1919 / Chicago American Giants 7, Detroit Stars 3

Bill Gatewood
Detroit Stars
Monday, June 6, 1921 / Detroit Stars 4, Cincinnati Cubans 0
Note: First Negro National League no-hitter; Gatewood’s second of two no-hitters on this list.

Phil Cockrell
Hilldale (Darby, Pennsylvania)
Monday, September 5, 1921 (Game 2 of DH) / Hilldale 3, Detroit Stars 0
Note: Cockrell’s first of two no-hitters on this list.

Bill Force
Detroit Stars
Tuesday, June 27, 1922 / Detroit Stars 3, St. Louis Giants 0

Jesse “Nip” Winters
Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
Wednesday, July 26, 1922 / Atlantic City Bacharach Giants 7, Indianapolis ABCs 1
Note: Winters’s first of two no-hitters on this list.

Phil Cockrell
Hilldale (Darby, Pennsylvania)
Saturday, August 19, 1922/ Hilldale 5, Chicago American Giants 0
Note: Cockrell’s second of two no-hitters on this list.

José Méndez (5 innings), Bullet Rogan (4 innings)
Kansas City Monarchs
Sunday, August 5, 1923 (Game 2 of DH) / Kansas City Monarchs 7, Milwaukee Bears 0
Note: Méndez pitched 5 perfect innings; Rogan allowed one baserunner.

Jesse “Nip” Winters
Hilldale (Darby, Pennsylvania)
Wednesday, September 3, 1924 (Game 1 of DH) / Hilldale 2, Harrisburg Giants 0
Note: First Eastern Colored League no-hitter; Winters’s second of two no-hitters on this list.

Andy Cooper
Detroit Stars
Sunday, June 28, 1925 (Game 2 of DH) / Detroit Stars 1, Indianapolis ABCs 0

Rube Currie
Chicago American Giants
Tuesday, July 13, 1926 / Chicago American Giants 16, Dayton Marcos 0

Claude “Red” Grier
Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
Sunday, October 3, 1926 / Atlantic City Bacharach Giants 10, Chicago American Giants 0
Note: Game Three of 1926 Colored World Series.

Laymon Yokely
Baltimore Black Sox
Sunday, May 15, 1927 (Game 2 of DH) / Baltimore Black Sox 8, Cuban Stars 0

Joe Strong
Baltimore Black Sox
Thursday, August 4, 1927 / Baltimore Black Sox 2, Hilldale 1 (11 inn.)

Willie Powell
Chicago American Giants
Sunday, August 14, 1927 / Chicago American Giants 5, Memphis Red Sox 0

Luther “Red” Farrell
Atlantic City Bacharach Giants
Saturday, October 8, 1927 / Atlantic City Bacharach Giants 3, Chicago American Giants 2 (7 inn.)
Note: Game Five of 1927 Colored World Series.

“Army” Cooper (7 1/3 innings), Chet Brewer (1 2/3 innings)
Kansas City Monarchs
Saturday, June 29, 1929 / Kansas City Monarchs 4, Chicago American Giants 0
Note: Cooper was relieved with one out in the eighth after walking bases loaded.

Paul Carter
Hilldale (Darby, Pennsylvania)
Monday, September 7, 1931 (Game 2 of DH) / Hilldale 6, Baltimore Black Sox 0

Satchel Paige
Pittsburgh Crawfords
Friday, July 8, 1932 (Game 2 of DH) / Pittsburgh Crawfords 6, New York Black Yankees 0
Note: Paige’s first of two no-hitters on this list.

Bill Foster
Chicago American Giants
Sunday, September 24, 1933 (Game 1 of DH) / Chicago American Giants 6, New Orleans Crescent Stars 0

Satchel Paige
Pittsburgh Crawfords
Wednesday, July 4, 1934 / Pittsburgh Crawfords 4, Homestead Grays 0
Note: Paige struck out 17 batters; his second of two no-hitters on this list.

Hilton Smith
Kansas City Monarchs
Sunday, May 16, 1937 (Game 1 of DH) / Kansas City Monarchs 4, Chicago American Giants 0
Note: First Negro American League no-hitter.

Jesse Houston
Cincinnati Tigers
Sunday, August 22, 1937 (Game 2 of DH) / Cincinnati Tigers 4, Detroit Stars 0
Note: Game played in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Schoolboy” Johnny Taylor
Negro All-Star Team
Sunday, September 19, 1937 / Negro All-Star Team 2, Paige’s Dominican All-Stars 0
Note: Benefit All-Star Game played at the Polo Grounds.

Gene Smith
St. Louis Stars
Friday, June 27, 1941 / St. Louis Stars 6, New York Black Yankees 1 

Leon Day
Newark Eagles
Sunday, May 5, 1946 / Newark Eagles 2, Philadelphia Stars 0
Note: Opening Day no-hitter.

