No-hitter Baseball

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Inbaseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine complete innings recorded no hits. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is thereby said to have "thrown a no-hitter". In most cases, no-hitters are recorded by a single pitcher who throws a complete game; one thrown by two or more pitchers is a combined no-hitter.

The MLB season with the most no-hit games is the 2021 season, in which nine official no-hitters were pitched.[1] Additionally, there were two other games pitched without giving up a hit, but were not official no-hitters because they were less than nine innings.

The longest period between two no-hitters in the modern era is three years and 44 days, between Bobby Burke on August 8, 1931, and Paul "Daffy" Dean on September 21, 1934. There was a drought of three years and 11 months without a no-hitter after the first National League no-hitter on July 15, 1876, pitched by George Bradley. The most recent year without any no-hitters is 2005.

The pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is Nolan Ryan, who threw seven in his 27-year career. His first two came exactly two months apart with the California Angels: the first on May 15, 1973, and the second on July 15. He had two more with the Angels on September 28, 1974, and June 1, 1975. Ryan's fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26, 1981, broke Sandy Koufax's previous record. His sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 1, 1990, and May 1, 1991. When he tossed number seven at age 44, he became the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

Thirty-six pitchers have thrown more than one no-hitter, combined no-hitters not counting. Nolan Ryan has the longest gap between no-hitters: he threw his first as a member of the Los Angeles Angels on May 15, 1973, and his last as a Texas Ranger on May 1, 1991.

The pitcher who holds the record for the shortest time between no-hitters is Johnny Vander Meer, the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts, while playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938.[7] Besides Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds (in 1951), Virgil Trucks (in 1952), Ryan (in 1973), and Max Scherzer (in 2015) were the only major leaguers to throw two no-hitters during the same regular season.

The record for most no-hitters caught by a catcher is four, a record shared by Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. Varitek caught no-hitters for Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, Clay Buchholz, and Jon Lester.[10] Varitek also caught a rain-shortened, five-inning unofficial no-hitter for Devern Hansack on October 1, 2006.[11] Ruiz caught two no-hitters for Roy Halladay, including a perfect game, as well as one for Cole Hamels, and a combined no-hitter for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon.[12] Before MLB redefined "no-hitter", Ray Schalk had long held the record of catching four no-hitters, but his first nine-inning no-hitter had ended with a hit in the tenth inning.[11][13] Victor Caratini is the only player to catch consecutive no-hitters with two different teams, and the tenth to catch consecutive no-hitters at all. the first came on September 13, 2020, with the Chicago Cubs, and the second on April 9, 2021, with the San Diego Padres.[14]

The record for most modern-day no-hitters participated in belongs to Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros. (Mike Fiers, Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Ronel Blanco, and the three combined no-hitters combined with Matt Cain's Perfect Game).

Five pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in both the American League and the National League: Cy Young, Ryan, Jim Bunning, Nomo, and Randy Johnson. Only five catchers have caught a no-hitter in each league: Gus Triandos, Jeff Torborg, Darrell Porter, Ron Hassey, and most recently, Drew Butera.[15] Triandos caught Hoyt Wilhelm's 1958 no-hitter and Jim Bunning's perfect game, Torborg caught Koufax's perfect game and Ryan's first no-hitter, Porter caught Jim Colborn's 1977 no-hitter and Bob Forsch's second no-hitter in 1983, and Hassey caught Len Barker's and Dennis Martnez's perfect games. Butera caught a 2011 no-hitter by Francisco Liriano and a 2014 no-hitter by Josh Beckett.[15]

No team has thrown no-hitters in consecutive games, although it has happened once on consecutive days: On May 5, 1917, Ernie Koob of the St. Louis Browns no-hit the Chicago White Sox, and teammate Bob Groom repeated the feat in the second game of a doubleheader the following day.

