In my opinion, there is no other event that can take place in a baseball game that matches the level of anticipation, drama and exhilaration the way that a no-hitter does.
A triple play occurs suddenly and al-most always unexpectedly. A cycle or a 4 HR game only merits focus when it’s that batter’s turn at the plate.
But an in progress no-hitter gets the viewers’ attention every half inning with the level of suspense building each frame that the pitcher walks out to the mound. The drama and excitement grows each inning, then each out, and eventually each pitch.
When a pitcher heads out to the mound in the 9th inning with a no-hitter intact, fans are on the edge of their seat and even fans of the opposing team (at least quietly) are rooting for it to happen.
With the exception of a pennant or post-season series clinching win, no other game has the same level of post-game celebration, by both the players and fans, than a no-hitter.
Since 1901, there have been 283 official no-hitters thrown in MLB, some of them legendary, others for-gettable.
All 30 franchises have at least one no-hitter in their team’s history with the San Diego Padres being the last team to record their first (Joe Musgrove in 2021, 52 years after the Padres first season). Currently, the longest drought for any team is by the Cleveland Guardians whose last no-no was Len Barker’s per-fect game in 1981.
Only 5 pitchers have thrown two no-hitters in a single regular season, most recently by Max Scherzer in 2015 and most famously by Johnny Vander Meer who did it in back-to-back starts in 1938. Of these 5 pitchers, it’s worth noting that in 1952, Virgil Trucks of the Tigers hurled two no-hitters despite winning only 5 games that year.
In 2010, Roy Halladay threw two no-hitters, a perfect game against the Marlins in May and the second ever post-season no-hitter against the Reds in the NLDS.
Nolan Ryan threw two no-hitters in 1973 and would finish his career with an astonishing seven of them to his name.
Of the 283 MLB no-hitters thrown since 1901, nearly all of them have been performed by a single pitcher. Twenty one of them were combined efforts where the starter didn’t go the distance and the bullpen com-pleted the feat.
The first of these combined no-hitters, and without a doubt the most famous of them, happened in June of 1917 when Red Sox starting pitcher Babe Ruth, coming into the game with a 12-4 record and seven straight complete games, walked the Senators leadoff hitter Ray Morgan. The Babe took exception to the call and got into a heated argument with home plate umpire Brick Owens leading to Owens tossing Ruth from the game. Ruth then charged home plate and landed a right cross to Owens’ ear.
With a runner on first and Ruth out of the game, the ball was handed to right-hander Ernie Shore. On Shore’s first pitch Morgan broke for second and was thrown out stealing. Shore then went on to retire the next 26 batters.
It wasn’t until 50 years later in April of 1967 that there was another combined no-hitter. This one was in a losing effort by the Orioles in the first game of a twin bill. Orioles starter Steve Barber walked 10 batters, hit two others and also committed an error, but didn’t allow a hit. Somehow, the Orioles went into the 9th holding onto a 1-0 lead. Barber walked the first two batters who were advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Barber then threw a wild pitch, allowing the tying run to score and then walked the next batter. Stu Miller came in to relieve Barber and induced a would be double play that was uncharacteristically bobbled by sure-handed Mark Belanger allowing the go-ahead run to score. Baltimore couldn’t score in the 9th, resulting in a rare no-hitter loss.
In the 28 years between 1975 and 2002, there were 6 more combined no-hitters.
Since 2003, 13 of the total 74 no-hitters thrown (18%) have been combined. In two of those, six pitchers shared in the effort.
While opinions may vary, it’s widely believed that there is greatly reduced luster when multiple pitchers are involved in a no-hitter. Baseball traditionally values individual pitching performances, and a no-hitter is seen as the ultimate display of a pitcher’s dominance over an opposing lineup.
The endurance of going all 9 innings is part of the glory of a true no-hitter. A combined no-hitter seems more about offensive failure than pitcher accomplishment.
There is somewhat of a “gladiator” vibe when the starting pitcher heads to the mound in the 9th inning with his pitch count up to 110-120+ and a no-hitter intact. The fans are on the edge of their seats or glued to their sets at home watching in anticipation with two possible outcomes – the pitcher records the final three outs and gets his name in the record book or suffers the heartbreak of losing it with an out or two to go.
Despite all of the games that I’ve been to, I’ve never seen a no-hitter in person. I was at Tropicana Field in Tampa in 2015 sitting right behind the dugout when the Indians Carlos Carrasco was 1 strike away only to give up a cheap flare single to Joey Butler.
Then there have been the triumphant moments for some pitchers who came oh-so close on multiple occasions who finally got their no-no – Dave Steib and Tom Seaver, for instance.
There have been so many games in the past 10 years alone where a starting pitcher has been removed from a game after throwing 6 or more no-hit innings due to pitch counts only to have the pen give up a hit in the very next inning. In years past, barring an injury, that would be considered baseball heresy.
Yes, combined no-no’s are boring and forgettable by comparison.
Coming into their 51st season as an MLB franchise, the New York Mets had 35 one-hitters including 6 that were broken up in the 8th inning or later. Finally, on June 1st of 2012, Johan Santana became the first pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter, throwing 134 pitches in the process. Every Met fan alive considers this one of the greatest games in franchise history and most can recall pretty much every detail of the game.
Ten years later, the Mets recorded their 2nd ever no-hitter, this one a combined effort by 5 pitchers which had a mere fraction of the fanfare that Santana’s had. Even the staunchest Met fans would be hard pressed to name the pitchers involved in the combined effort and maybe can’t even recall who the starter was (Tylor Megill, in case you’re curious).
But the best illustration of this point is probably Game 4 of the 2022 World Series.
By near universal consensus, the most famous no-hitter of all time was Don Larsen’s perfect game against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series
The headlines and reactions to this game were enormous. This was one of the greatest and most memorable moments in baseball history and has been talked about for generations since.
In Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, four Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Phillies and even the series at two games apiece, marking only the 2nd time in World Series history that a team was no-hit. Except, it didn’t feel like history, at least not the type of history that will go down in baseball lore.
I have a bottle of 12-year-old scotch for the first person to name the pitchers involved without looking it up.
So, what’s your opinion on combined no-hitters?
Is the accomplishment still the same regardless of the number of pitchers used or do you feel that they just fall short?