Eugene Marvin Collins
Kansas City Monarchs
Sunday, May 22, 1949 / Kansas City Monarchs 14, Houston Eagles 0

Sources

SABR Negro League Committee and NoirTech Research using the Chicago Defender, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Afro American, Kansas City Call, Kansas City Star-Times, Pittsburgh Courier, and St. Louis Argus.

This article was initially published in Dirk Lammers’ book Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders (Lakewood, Colorado: Unbridled Books, 2016), and appears in this volume courtesy of publisher Fred Ramey, Unbridled Books.

Notes

1 James E. Overmyer, Black Ball and the Boardwalk: The Bacharach Giants of Atlantic City, 1916–1929 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2014), 133.

2 “Redding Pitches Hitless Game,” New York Press, August 29, 1912: 7.

3 James A. Riley, Of Monarchs and Black Barons: Essays on Baseball’s Negro Leagues (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2012), 153.

4 Riley, 155.

5 “New York Yanks Win Series from Crawfords,” Pittsburgh Courier, July 16, 1932: 15.

The definition, which simply declared a no-hitter to be a game of nine innings or more that ends with no hits, had the effect of:

• Eliminating 36 no-hitters that were shortened by rain, darkness or other reasons. (Devern Hansack threw the only post-ruling rain-shortened no-hitter in 2006.)
• Erasing two no-hitters that resulted in losing efforts by the away team in which the home team didn’t bat in the bottom of the ninth. (Two such no-nos have been thrown since 1991 that would have qualified under the old rules.)
• Wiping out 12 no-hitters by pitchers who threw nine innings of no-hit ball only to yield a hit in extra innings. (Pedro Martínez was since kept out of the no-no club, even though he retired the first 27 batters of a game in 1995).

The accomplishments listed here aren’t considered official no-hitters, but they are recognized in other sections of the Elias Sports Bureau record books in their own categories.

No-hitters through nine innings broken up in extra innings

Earl Moore
Cleveland Blues (AL)
Thursday, May 9, 1901
Chicago White Sox 4, Cleveland Blues 2 (10 innings)
League Park (Cleveland)
Game went 10 innings. Moore gave up leadoff single in 10th and allowed one more hit in a losing effort.

Bob Wicker
Chicago Cubs (NL)
Saturday, June 11, 1904
Chicago Cubs 1, New York Giants 0 (12 innings)
Polo Grounds (New York)
Game went 12 innings. Wicker gave up just one single with one out in the 10th and got the victory.

Harry McIntire
Brooklyn Superbas (NL)
Wednesday, August 1, 1906
Pittsburgh Pirates 1, Brooklyn Superbas 0 (13 innings)
Washington Park (Brooklyn)
Game went 13 innings. McIntire gave up a single with two out in the 11th and allowed three more hits in a losing effort.

Red Ames
New York Giants (NL)
Thursday, April 15, 1909
Brooklyn Superbas 3, New York Giants 0 (13 innings)
Polo Grounds (New York)
Game went 13 innings. Ames gave up single with one out in 10th and allowed seven more hits in a losing effort.

Tom Hughes
New York Highlanders (AL)
Tuesday, August 30, 1910 (Second game of doubleheader)
Cleveland Naps 5, New York Highlanders 0 (11 innings)
Hilltop Park (New York)
Game went 11 innings. Hughes gave up single with one out in 10th and allowed six more hits and five 11th-inning runs in a losing effort.

Jim Scott
Chicago White Sox (AL)
Thursday, May 14, 1914
Washington Senators 1, Chicago White Sox 0 (10 innings)
National Park (Washington)
Game went 10 innings. Scott gave up a leadoff single in 10th and allowed one more hit in a losing effort.

Hippo Vaughn
Chicago Cubs (NL)
Wednesday, May 2, 1917
Cincinnati Reds 1, Chicago Cubs 0 (10 innings)
Weeghman Park (Chicago)
This remains the only time in Major League history that both pitchers had no-hitters through nine innings. Vaughn gave up a single with one out in 10th and allowed one more hit in a losing effort. The Reds’ Fred Toney is credited with a no-hitter, completing the accomplishment in 10 innings.

Louis “Buck” (“Bobo”) Newsom
St. Louis Browns (AL)
Tuesday, September 18, 1934
Boston Red Sox 2, St. Louis Browns 1 (10 innings)
Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis)
Game went 10 innings. Newsom gave up a single with two out in the 10th (the only hit against him) but lost the game.

Johnny Klippstein (7 inn.), Hersch Freeman (1 inn.), Joe Black (3 inn.)
Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Saturday, May 26, 1956
Milwaukee Braves 2, Cincinnati Reds 1 (11 innings)
Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee)
Game went 11 innings Black gave up a double with two out in 10th and allowed two more hits for the loss.

