Anibal Sanchez nearly pitches the FIFTH no-hitter in Marlins history
Posted by Andy on April 23, 2011
Anibal Sanchez got pretty close to pitching another no-hitter last night.
A few thoughts on that:
- I was amazed to hear that this would have been the 5th no-hitter in Marlins' history, given that they've only been around since 1993 and many teams that have existed longer have quite a bit fewer than 4.
- Can you recall who threw the 4 previous no-no's for the Marlins? How easily we forget:
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR Pit Str GSc 1 Anibal Sanchez 2006-09-06 FLA ARI W 2-0 SHO9 ,W 9.0 0 0 0 4 6 0 103 67 89 2 A.J. Burnett 2001-05-12 FLA SDP W 3-0 SHO9 ,W 9.0 0 0 0 9 7 0 129 65 85 3 Kevin Brown 1997-06-10 FLA SFG W 9-0 SHO9 ,W 9.0 0 0 0 0 7 0 98 67 94 4 Al Leiter 1996-05-11 FLA COL W 11-0 SHO9 ,W 9.0 0 0 0 2 6 0 103 58 91 I remembered Sanchez, Brown, and Leiter, but somehow the idea that A. J. Burnett ever pitched a no-hitter is lost on me.
- Sanchez has had a lot of injuries so far in his career and while he's pitched well in 2009 and 2010 (and so far in 2011) he's one of the less-accomplished pitchers to throw a no-hitter (I'd say in the bottom half of all such pitchers--certainly I don't mean in the bottom few percent.) However, he could perhaps have joined this pretty short list of pitchers to throw at least 2 complete-game no-hitters of at least 9 innings:
- Sanchez allowed an unearned run in the first inning last night, giving me a good excuse to post this list of pitchers to throw a 9+ inning no-hitter while allowing at least 1 run (earned or unearned.)
Rk Player Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO GSc 1 Darryl Kile 1993-09-08 HOU NYM W 7-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 0 1 0 1 9 93 2 Joe Cowley 1986-09-19 CHW CAL W 7-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 0 1 1 7 8 84 3 George Culver 1968-07-29 (2) CIN PHI W 6-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 0 1 0 5 4 84 4 Dean Chance 1967-08-25 (2) MIN CLE W 2-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 0 1 1 5 8 86 5 Ken Johnson 1964-04-23 HOU CIN L 0-1 CG 9 ,L 9.0 0 1 0 2 9 92 6 Don Nottebart 1963-05-17 HOU PHI W 4-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 0 1 0 3 8 90 7 Bob Feller 1951-07-01 (1) CLE DET W 2-1 CG 9 ,W 9.0 0 1 0 3 5 87 8 Dazzy Vance 1925-09-13 (1) BRO PHI W 10-1 9.0 0 1 0 1 9 93
Of course, Sanchez allowed a 9th-inning leadoff single last night, and it's not as if this sort of 1-hitter is so incredibly rare. It's just that this (only fairly uncommon) near-miss at a no-no is of particularly statistical interest to me.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:49 am
Do you remember when Mike Mussina with the Yankees was about to throw a perfect game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway park, he had Carl Everett down with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the 9th, he threw a high fastball, Everett swung at it but the umpires said he didn't cross the plate (replays showed he clearly swung), and in the very next pitch Everett had a weak pop-up that fell in front of Knoblauch that was playing LF that night.
MAN that was a heartbreaker, because even the Boston public was cheering for Mussina and to watch a rare perfect game.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:54 am
At that moment, all of the very loud Fenway Park cheery dinosaurs turned extinct and completely quiet. Oh wait, dinosaurs never existed (according to Carl Everett
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/cover/news/2000/07/19/everett_flashback/
You have to love Verducci referring to Apostolic Christian Everett as a "fruitcake" in that article.
April 23rd, 2011 at 8:20 am
How could you forget AJ Burnett's no-no? 9 walks! It was probably the worst no-hitter in history.
