As I wept for poor li’l Mike Mussina the other night…so close and yet so far…I had to wonder, what is the longest that a game has featured BOTH pitchers throwing no hitters, or even perfect games? I mean, Mike Mussina was great the other night, but Cone also threw a hell of a game.
Fred Toney of Cincinnati and Hippo Vaughn of Chicago matched each other on no-hitters on May 2, 1917. Vaughn gave up an infield single in the top of the 10th to Jim Thorpe to allow the only run to score. Toney finished with a 10-inning no-hitter.
On June 29, 1990 Dave Stewart of Oakland no-hit Toronto, while Fernando Valenzuela of Los Angeles no-hit St. Louis later in the evening.
BobT is the God of Sports Trivia! Someday, there will be trivia questions about you, my friend.
On a slightly different topic, Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers of the A’s combined to produce a no-hitter against the Angels on September 28th, 1975.
Of course the worst hard luck pitcher has to be Harvey Haddix, who pitched twelve perfect innings for the Pirates on May 26, 1959, and lost. The hapless Bucs couldn’t score a run for him despite getting 12 hits.
Poor Moose is indeed a hard luck guy. ERA = 3.40, record 14-11. Roger Clemens ERA = 3.48, record 18-1. At least the Yanks are doing better for him than the Orioles did last year.
Johnny Vander Meer, of course, threw two no hitters in a row, in 1938.
Bobo Holloman was not only a rookie when he pitched his no-hitter; he was making his first major league start!
On Sept 17, 1969, Gaylord Perry of the Giants no-hit the Cardinals. The very next night, Ray Washburn of the Cardinals returned the favor, no-hitting the Giants.
The next year, THE SAME THING HAPPENED! On April 30, 1969, Jim Maloney of the Reds tossed a no-no against the Astros. The next day, Don Wilson of the Astros no-hit the Reds.
Rick Wise of the Phillies might well have played the greatest game of baseball a human being has ever played, on June 23, 1971. Not only did he no-hit the Reds, but he hit two home runs that day.
As if that weren’t enough, the BBWA changed the rules a couple of years ago so that Haddix doesn’t even get credit for a no-hitter. It’s outrageous that the utterly-useless Matt Young gets an entry in the Hall of Fame no-hitter display for his 4-0 loss, full of walks and wild pitches and errors, but somehow no actual hits, while Haddix gets bupkis for his 12 perfect innings because he gave up one in the 13th, even though it’s one of the most famous performances in the game’s history.
Who’ll join me pounding the barricades over this grave injustice? Yeah, I didn’t think so.
It wasn’t the BBWAA who changed the definition, it was MLB itself. And Matt Young doesn’t have credit for a no-hitter because he only pitched 8 innings.
A no-hitter is only credited to someone who pitches a complete game of 9 innings or more with no hits allowed.
Andy Hawkins of the Yankees also lost a no-hitter in which he pitched 8 innings. He lost 4-0 to the White Sox in 1990.
The only pitcher who has gone through nine innings giving up no hits and losing was Ken Johnson of Houston back in the early 1960s. His own error lead to the only run scored in the game by Cincinnati.
Steve Barber and Stu Miller combined on a no-hit loss for Baltimore. I believe that Barber walked at least 10 in the game.
I was at a no-hitter a few years ago. Francisco Cordova pitched 9 innings of no-hit ball at home for the Pitt Pirates and after the bottom of the ninth, the game was still 0-0. Ricardo Rincon came in a pitched another inning of no-hit ball in the top of the 10th and then the Pirates scored in the bottom of the 10th.
A memorable game, but I always felt bad for Cordova, pitching 9 no-hit innings and not even getting the win.
I don’t have a good recollection of this as you can see, but I will try. About 15-20 years ago, my dad and I turned on the tv and the White Sox pitcher was throwing a no-hitter and so was the oppsoing pitcher, I don’t even remember what team. One of them went about 8 innings the other lasted until the 7th.
Double-no-hitter, it was real exciting, even though I’m NOT a White Sox fan.
I hate to differ, but I was just in Cooperstown a few weeks ago, and the display case with balls from all the no-hitters since 1940(?) does include Young’s performance, but not Haddix’s. It still ain’t right to screw ol’ Harvey.
Re Dock Ellis: I remember listening to the 1971 game on the radio when he started out against the Reds by drilling Pete Rose, then Joe Morgan, then Bobby Tolan, then missed Johnny Bench’s head 4 times to force in a run, then threw 2 more at Tony Perez before Danny Murtaugh did the merciful thing. He later admitted to being under some chemical influence.
The Hall of Fame may have a display with a ball from Matt Young’s 8-inning no-hit game, but if you get a reference source that lists so called “official” no-hitters, Young won’t be in there.
Young threw his game in a doubleheader for Boston against Cleveland. In the other, Roger Clemens threw a 1 or 2-hitter and he won. It wasn’t a great day for Cleveland.