Harvey Haddix
Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)
Tuesday, May 26, 1959
Milwaukee Braves 1, Pittsburgh Pirates 0 (13 innings)
Milwaukee County Stadium (Milwaukee)
Haddix threw a perfect game through 12, retiring the first 36 batters he faced. He lost the perfect game in the top of the 13th when Pirates third baseman Don Hoak committed an error, letting Felix Mantilla reach first. After a sacrifice bunt by Eddie Mathews and an intentional walk to Hank Aaron, Haddix lost the no-hitter (and the game) on a Joe Adcock walk-off homer. The homer was ruled a double because Aaron walked off the field before rounding the bases, and the final score was ruled 1-0.

Jim Maloney
Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Monday, June 14, 1965
New York Mets 1, Cincinnati Reds 0 (11 innings)
Crosley Field (Cincinnati)
Game went 11 innings. Maloney gave up leadoff home run in the 11th and allowed one more hit in the losing effort.

Mark Gardner (9 inn.), Jeff Fassero (0 inn.)
Montreal Expos (NL)
Friday, July 26, 1991
Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Montreal Expos 0 (10 innings)
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)
Game went 10 innings. Gardner gave up a leadoff single in 10th and allowed one more hit before Fassero came in. Fassero gave up a game-winning hit but Gardner had responsibility for the baserunner and was charged with the loss.

Pedro Martínez (9 inn.), Mel Rojas (1 inn.)
Montreal Expos (NL)
Saturday, June 3, 1995
Montreal Expos 1, San Diego Padres 0 (10 innings)
Jack Murphy Stadium (San Diego)
Game went 10 innings. Martínez had a perfect game through nine. After he gave up a leadoff double in the 10th, Rojas came in and retired the next three batters.

No-hitters lost by the away team in which the game ended after 8 1/2 innings:

Silver King
Chicago Pirates (PL)
Saturday, June 21, 1890
Brooklyn Ward’s Wonders 1, Chicago Pirates 0
South Side Park (Chicago)
Home team led after 8 1/2 innings so didn’t have to bat in ninth. No-hit pitcher threw just eight innings.

Andy Hawkins
New York Yankees (AL)
Sunday, July 1, 1990
Chicago White Sox 4, New York Yankees 0
Comiskey Park (Chicago)
Home team led after 8 1/2 innings so didn’t have to bat in ninth. No-hit pitcher threw just eight innings.

Matt Young
Boston Red Sox (AL)
Sunday, April 12, 1992 (First game of doubleheader)
Cleveland Indians 2, Boston Red Sox 1
Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland)
Home team led after 8 1/2 innings so didn’t have to bat in ninth. No-hit pitcher threw just eight innings.

Jered Weaver (6 inn.), Jose Arrendondo (2 inn.)
Los Angeles Angels (IL)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Los Angeles Dodgers 1, Los Angeles Angels 0
Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles)
Home team led after 8 1/2 innings so didn’t have to bat in ninth. No-hit pitchers threw just eight innings.

No-hitters that fell shy of nine innings due to weather, darkness or other reason

Larry McKeon
Indianapolis Hoosiers (AA)
Tuesday, May 6, 1884
Indianapolis Hoosiers 0, Cincinnati Red Stockings 0 (6 innings)
League Park (Cincinnati)
Game called due to rain.

Charlie Geggus
Washington Nationals (UA)
Thursday, August 21, 1884
Washington Nationals 12, Wilmington Quicksteps 1 (8 innings)
Capitol Grounds (Washington)
Game called by consent.

Charlie “Pretzels” Getzien
Detroit Wolverines (NL)
Wednesday, October 1, 1884
Detroit Wolverines 1, Philadelphia Phillies 0 (6 innings)
Recreation Park (Detroit)
Game called due to rain.

Charlie Sweeney (2 inn.), Henry Boyle (3 inn.)
St. Louis Maroons (UA)
Sunday, October 5, 1884
St. Paul Whitecaps 1, St. Louis Maroons 0 (5 innings)
Union Grounds (St. Louis)
Game called due to rain.

Fred “Dupee” Shaw
Providence Grays (NL)
Wednesday, October 7, 1885 (First game of doubleheader)
Providence Grays 4, Buffalo Bisons 0 (5 innings)
Olympic Park (Buffalo)
Planned five-inning doubleheader.

George Van Haltren
Chicago White Stockings (NL)
Thursday, June 21, 1888
Chicago White Stockings 1, Pittsburgh Alleghenys 0 (6 innings)
West Side Park (Chicago)
Game called due to rain.

Ed Crane
New York Giants (NL)
Thursday, September 27, 1888
New York Giants 3, Washington Nationals 0 (7 innings)
Polo Grounds (New York)
Game called due to darkness.

Matt Kilroy
Baltimore Orioles (AA)
Saturday, July 29, 1889 (Second game of doubleheader)
Baltimore Orioles 0, St. Louis Browns 0 (7 innings)
Oriole Park (Baltimore)
Game called due to darkness.

George Nicol
St. Louis Browns (AA)
Tuesday, September 23, 1890
St. Louis Browns 21, Philadelphia Athletics 2 (7 innings)
Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis)
Game called due to darkness.