April 23rd, 2011 at 8:30 am
Without trying to get overly morbid..... I remember the irony of the 1st one. A ValuJet had crashed into the Everglades after leaving Miami killing all 100 + on board earlier that afternoon.
Practically ANY other day, Al Leiter would have been the king of Miami, except obviously the story of the no-hitter got buried DEEP in the South Florida area history books!
April 23rd, 2011 at 8:57 am
Bill Stoneman has to go to the head of the 2-no-hitter class, doesn't he, for doing it with the sad-sack expansion Expos?
And Nolan Ryan with his ageless right arm............
April 23rd, 2011 at 9:03 am
Sanchez' no hit bid was destined to fail. It is quite obvious the Marlins fifth no hitter will come against the Dodgers....
April 23rd, 2011 at 9:14 am
@#3 - Except for Dock Ellis'. 😉
April 23rd, 2011 at 9:27 am
Mikeyjax, I had forgotten about that. It's an interesting question as to how much that plane crash affected Leiter's reputation. It's got to be at least a bit significant especially among fringe baseball fans, who didn't hear about it as the lead news story or top headline, and not just in Florida.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:39 am
Might want to qualify that statement "joined this pretty short list of pitchers to throw at least 2 complete-game no-hitters of at least 9 innings" as regular-season because Roy Halladay just did it last year.
April 23rd, 2011 at 10:41 am
Good point, Keith.
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I thought it's officially not a no-no if the pitcher allows a run?
April 23rd, 2011 at 12:26 pm
Among no-hitters, I'm curious about the ones that have gone deepest into the game with no score by either side. Obviously, the Haddix game comes to mind (though not officially a no-hitter), and I can find extra-inning no-no's. But can anyone suggest a way, other than eyeballing each line score, to find this type of no-hitter in which not only the epic feat but the outcome of the game was on the line every inning?
I checked the last three 1-0 no-hitters. The winning team scored in the 3rd inning or earlier each time.
April 23rd, 2011 at 1:04 pm
JA @12
Not sure if this is available easily, but my quick thought is to sort the games by WPA for the pitcher. The longer a game stays scoreless, the higher the pitcher's WPA. If his team were to score a lot of runs late you might miss something though as he would earn very little the last few innings.
April 23rd, 2011 at 1:21 pm
Meanwhile, something far more rare than a no-hitter happened last night in St. Louis. In fact, it's unique in the game-searchable era:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN201104220.shtml
Due to a major storm that struck in the top of the 1st inning, both starting pitchers were removed having faced no more than 1 batter.
You can read the story here:
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=310422124&teams=cincinnati-reds-vs-st.-louis-cardinals
The previous low in this regard was 2 batters, in a 6/29/1961 game of SF @ PHI. I can't tell exactly why this came about. According to the play-by-play, the Phillies made 3 lineup moves before the first batter. Then, SP Ken Lehman allowed a single and a walk to the first 2 batters, and was replaced by ... Dallas Green! Green induced a DP from Orlando Cepeda and struck out Willie McCovey, but in between those he served up a HR to Willie Mays.
In the bottom of the 1st, Philly's Bobby Del Greco singled off SF starter Billy O'Dell, who was then replaced by Toothpick Sam Jones (who, 2 years before, had led the NL in wins and ERA). The Phils scored 4 runs in the inning; they also pinch-hit for 2 of the guys who had been inserted into the lineup at the last minute.
Philly's original lineup had 2 pitchers playing positions -- Don Ferrarese in CF leading off, and Chris Short catching and batting 7th. It was the only time in either pitcher's career that he was credited with playing at another position.
One of Philly's pre-first-batter moves was to replace Short at catcher with Jimmie Coker, a legit catcher. But oddly, Coker was lifted for PH Clay Dalrymple (another C) in the bottom of the 1st.
And for the cherry on top, the final run of the 1st inning scored on a double steal, with Don Demeter swiping home and Charley Smith taking 3rd. Demeter had just 2 steals all year (and went 22 for 47 in his career), while Smith had just 7 SB in 771 career games.
