Walter Johnson, Feller fire No Hitters fired on July 1
1 . . .
July 1, 1920, At Fenway Park, Walter Johnson no-hits the Boston Red Sox, 1-0. The Washington Senators’ ace strikes out 10 batters. Only an error by Bucky Harris with two outs in the ninth inning prevents Johnson from pitching a perfect game. but it’s the Senator second baseman’s hit which drives in the game’s only run. Johnson pitches the season’s only no-hitter yet Johnson comes up with the first sore arm of his life for the rest of the year, finishing 8-10.
2 . . .
July 1, 1951, 32-year old Bob Feller tossed his third career no-hitter as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers 2-1 in the first game of a doubleheader at Municipal Stadium. This was Feller’s first no-hitter since 1946, and in doing so he became at the time the third pitcher with three no-hitters, the others being Larry Corcoran (all came in the 1880’s) and Cy Young. Since that time Sandy Koufax (4), Nolan Ryan (7) and Justin Verlander have joined the club.
Feller entered the game with a record of 10-2. The Tigers tied the score at 1-1 with a run in the fourth inning. Leading off, Johnny Lipon reached on an error by shortstop Ray Boone. He stole second and advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw by Feller, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hoot Evers. The score remained until the bottom of the eighth, when Sam Champion hit a one-out triple and scored on a Luke Easter single.
Feller retired three good Cleveland batters in the ninth inning to close out the game as Charlie Keller and George Kell each flew out and Vic Wertz was caught looking to end the game. Feller finished with five strikeouts and three walks allowed. Bob Cain pitched a complete game in taking the loss, allowing six hits.
Feller would lead the American League with 22 wins in 1951, as the Indians finished in second place, five games behind the pennant winning New York Yankees.
3 . . .
July 1, 1990 Yankee Andy Hawkins throws the season’s 6th no-hitter, but still loses, 4 – 0 to the White Sox. With two out in the bottom of the 8th, New York’s Mike Blowers misplays Sammy Sosa’s routine grounder for an error, and Hawkins walks two to load the bases. Outfielders Jim Leyritz and Jesse Barfield drop back-to-back fly balls to allow all four runs to score. Barfield loses Ivan Calderon’s fly ball in the sun and the ball bounces off his mitt. Ken Johnson in 1964 was the last pitcher to lose a no-hitter. Because Hawkins only pitched eight innings, the no-hitter was deemed unofficial a year later when the definition was changed
Twelve days after his “no-hitter”, Hawkins was on the losing end of Melido Pérez’s six-inning, rain-shortened “no-hitter”.
DID YOU KNOW
July 1, 1910, White Sox Park opens in Chicago to a crowd of 24,000, 1,100 less than capacity. The White Sox lose to the St. Louis Browns, 2-0. The $750,000 ballpark, later renamed Comiskey Park, after team owner, Charlie Comiskey. This stadium will close in the fall of 1990, to be replaced by a new structure, which will be known as New Comiskey Park.
July 1, 1945, Away from the game for four years, Hank Greenberg makes a dramatic return in front of an emotional crowd of 47,700 at Briggs Stadium when he homers in his first game back, against Charlie Gassaway, from the Armed Forces. ‘Hammerin Hank’s round-tripper helps the first-place Tigers beat the Philadelphia A’s, 9-5.
July 1, 1962, Albie Pearson of the Los Angeles Angels sets a major league record by going hitless in 11 at-bats during a doubleheader. Pearson comes up empty in both games, which each last the regulation nine innings, but the Angels manage a split against the New York Yankees.
July 1, 1970 The return of Denny McLain following his suspension is witnessed by a gathering of 53,863 fans and 71 writers. He is knocked out of the box in the 6th inning, but the Tigers rally to beat the Yankees in the 11th, 6 – 5.
July 1, 1973, Don Sutton was one strike from putting the Reds 12 games out of first place when third-string catcher Hal King hit a stunning homer for a 4-3 win over the Dodgers in the first game of a doubleheader at Riverfront. King stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter with two on and two out and the Dodgers leading 3-1. His three-run homer came on a two-strike fastball and sailed over the right field wall. King began the year in Indianapolis and made his Reds debut only two weeks earlier. The Reds also won the second game 3-2 in ten innings with Tony Perez driving in the winning run with a double. The heroics by King and Perez turned the season around. The Reds record from July 1 through the end of the regular season was 60-26.
July 1, 1973 At California, the Twins’ Jim Kaat fires a one-hitter to beat the Angels, 2 – 1. Frank Robinson’s home run in the 2nd is the only hit. This is the second time in his career that Robby hits a home run to break up a no-hitter: he did it July 30, 1971 against Kansas City’s Dick Drago.
July 1, 2000 Whitey Herzog, the winningest manager in franchise history, and Willie Wilson, a speedy outfielder who was an offensive spark plug, become members of the Kansas City Royals’ Hall of Fame.
TRIVIA:
Who holds the record for the most home runs hit in a San Diego Padres uniform?
Hint: #1 In his first full year in the majors, he led the majors in at-bats and produced an offensive explosion that threatened to break the all-time records for doubles in a season.
Hint: #2 He is the youngest player in MLB history to achieve a multi-home-run game in his first two career games.
Trivia Answer:
Manny Machado
When Machado hit the 164th of his career w/SDP, he passed Nate Colbert, for the Padres’ career franchise lead.
– #1 Machado hit 39 doubles for BAL before the ASG in July 2013. Soi-disant prognosticators were certain he’d hit that many after the break, but he only hit 12 in the second “half’. His 51 was impressive (tied for 2nd in BAL franchise history), just not what everyone had hoped & certainly nowhere near the 67 that Earl Webb hit for the Red Sox in 1931. Manny had 667 AB in 2013.
– #2 In his second-ever MLB G w/BAL on 10-Aug-2012, Machado went deep twice. He was 20 years, 35 days old.