Hank Gastright
Columbus Solons (AA)
Sunday, October 12, 1890
Columbus Solons 6, Toledo Maumees 0 (8 innings)
Recreation Park (Columbus)
Game called due to darkness.

Jack Stivetts
Boston Braves (NL)
Saturday, October 15, 1892 (Second game of doubleheader)
Boston Braves 4, Washington Senators 0 (5 innings)
Boundary Field (Washington, D.C.)
Game called by mutual consent.

Elton “Ice Box” Chamberlain
Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Saturday, September 23, 1893 (Second game of doubleheader)
Cincinnati Reds 6, Boston Beaneaters 0 (7 innings)
League Park (Cincinnati)
Game called due to darkness.

Ed Stein
Brooklyn Grooms (NL)
Saturday, June 2, 1894
Brooklyn Grooms 1, Chicago White Stockings 0 (6 innings)
Eastern Park (Brooklyn)
Game called due to rain.

Red Ames
New York Giants (NL)
Monday, September 14, 1903 (Second game of doubleheader)
New York Giants 5, St. Louis Cardinals 0 (5 innings)
Robison Field (St. Louis)
Game called due to darkness.

Rube Waddell
Philadelphia Athletics (AL)
Tuesday, August 15, 1905
Philadelphia Athletics 2, St. Louis Browns 0 (5 innings)
Columbia Park (Philadelphia)
Game called due to rain.

Jake Weimer
Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Friday, August 24, 1906 (Second game of doubleheader)
Cincinnati Reds 1, Brooklyn Superbas 0 (7 innings)
Palace of the Fans (Cincinnati)
Nightcap planned as seven-inning game.

Jim Dygert (3 inn.), Rube Waddell (2 inn.)
Philadelphia Athletics (AL)
Wednesday, August 29, 1906
Philadelphia Athletics 4, Chicago White Sox 3 (5 innings)
Columbia Park (Philadelphia)
Game called due to rain.

Grant “Stoney” McGlynn
St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
Monday, September 24, 1906 (Second game of doubleheader)
St. Louis Cardinals 1, Brooklyn Superbas 1 (7 innings)
Washington Park (Brooklyn)
Game called due to darkness.

Al “Lefty” Leifield
Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)
Wednesday, September 26, 1906 (Second game of doubleheader)
Pittsburgh Pirates 8, Philadelphia Phillies 0 (6 innings)
National League Park (Philadelphia)
Game called due to darkness.

Ed Walsh
Chicago White Sox (AL)
Sunday, May 26, 1907
Chicago White Sox 8, New York Highlanders 1 (5 innings)
South Side Park (Chicago)
Game called due to rain.

Ed Karger
St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
Sunday, August 11, 1907 (Second game of doubleheader)
St. Louis Cardinals 4, Boston Doves 0 (7 innings)
Robison Field (St. Louis)
Perfect game; nightcap planned as seven-inning game.

Howie Camnitz
Pittsburgh Pirates (NL)
Friday, August 23, 1907 (Second game of doubleheader)
Pittsburgh Pirates 1, New York Giants 0 (5 innings)
Polo Grounds (New York)
Game called due to darkness.

Harry “Rube” Vickers
Philadelphia Athletics (AL)
Saturday, October 5, 1907 (Second game of doubleheader)
Philadelphia Athletics 4, Washington Senators 0 (5 innings)
National Park (Washington, D.C.)
Perfect game, called because of darkness.

Johnny Lush
St. Louis Cardinals (NL)
Thursday, August 6, 1908
St. Louis Cardinals 2, Brooklyn Superbas 0 (6 innings)
Washington Park (Brooklyn)
(Game called due to rain.)

Len “King” Cole
Chicago Cubs (NL)
Sunday, July 31, 1910 (Second game of doubleheader)
Chicago Cubs 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0 (7 innings)
Robison Field (St. Louis)
Teams agreed to call the game at 5 p.m. Central so teams could catch their trains.

Jay Carl Cashion
Washington Senators (AL)
Tuesday, August 20, 1912 (Second game of doubleheader)
Washington Senators 2, Cleveland Naps 0 (6 innings)
Griffith Stadium (Washington, D.C.)
Game called at end of sixth to allow Cleveland to catch a train.

Walter Johnson
Washington Senators (AL)
Monday, August 25, 1924 (First game of doubleheader)
Washington Senators 2, St. Louis Browns 0 (7 innings)
Griffith Stadium (Washington, D.C.)
Game called due to rain; second game of doubleheader canceled.

Fred Frankhouse
Brooklyn Dodgers (NL)
Friday, August 27, 1937 (First game of doubleheader)
Brooklyn Dodgers 5, Cincinnati Reds 0 (8 innings)
Ebbets Field (Brooklyn)
Opener called due to rain after 7 2/3 (second game of doubleheader canceled)

Johnny Whitehead
St. Louis Browns (AL)
Monday, August 5, 1940 (Second game of doubleheader)
St. Louis Browns 4, Detroit Tigers 0 (6 innings)
Sportsman’s Park (St. Louis)
Game called due to rain.

