Here’s the scenario I’m envisioning - late in the game, the team with the no-hitter going has a large lead. Two outs. A fast runner is at the plate, and hits a grounder up the third base line. The third baseman fields it, and sees it will be a very close play at first, so he purposely throws the ball wild so it will be scored as a throwing error, preserving the no-hitter.
Has this kind of thing ever happened, or been suspected of happening?
I have never heard any anecdotes similar to your scenario. Player will try extra hard to get balls and give the official scorer a chance to call an error on a play that would normally be a hit is the closest thing I can think of.
That’s pretty tricky quick thinking, besides. The fielder handles a ball that would be normally ruled a hit, yet deliberately throws it wild, because he’s absolutely certain of the scorer’s decision? Hard to envision, really. He’d be trading the chance of actually nabbing the runner (according to the OP, there is such a chance) against the chance of the scorer not ruling the play a hit anyway.
Yeah, I don’t see how this would work. They’re likely “trying extra hard” anyway. And should they dive in the hole and get a glove on the ball, but not put him out, an objective scorer would still rule it a hit.
Completely unrelated, but upon reading the OP I couldn’t help but think of Terry Mulholland’s no-hitter for the Phillies in 1990, in which Mulholland retired every batter he faced except for Rick Parker, who reached on a throwing error by Charlie Hayes. If not for that error, it woulda been a perfect game.
A scorer could easily say that the runner would have reached anyway and score it a hit. What makes it an error is if the runner gets a base he shouldn’t have.