NO-NO’S

 

No Hitters in Baseball

          Within the past few years the number of no hitters thrown has increased by a substantial number.  All though the number of no-no’s thrown have increased, the age of players throwing them has decreased.  Young pitchers in the past three years have thrown four no hitters.  On the contrary, some experienced pitchers have yet to throw one.  In the Major Leagues history, 256 no hitters have been thrown, only seventeen of them being perfect games.

          Among pitchers who have thrown a no hitter, there are 27 who have thrown more than one. Nolan Ryan threw seven in his playing days.  His last was at age 44.  This is twenty years older than Jon Lester was when he threw his last week.  Behind Ryan is Sandy Koufax with four.  No hitters are very rare, happening an average of twice per year but these 27 players have been able to celebrate a good performance more than once.

Along with the many no hitters thrown for wins, there have been seven, three unofficial, no hitters thrown for losses.  Many rare and strange no-no’s have been thrown.  Imagine having a stellar performance in which you don’t allow a hit, but you still end up losing the game.  On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt 45’s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten 1-0 by Cincinnati. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning after an error, groundout, and another error.  On May 2, 1917, Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds and Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs pitched a hitless, scoreless tie after nine innings.  The Reds got two hits in the top of the tenth inning and scored the winning run. In the bottom of the tenth, Toney retired the side and recorded a ten-inning no-hitter.  Talk about a boring game.

Within the past three years, Aníbal Sanchez, Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander, Clay Buchholz, and Jon Lester have thrown no hitters.  They averaged 24 years old at the time of their no hitter.  This is quite lower then players like Randy Johnson, age 35, or Nolan Ryan, age 44.  Why is it that some great players such as Roger Clemens or Curt Schilling have not thrown a no hitter, but young guns like Buchholz have?  Schilling lost his in the ninth inning two seasons ago season, but has never thrown one.  Why is this?  I feel that because they are older pitchers, that teams recognized their pitches as opposed to rookies who haven’t faced every team. 

With the scarcity of no hitters in Major League Baseball, I think that the celebration of no hitters is great and not over the top and we should not get used to them.  Although we have seen quite a few recently, they will not continue to be this common and no one will ever break Nolan Ryan’s insurmountable record of seven.