Jim Tobin
Boston Braves (NL)
Thursday, June 22, 1944 (Second game of doubleheader)
Boston Braves 7, Philadelphia Phillies 0 (5 innings)
Braves Field (Boston)
Game called due to darkness.

Mike McCormick
San Francisco Giants (NL)
Friday, June 12, 1959
San Francisco Giants 3, Philadelphia Phillies 0 (5 innings)
Connie Mack Stadium (Philadelphia)
Game called due to rain. McCormick allowed a single and then walked the bases loaded in the sixth inning, but because that inning was never completed statistically the hit never happened.

“Toothpick” Sam Jones
San Francisco Giants (NL)
Friday, September 26, 1959
San Francisco Giants 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0 (7 innings)
Busch Stadium I (St. Louis)
Game called due to rain.

Dean Chance
Minnesota Twins (AL)
Thursday, August 6, 1967
Minnesota Twins 2, Boston Red Sox 0 (5 innings)
Metropolitan Stadium (Minneapolis)
Perfect game, called because of rain.

David Palmer
Montreal Expos (NL)
Saturday, April 21, 1984 (Second game of doubleheader)
Montreal Expos 4, St. Louis Cardinals 0 (5 innings)
Busch Stadium (St. Louis)
Perfect game, called because of rain.

Pascual Pérez
Montreal Expos (NL)
Saturday, September 24, 1988
Montreal Expos 1, Philadelphia Phillies 0 (5 innings)
Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia)
Game called due to rain.

Mélido Pérez
Chicago White Sox (AL)
Thursday, July 12, 1990
Chicago White Sox 8, New York Yankees 0 (6 innings)
Yankee Stadium (New York)
Game called due to rain.

Devern Hansack
Boston Red Sox (AL)
Sunday, October 1, 2006
Boston Red Sox 9, Baltimore Orioles 0 (5 innings)
Fenway Park (Boston)
Game called due to rain.

DIRK LAMMERS is an award-winning Associated Press journalist and baseball blogger. He is an oft-quoted authority on no-hitters and the creator of NoNoHitters.com, the acclaimed gathering point for all things related to pitching’s greatest feat. His book Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders was published by Unbridled Books in 2016.

If we define “no-hitter” to be a complete-game effort by a single pitcher in a major-league baseball game, then there have been some inexplicably lengthy periods in which a team did not have a no-hitter.

The longest streak of no-hitter futility was authored by the Philadelphia Phillies. On May 1, 1906, southpaw Johnny Lush no-hit the Brooklyn Superbas, winning 6-0. Phillies would not pitch another no-hitter for 8,945 games.4 In the 8,946th game, on Father’s Day, June 21, 1964, Jim Bunning pitched a perfecto at Shea Stadium against the hapless Mets, prevailing by the same 6-0 tally.

The only major-league franchise to have never had a no-hitter thrown by one of its pitchers is the San Diego Padres. This streak, entering the 2017 season, is 7,652 games. Perhaps their best chance came on July 21, 1970, in the team’s second year of existence. Clay Kirby, pitching against the Mets (there they are again), had a no-hitter through eight innings in San Diego. The Mets had scored a run in the first inning via two walks, three stolen bases, and a fielder’s choice, giving them a 1-0 lead entering the bottom of the eighth.  Padres manager Preston Gomez, with two outs, nobody on, and his hurler authoring a no-hitter, elected to pinch-hit for Kirby. It didn’t work. The Mets won, 3-0, with three hits in the ninth inning off reliever Jack Baldschun. Gomez pulled an identical stunt on September 4, 1974, while managing the Houston Astros. It didn’t work then, either.

When we think of the 1970s Baltimore Orioles, we think of the dominant starting rotation. Jim Palmer. Mike Cuellar. Dave McNally. Pat Dobson. Steve Stone. Mike Flanagan. The list goes on. However, this franchise is mired in the second longest current no-hitter drought. On August 13, 1969, Jim Palmer tossed a no-no at the Oakland Athletics, defeating them by an 8-0 score. They haven’t seen another one since, a streak that has spanned 7,514 games, as of 2017.5

Now, about that curse of King Korn:

This particular curse did not last as long as the better-known curses (respectively, 86 years and 71 years), and, in fact, it is not the longest in major-league history. However, a curse might be the only way to explain the Mets’ drought, which topped 8,000 games.

From the inception of the ballclub in 1962 through May 31, 2012, the New York Mets participated in 8,019 regular-season games, or roughly 7.64 peercent of all major-league games played in that time. From the 1962 season through May 31, 2012, there were 124 one-pitcher no-hitters thrown in major-league baseball. If we assume that no-hitters are random events, then the Mets should have participated in more than nine one-pitcher no-hitters. When one conjures up an image of the Mets, rarely is a high-powered offense the first thing that comes to mind. It is pitching, and specifically, power pitching, that is the historical calling card of the franchise, particularly when it has been successful.