For all that, this game is probably better known as the second 3-HR game of Willie Mays's career. Mays hit another 2-run HR off Green in the 3rd, then hit a go-ahead shot in the top of the 10th. Juan Marichal earned the win with 2 scoreless innings.
P.S. Willie Mays went 16 for 38 against Dallas Green, with 4 HRs and 9 walks.
April 23rd, 2011 at 2:10 pm
@Andy - #2
Carl Everett is a fruitcake. Not because he's an Apostolic Christian, but because of everything else about him.
April 23rd, 2011 at 2:51 pm
A) Carl Everett was/ is a wack-o and was the tipping point for many a Red Sox fan who 'rooted for the laundry' no matter what.
B) The Marlins truly HAVE had some pitchers with exceptional stuff in their short history.
April 23rd, 2011 at 3:56 pm
@13, Evan -- That was a good suggestion ... but alas, it didn't really pan out. All the 1-0 no-hitters showed up high on the list, including the recent ones in which I already knew the lone run came early in the game.
BTW, the highest no-hit WPA was 0.846 in Halladay's perfect game on 5/29/2010, which topped the 0.841 in Jim Maloney's 10-inning, 10-walk no-no on 8/19/1965.
The lowest (measured) WPA for a 9-inning no-hitter was 0.076 by George Culver of Cincinnati against the Phils on 7/29/1968. The Reds scored 3 in the 3rd and 3 in the 4th, and Culver cruised to a 6-1 win. (Culver allowed an unearned run set up on a double-error in the 2nd by 3B Tony Perez and SS Woody Woodward.)
April 23rd, 2011 at 4:13 pm
@15, Pat D --
Are you saying that a person ought not express the opinion that Carl Everett's religious beliefs, in and of themselves, are nutty?
Consider Verducci's implicit definition: "As an Apostolic Christian, [Everett] believes that the Bible, interpreted literally, is the infallible authority on all matters." [Emphasis added.]
My opinion: A person is certainly entitled to his religious beliefs, and I wouldn't waste my time arguing about them. But when that person goes out of his way to make his beliefs known, I don't see why those beliefs should be immune from the scrutiny and judgment of others.
April 23rd, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Is it true that the Mets have never had a no hitter in their storied history? With all that great pitching over the course of 50 years you would think someone would luck out and throw one.
April 23rd, 2011 at 7:05 pm
JA-
If I may speak for Pat D, I would guess that he meant that Everett would likely be a fruitcake regardless of his particular religious affiliation.
I agree with you, though. If someone makes an asshat of himself, the fact that he did so as a pronouncement of his faith does not immune him from being identified as an asshat.
April 23rd, 2011 at 9:51 pm
@19, Kenh -- Yes, yes, it's all painfully true. Not only that, but a number of ex-Mets have thrown no-hitters -- Seaver for Cincinnati; Gooden and Cone for the Yankees. And some guy named Ryan did it once or twice.
April 24th, 2011 at 5:23 am
Roy Halladay feels like he belongs on the list of guys with 2 no-hitters.
April 24th, 2011 at 4:19 pm
I love the Burnett game. It's so AJ BUrnett. Even his BEST game still has such randomness and unpredictability. Walking nine guys suggests he was unhittable that day because we was so, well, unhittable.
Jim Maloney - 8/19/1965 - 10 walks, 12 Ks
Nolan Ryan - 9/28/2972 - 8 walks, but 15 Ks
There's a bunch > 6 BBs.... messy no-hitters.
April 24th, 2011 at 5:29 pm
Edwin Jackson's no hitter last year was fairly dreadful as no hitters go:
8 BB; 1 HBP; 2 SB against; and of course those 149 pitches (which may or may not have something to do with his 1-4, 7.32, .908 ops numbers in the five starts that followed).
April 24th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
As a lifelong, diehard Mets fan, I can tell you that it is absolutely true that the Mets have never had a no-hitter, despite having had three of the most dominant pitchers of all time, and, depending on your metrics, a fourth in Johan.