On two occasions, there have been back-to-back no-hitters thrown by each team in a series. On September 17, 1968, Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cardinals' Ray Washburn no-hit the Giants the following day. On April 30, 1969, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Houston Astros, and the Astros' Don Wilson no-hit the Reds the following day. Surprisingly, it was both Maloney's and Wilson's second no-hitter in their careers.

The Cleveland Guardians are the only team to be no-hit three times in a single season, doing so in 2021. They were no-hit by Carlos Rodn of the Chicago White Sox on April 14, 2021. They then failed to record a hit against the Cincinnati Reds' Wade Miley on May 7, 2021. Finally, they were held hitless by Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers on September 11, 2021. Remarkably, Zach Plesac was the Guardians' pitcher for all three no-hitters. In addition to these official no-hitters, the Guardians also failed to record a hit against the Tampa Bay Rays[16] in the second game of a doubleheader on July 7, 2021. This is not considered an official no-hitter because the game only lasted seven innings.[17]

Vida Blue, Kent Mercker, Kevin Millwood, and Cole Hamels are the only pitchers to start both a complete game no-hitter and a combined no-hitter. Vida Blue no-hit the Minnesota Twins on September 21, 1970, while pitching for the Oakland Athletics. He combined with Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers to no-hit the California Angels on September 28, 1975. While with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pea no-hit the San Diego Padres in the National League's first combined no-hitter. Mercker threw a complete game no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994. In addition to the game above in which Millwood and the Seattle Mariners tied the record by using six pitchers in a no-hitter, Millwood previously threw a complete game no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on April 27, 2003, while with the Philadelphia Phillies. Both Mercker and Blue were All-Stars in the seasons of their combined no-hitters, and Blue also won the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player Award during his career.

The Cleveland Indians' Bob Feller left the Chicago White Sox hitless in the 1940 season opener on April 16, the first official Opening Day no-hitter. With the 2020 recognition of certain Negro Leagues as major leagues, Leon Day's no-hitter on May 5, 1946, to open the season for the Newark Eagles against the Philadelphia Stars, should also be recognized.

The Houston Astros' Mike Scott no-hit the San Francisco Giants on September 25, 1986, a victory that also clinched the National League West title for the Astros; this is the only such concurrence in Major League history to date. In the first game of a doubleheader on September 28, 1951, Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox which clinched a tie for the American League pennant; the pennant was clinched outright in the doubleheader's second game.

There have been three postseason no-hitters in MLB history: two solo and one combined. On October 8, 1956, Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game in Game 5 of that year's World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Nine years earlier, the Yankees' Bill Bevens had come within one out of a no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series, only to lose the game on a pinch-hit double by Cookie Lavagetto. (There have been other one-hitters in the World Series, with the lone hit coming earlier in the game than in Bevens' effort.)[citation needed] On October 6, 2010, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the first postseason appearance of his career, threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, in Game 1 of the Phillies' NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.[20] On November 2, 2022, Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly of the Houston Astros combined to no-hit the Phillies in Game 4 of that year's World Series.[21]

On May 6, 1953, Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in his first major league start (although not his first major league game, as he had previously pitched in relief). This game would prove to be one of only three major league wins that Holloman achieved, against seven losses, all in 1953. Bill Veeck, then-owner of the Browns, in his autobiography described the 27 outs of Holloman's no-hitter as consisting of hard-hit ground balls, screaming line drives, and deep fly balls.

On August 14, 2021, Tyler Gilbert of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in his first major league start and fourth appearance. His first major league game came just 11 days before his no-hitter.

On August 11, 1991, Wilson lvarez of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's first career start, he had allowed three runs on a pair of home runs and did not retire a single batter. Unlike Jones and Holloman, Alvarez went on to win 102 games over a 16-year career.

On April 12, 1992, Matt Young of the Boston Red Sox faced the Cleveland Indians in the first game of a doubleheader. Young allowed no hits but gave up two runs on seven walks and an error by shortstop Luis Rivera, en route to the second unofficial no-hitter by a losing pitcher on the road.

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