Through the 2011 season, they had been the victim of a one-pitcher no-hitter six times. Since the team might have been expected to participate in nine no-hitters, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Mets pitchers no-hit the opposition three times. Couple that with the fact that Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, David Cone, Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Warren Spahn, Bret Saberhagen, and Dean Chance all pitched for the Mets, won  Cy Young Awards and pitched no-no’s, we might conclude that Mets hurlers authored even more than three no-hitters. Except that they didn’t. The first five pitched their no-hitters after they left the Mets, while the last three did it before they joined the team. Another pitcher who meets these three criteria, Hideo Nomo, pitched one no-hitter before and one after his Mets stint.

In fact, 23 of the 125 one-pitcher no-hitters thrown in the “Mets Era” were thrown by pitchers who at one time wore the uniform (either in the majors or the minors), but not at the time of their masterpiece.

Then, in the 8,020th regular-season game of their existence, it happened. Johan Santana, a former Cy Young Award winner, pitched a no-hitter while wearing a Mets uniform, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-0, on Friday, June 1, 2012, at Citi Field.

And what about King Korn?

Well, Bohack’s stopped issuing King Korn Stamps as of June 23, 1969.6 That means that Tom Seaver likely would not have received any had his one-hitter the next month been a no-no. (He had retired the first 25 Chicago Cubs he faced, and later referred to it as his “imperfect game.”)

Thus, while Johan Santana never received any King Korn trading stamps, he did receive a $5.5 million buyout from the Mets after the 2013 season.

JOHN T. SACCOMAN is a Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. An avid fan of the New York Mets, he team-teaches one of the earliest known Sabermetrics courses there with its founder, Rev. Gabe Costa. They, along with Mike Huber, have co-authored three books published by McFarland— Understanding Sabermetrics, Practicing Sabermetrics and Reasoning with Sabermetrics. John resides in northern New Jersey with his Bosox-loving wife Mary and tries to get to Citi Field whenever possible with his Boston-area son, Ryan.

Notes

1 Janet Paskin, Tales from the 1962 New York Mets Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Stories from the Mets Inaugural Season (New York: Sports Publishing, 2012), 75.

2  Steve Rushin, “Bad Beyond Belief,” Sports Illustrated, May 25, 1992.  si.com/vault/1992/05/25/126550/bad-beyond-belief-thirty-years-ago-the-newborn-new-york-mets-made-baseball-history-of-the-most-dubious-kind.  Rushin, in his article, quotes Kanehl: “King Korn had a store in Chicago, and I traded the stamps in there,” says Kanehl, who now manages a Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant in Rancho Mirage, California. “I got a living-room suite, a Deepfreeze, an end table – a lot of junk.” Kanehl died in 2004.

3 Phil Mushnick, nypost.com/2012/06/04/mistakes-second-nature-for-espn/.

4 nonohitters.com/philadelphia-phillies-no-hitters.

5 Four pitchers combined for a no-hitter on Saturday, July 13, 1991, at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum for the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets have never enjoyed a combined no-hitter.

6 Wall Street Journal, June 9, 1969 (accessed via ProQuest).

His answer: 36 hits. Louisville’s Jack Wadsworth had a game in 1894 during which he gave up 36 hits.

If you want to count only the years since 1900, there are four games tied for the “honor” with 26 hits apiece. Lyle listed them:

• 26: Al Orth, 1900 Phillies
• 26: Doc Parker, 1901 Reds
• 26: Al Travers, 1912 Tigers (Ty Cobb strike game)
• 26: Hod Lisenbee, 1936 A’s

I had also asked Lyle which extra-inning game saw a pitcher give up the most base hits. He directed me to Eddie Rommel who in 1932 had given up 29 hits while pitching the last 17 innings of an 18-inning game. That alone seemed to offer the likelihood of a good story.

Short of writing up Games Project accounts of all six games – which I recommend to a willing author – an editor with a little more than a week to wrap up all the editorial jobs of producing a book  provides some brief accounts of the games in question.

August 17, 1894: Jack Wadsworth (36 hits)

Wadsworth played professional baseball from 1890 through 1990, most of it in the minor leagues, but he pitched four seasons in the National League, for Cleveland in 1890 (2-16), Baltimore in 1893 (0-3), and the Louisville Colonels in 1894 and 1895. He was 4-18 with Louisville in 1894 and 0-1 in 1895. Simple addition shows a career major-league record of 6-38; he had a 6.85 earned-run average. One of his losses – not surprisingly, given the 36 base hits he allowed – was the August 17 game in Philadelphia. The Colonels were in 11th place at the time; they finished the season in 12th (last) place. The Phillies finished fourth.