Obviously Nolan did what he did after an AWFUL trade away from the Mets, and Seaver finally got his in between his stints with the Mets. Pedro was never able to throw one (perhaps because he just wasn't Pedro of old anymore...). Johan... well, the jury is still out, but if I were a betting man, which I am... I would bet that season number 50 will come and go without a no-no.
HOWEVER... the Mets have had a no hitter in their history, albeit in Spring Training. Gary Kroll and Gordon "Gordy" Richardson pitched one in Spring Training for the Mets in 1964. True story.
April 24th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
er... 1965. Sorry.
April 24th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
The Mets no hit futility is actually staggering (though irrelevant really to anything). Assuming there is a no hitter every 1,500 games (1962 to present), the Mets would be expected to have 5 by now.
April 24th, 2011 at 9:29 pm
The Mets' lack of a no-hitter is, of course, pretty much randomness.
For example, since 1962:
-- The Mets have 26 CG 1-hitters of at least 9 IP.
-- The Yankees have just 14 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 5 were no-hitters.
-- The Braves have just 14 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 2 no-hitters. (Phil Niekro & Kent Mercker.)
-- The Giants have 18 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 5 no-hitters.
-- The Phillies have 20 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 6 no-hitters. (Though none by Carlton.)
-- The Cardinals have 23 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 6 no-hitters. (2 by Bob Forsch?!? A no-hitter by Jose Jimenez?!?!?)
-- The Pirates have 23 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 3 no-hitters. (Including one by a pitcher on acid.)
-- The Angels have 24 CGs of 1 hit or less, same as the Mets ... but 7 no-hitters. (4 by Ryan, 1 each by Bo Belinsky, Clyde Wright and Mike Witt, a perfect game.)
-- The Red Sox also have 24 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 7 no-hitters. (Yet none by Pedro.)
-- The Reds also have 24 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 5 no-hitters
-- The A's have 25 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 5 no-hitters.
-- The Diamondbacks (1998-present) have 5 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 2 no-hitters. (Randy Johnson, OK ... but Edwin Jackson and his career 9.6 H/9?)
-- The Marlins (1993-present) have 11 CGs of 1 hit or less ... but 4 no-hitters.
And finally....
-- The Rockies (1993-present) have exactly one CG of 1 hit or less ... a no-hitter by Ubaldo Jimenez.
(BTW, the first Mets game I ever attended happened to be a 1-hitter by rookie Dwight Gooden on 9/7/1984. Keith Moreland led off the 5th with a dribbler up the 3rd-base line, and Ray Knight put the ball in his pocket. My buddy Mike P., a long-time season ticket holder, still gets hot when this game comes up. "Moreland can't run! You've got a 7-0 lead! The team's never had a no-hitter! Just throw the damn ball!!!)
April 24th, 2011 at 10:26 pm
It actually defies expectation. The probability of the Mets NOT throwing a no hitter is less than 1%. That's not even taking into account the quality (or in some years lack of quality) of their pitchers.
The closest similarity for a team I can think of is to the Tampa Bay Bucs inability for years to return a kickoff for a touchdown.
I would guess, without figuring it out due to laziness, that the chances of Mike Warren throwing a no hitter (which he did) is actually greater than the Mets not throwing a no hitter in over 7,800 games.
April 24th, 2011 at 10:49 pm
If my math is correct (of which there are no guarantees):
The odds of the Mets not throwing a no hitter in 7800 games is 158:1
The odds of Mike Warren (.261 career BAA) not throwing a no hitter in 7800 games is only 7.8:1
April 25th, 2011 at 3:52 am
@25
Dwight Gooden is probably the most surprising Met to never throw one, considering how ridiculously dominant he was for his first few years.
April 27th, 2011 at 11:46 am
[...] Anibal Sanchez nearly pitches the FIFTH no-hitter in Marlins history (Baseball-Reference). How is it that the Marlins have four no-nos against NL West teams and the Padres, who play in the freaking division, have none? Don’t even get me started on World Championships… [...]