Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 3, 1990 TAG: 9007030077
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIM DONAGHY ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
In a span of less than 48 hours during the weekend, there were three no-hitters, bringing the total to six this season.
The word of a no-hitter in progress sweeps from park to park and everyone knows something special is happening. No-hitter after six. No-hitter after seven. It's on the radio, TV sports reports and flashed on stadium scoreboards from Pawtucket, R.I., to Pocatello, Idaho.
"It meant my picture in all the papers," said Jerry Reuss, who pitched a no-hitter for Los Angeles against San Francisco on June 27, 1980. "It meant people recognized me on the street, at breakfast, at the hotel. The phone rang all day. The day before, I could have been a shirt salesman."
Reuss was the last Dodger to pitch a no-hitter before Fernando Valenzuela did it Friday night, only a few hours after Oakland's Dave Stewart threw one against Toronto.
And on Sunday, Andy Hawkins pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees. But Hawkins lost 4-0 when the Chicago White Sox scored their runs on three errors with two out in the eighth inning.
Usually, no-hitters are rare. That's part of what makes one so special.
Just because a pitcher has a no-hitter after eight, that doesn't mean it will be there after nine.
Texas knuckleballer Charlie Hough no-hit California for 8 innings June 16, 1986, before the Rangers fell apart.
Hough took a 1-0 lead into the ninth and struck out Ruppert Jones. Pinch hitter Jack Howell then hit a fly ball down the left-field line, but George Wright dropped the ball for a three-base error. Wally Joyner followed with a single to end the no-hit bid. Then, things got worse.
Doug DeCinces struck out, but the third strike got away from catcher Orlando Mercado, allowing Joyner to take second. After Reggie Jackson was walked intentionally, George Hendrick struck out but the ball bounced away from Mercado again and Joyner scored the winning run from second.
"I was two outs away from a no-hitter and all of a sudden I lost the no-hitter, shutout and game in a couple of minutes," Hough said. "It shows that pitching a no-hitter requires a lot of luck. The bounces certainly didn't go my way that night."
No-hitter after eight? Sometimes that's not even good enough to keep a pitcher in the game.
In 1970, San Diego's Clay Kirby held the New York Mets hitless for eight innings but was lifted for a pinch hitter by manager Preston Gomez. With his team trailing 1-0 with two out in the eighth, Gomez elected to go for the victory. Kirby didn't get a chance to pitch the ninth and the Padres lost 3-0 on their way to a 63-99 season.
Proving he was consistent, Gomez replaced Houston's Don Wilson with a pinch hitter after the right-hander pitched eight no-hit innings against Cincinnati in 1974. Mike Cosgrove pitched the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Tony Perez. The Reds won 2-1.
Fortunately for Wilson, he already had pitched no-hitters in 1967 and '69.
In September 1988, Toronto's Dave Stieb lost no-hit bids in the ninth inning in consecutive starts against Cleveland and Baltimore. Julio Franco had a bad-hop single to spoil the first one and Jim Traber blooped a single down the right-field line to ruin the second.
"You have to have a lot of luck to pitch a no-hitter," Reuss said. "You can lose it to a handle hit, bleeder, a checked swing or bad bounce. But you have to have good stuff, too, if only for one day. You can't junk your way to a no-hitter."
Ryan, who pitched his record sixth no-hitter June 11 at Oakland, has lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning five times, including twice last season. He also has thrown 12 one-hitters and 19 two-hitters.
But you don't have to be Nolan Ryan to throw a no-hitter.
On May 6, 1953, Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first major-league start. Holloman finished the season 3-7 and never pitched in the big leagues again.
In 1952, Detroit's Virgil Trucks pitched two no-hitters but was 5-19.
Don Nottebart, Dave Morehead, George Culver, Jim Bibby, Ed Halicki, Mike Warren and Joe Cowley have pitched no-hitters, too.
They had, however briefly, their moment of magic when a no-hitter after eight became a no-hitter forever.
It's a moment Hawkins didn't have, realizing his no-hit dream after the Yankees were retired in the top of the ninth at Comiskey Park.
"A no-hitter is something you dream about," said Hawkins, the second pitcher to lose a complete-game no-hitter. (Houston's Ken Johnson was the first, losing 1-0 to Cincinnati on April 23, 1964.) "You dream about getting that last out and your teammates charging out to you."
There are times, however, when a no-hitter isn't such a big deal.
On Sept. 28, 1975, Oakland's Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers combined to no-hit California 5-0.
"I didn't even know it was a no-hitter," Lindblad said. "I didn't find out about it until I got to the clubhouse."
Keywords:
BASEBALL
by CNB