The home team did not always bat last at the time, so the Phillies batted in all nine innings; the only one in which they did not score was the second. While Kid Carsey of the Phillies held the Colonels to four runs on eight hits (Wadsworth had one of them), the Phillies scored 29 runs on 36 hits, totaling 49 bases. Wadsworth apparently had no trouble getting the ball over the plate; he walked only three. But that was perhaps his problem – the ball being straight and over the plate. Despite all the runners circling the bases (there were 12 left on base), the entire game was played in 2 hours and 5 minutes. At game’s end, wrote the Philadelphia Inquirer, “Wadsworth’s arm hung limp and the Louisville fielders’ tongues were hanging out, the result of their running after long hits.”1

Right fielder Sam Thompson had the best day at the plate, 6-for-7 with 12 total bases, including a home run. Mike Grady, Joe Sullivan, and Billy Hamilton each had five hits. “Poor old Wadsworth!” lamented the Oregonian in Portland.2 Both teams brought on a catcher in relief during the game, but both starting pitchers went the distance.3 The Evening Star of Washington, DC, suggested one of the reasons for the success of the Philadelphia batters: “It is claimed that [Phillies manager Arthur] Irwin discovered Wadsworth’s signs.”4

April 19, 1900: Al Orth (26 hits)

Highlighting the magnitude of Wadsworth’s accomplishment is the fact that the closest anyone has come to matching it still fell 10 base hits short. Al Orth was 14-14 (3.78) for the 1900 Phillies, but he almost blew his first start, on Opening Day (and Patriots Day) at the Boston Beaneaters’ South End Grounds in front of large crowd of around 10,000 fans. Staked to a healthy 17-8 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, and with several thousand dispirited Boston fans having beat an early exit, Orth let things fell apart. He’d given up 17 hits through eight, though the hits were, in the kind view of the Boston Globe, “well distributed.”5 Buck Freeman pinch-hit and homered to kick things off for Boston, then Shad Barry bunted for a base hit. There followed, in all, nine hits accounting for nine runs – and Boston had tied it up, 17-17. Had Fred Tenney singled, it would have been all over, but he grounded out to Delahanty at first base and the game went to the 10th inning. Tenney was the only Beaneater who never made a hit.

The Phillies scored two runs in the top of the 10th, thanks to an error by Bobby Lowe. Bill Bernhard took over for Orth, and retired the Bostons 1-2-3. Orth thus gave up 26 hits but his team won the game.

June 21, 1901: Doc Parker (26 hits)

Cincinnati’s Harley Parker had pitched two innings for the Cubs in 1893. He was 4-2 for the Cubs in 1895 and 1-5 in 1896. He was a doctor, and had been pitching in weekend semipro games around Chicago but reappeared in the majors in 1901, joining the Cincinnati Reds on June 19 – and wound up pitching in only one game. The game was at Brooklyn’s Washington Park. The Brooklyn Eagle wrote, “It was a case of ‘biff and run’ from the sound of the bell.”6

The Brooklyn Superbas won, 21-3. They scored in every one of the first seven innings; every player on the team banked at least one base hit. Wee Willie Keeler was 5-for-5 and scored five times, too, before checking out of the game to give Cozy Dolan a chance to get some playing time in right field. Had they even tried in the bottom of the eighth? Maybe not. The Eagle averred, “[T]hey grew tired of circling the bases. They just lobbed at the ball in the eighth and allowed themselves to be retired without attempting to run out the hits, which were fielded slowly and painfully by the tired and weary Cincinnatis.”7

The Superbas didn’t even have to bat in the bottom of the ninth; they’d already won.  So Parker had been hit for 26 base hits, with 34 total bases, in eight innings of work.

The Cincinnati Post wrote of its Reds, “They played like amateurs against Brooklyn. Parker won’t linger long if he showed the best he had in stock.”8 The loss was the 10th in 11 games, the only game not a loss being a 6-6, 12-inning tie. The Reds finished in last place.

May 18, 1912: Al Travers (26 hits)

As with Harley Parker in 1901, Travers pitched in just one game in the year in question – in fact, it was the only major-league game in which he ever appeared. He was 20 years old at the time he was asked to take the mound pitching for the Detroit Tigers at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park, “a student at nearby St. Joseph’s College. A few years later, he would become Father Aloysius S. Travers, S.J., and to this day he is the only Catholic priest ever to play in a major league game.”9

Three days earlier, Ty Cobb had climbed into the stands at New York’s Hilltop Park and savagely beaten a disabled spectator who had just one hand and only two fingers on the other hand. AL President Ban Johnson saw the incident first-hand and he handed Cobb an indefinite suspension from baseball. As many as 13 Tigers went on strike in support of Cobb. The Washington Post editorialized in support of Cobb, blaming the police for not having removed the “blackguard” who had been verbally abusing him.10

It’s not that Travers had been a standout college pitcher; “he later confessed that he had never pitched a game in his life.”11 The replacement third baseman had never before played baseball. It was a farce (in the words of the Philadelphia Inquirer, “the greatest farce in the baseball line that has ever been unloaded upon the public since the inception of the game.”12 The Tigers fielded a “joke team of schoolboys … and the world’s champions ‘fattened’ on the ‘strikebreakers.’”13

Travers was actually somewhat effective in the early going; the score was only 6-2 after four innings. Perhaps the Athletics were keyed up to face major-league pitching and simply didn’t know how to handle his slow curves. But then they scored eight times in the fifth and added another 10 runs. The final was 24-2, Travers having given up 26 hits and walking seven. He struck out one.

September 11, 1936: Hod Lisenbee (26 hits)

Hod Lisenbee was something of a veteran. In his rookie year with the 1927 Washington Senators, he was 18-9. Though he never had another year that good, he pitched in some 682 minor- and major-league games. Arm problems dogged him throughout, problems apparently never satisfactorily diagnosed, but they didn’t keep him for trying. When he took the mound on September 11, 1936, for the Philadelphia Athletics in Chicago. He’d appeared in 15 games for the A’s with an earned-run average of 4.91 and a record of 1-5.

The White Sox jumped on him for four hits and four runs in the first inning, only one run of which was earned. He gave up two singles over the next three innings; the score was 4-1 at midpoint. In the bottom of the fifth, however, he gave up four more runs on six hits. In the sixth it was three more runs on four more hits. With the score now 11-1, the game was out of hand but manager Connie Mack still wouldn’t pull Lisenbee. After six hits (four runs) in the seventh and four more hits (two more runs) in the eighth, the score was 17-1. Philadelphia scored once in the top of the ninth, but fell 15 runs of short of forcing Lisenbee to take the mound in the bottom of the innings. Lisenbee’s ERA jumped in one game, from 4.91 up to 6.03.

The most hits in extra innings / July 10, 1932: Ed Rommel (29 hits)

Eddie Rommel pitched 13 seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics (he was 171-119), and 1932 was the last of those 13 seasons. Twice – in 1922 and 1925 – he had been a 20-game winner. From 1928 on, he’d worked more as a reliever. In 1932 he pitched exclusively in relief. He was without a decision through July 9, and had just worked two innings on July 8 and three more on July 9.

On July 10 he pitched again in relief, in Cleveland. Lew Krausse started the game and gave up three runs on four hits in the first inning. Rommel was brought in. He never left, working 17 innings. In the end, he faced off in a duel of relievers as Wes Ferrell threw 11⅓ innings as Cleveland’s third pitcher in the game. Four times, the lead switched. When the A’s scored seven times in the top of the seventh, they took a 13-8 lead – the fifth time the lead had changed, only to see the Indians score six times in the bottom of the seventh (and effect another lead change).

After nine innings, the score was tied, 15-15. Then followed six scoreless innings. The Athletics scored twice in the top of the 16th when Jimmie Foxx slammed his third home run of the game. (He drove in eight runs.) It looked as though Rommel might get a win. But four more hits – a double, followed by three singles –tied the score again. There was no scoring in the 17th. With two outs in the top of the 18th, Foxx singled (his sixth hit of the game) and scored on Eric McNair’s double. Rommel had already given up 29 hits, but in the bottom of the 18th he wrapped two strikeouts around a groundout and left the field with a “W.”

The two teams combined for 58 hits, 25 by the A’s and 33 by the Indians. Rommel gave up 29 hits, 20 of them from the second inning through the ninth, and then only nine hits over the next nine innings.

He’d endured, he’d improved, and in the end, Rommel had given up 29 hits and he had won the game.

Cleveland’s Johnny Burnett had nine hits all by himself, eight of them off Rommel.

It was Rommel’s last season. Starting in 1938, he became an American League umpire and served for 22 years, working 3,369 big-league ballgames.

Red Sox fan BILL NOWLIN has never seen the Red Sox held hitless but has been fortunate to see Red Sox pitchers throw four no-hitters — Dave Morehead, Derek Lowe, Jon Lester, and Devern Hansack.* He has written or edited more than 60 books, mostly about baseball, and has served on SABR’s Board of Directors since 2004. He’s also in the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

Notes

1 “Phillies Make New Records,” Philadelphia Inquirer, August 18, 1894: 3.

2 “The National League,” Oregonian (Portland), August 18, 1894: 2.

3 “It Rained Hits for Phillies,” Boston Journal, August 18, 1894: 3.

4 “Other League Games,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), August 18, 1894: 7. The pitcher, rather than his catcher, was the one indicating which pitch he planned to throw.

5 T.H. Murnane, “Runs Galore,” Boston Globe, April 20, 1900: 1.

6 “Base Hits Galore for the Champions,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 22, 1901: 8.

7 “Base Hits Galore for the Champions,” Brooklyn Eagle, June 22, 1901: 8.

8 Ren Mulford Jr., “Simply Awful,” Cincinnati Post, June 22, 1901: 2.

9 Greg Livacari, “Al Travers,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/8b444434.

10 “Baseball Rowdies,” Washington Post, May 19, 1912: ES4.

11 “Baseball Rowdies,” Washington Post, May 19, 1912: ES4.

12 “Tigers Quit Field; Cobb Is Suspended,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 1912: 17.

13 “Famous Detroit Ball Team Strikes,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 19, 1912: A1.