As regular readers have often seen here, when Baseball Roundtable looks into a topic, “one thing often leaders to another.” Surprise! It happened again.
Photo: American Tobacco Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
This post started out as a brief look at the three MLB pitchers who have thrown a no-hitter without striking out a single batter. The first of those was thrown by Earl Hamilton – a 20-year-old, 5’8”, 160-pound southpaw with an unorthodox delivery and a particularly effective curveball. More on that game in a few paragraphs, but first a look at a game that drew my interest as I looked into Hamilton’s career. (That’s the “another” in this post.) Of note, this game took place on this date (July 16) in 1920.
That day, Hamilton (in his tenth MLB season), started a game for the Pirates (versus the Giants) in Pittsburgh. Hamilton came into the game with a 3-4, 3.41 record, while his mound opponent (Rube Benton) was 3-10, 4.14.
After 16 innings, the contest was knotted at 0-0; and both starting pitchers were still in the game. Hamilton had given up eight hits and three walks in his 16 innings of work. Benton had surrendered seven hits and two walks.
Then came the top of the seventeenth when, as the old saying goes, “the wheels came off.” Hamilton, after sixteen shutouts innings, gave up hits to the first five batters in the 17th (and to seven of the first eight) – surrendering seven runs in one-third of an inning.
Hamilton’s 17th inning went like this: 2B Larry Doyle, single; C Frank Snyder, single; P Rube Benton, RBI single; LF George Burns, RBI single; RF Vern Spencer, groundball, runner forced at home; 3B Frankie Frisch, three-run triple; 1B Highpockets Kelly, RBI triple. Hamilton was then relieved by Walter Cooper, who gave up a run-scoring triple to CF Lee King before getting the final two outs. Note: Hamilton came into the game with a 3.41 earned run average on the year, lowered it to 2.91 over the first 16 innings and then saw it go back to 3.48 after the one-third inning he pitched in the seventeenth.
Now, back to or regularly scheduled programming – Hamilton’s no-strikeout, no-hitter. That came on August 30, 1912 in Hamilton’s second MLB season (for the St. Louis Browns). He went nine innings (against the Tigers) and gave up just two walks (with, of course, no whiffs). The Browns won 5-1, with the Tigers’ only tally scored by Ty Cobb (who had walked) with the aid of a Browns’ error and some daring base running by Cobb.
Earl Hamilton’s August 30, 1912, no-hitter was not only the first no-hitter in which the no-hit pitcher did not record a strikeout, it was also the first no-hitter eve for the St, Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles franchise.
Hamilton pitched in 14 MLB seasons (1911-24 … Browns, Tigers, Pirates, Phillies). He went 115-147, 3,16 and had just two winning seasons (1913 and 1922).
The next zero-strikeout no-hitter was thrown by “Sad” Sam Jones (Yankees) on September 4, 1923 – against the Athletics in Philadelphia. Jones gave up just one walk in the outing, which was won by the Yankees 2-0. He allowed only two base runners (one reached on an error), as he recorded his 17th win of the season. He would go 21-8, 2.63 that season (and would fan just 2.5 batters per nine innings).
Jones pitched in 22 MLB seasons (1914-35 … Indians, Red Sox, Yankees, Browns, Senators, White Sox) – putting up a 229-217, 3.84 record. He twice won 20+ games in a campaign and once led the AL im shutouts (5 in 1921).
Cubs’ southpaw Ken Holtzman pitched a no-whiff no-hitter on August 19, 1969 (against the Braves at Wrigley Field). Facing a tough lineup that included the likes of Hank Aaron, Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda and Rico Carty, Holtzman surrendered just three walks over the nine frames (LF Carty, C Bob Didier, SS Gil Garrido), without a single runner reaching second base. The Cubs’ only scoring came on a on a three-run, first-inning home run by 3B Ron Santo.
Ken Holtzman’s no-strikeout no-hitter on August 19, 1960 was the only game that season in which Holtzman did not record a strikeout. In his very next start (after the no-no), Holtzman fanned ten batters in a 11-5 win over Houston.
Holtzman’s no-hitter marked his 14th win in a season in which he would go 17-13, 3.58. Holtzman pitched in 15 MLB seasons (1965-79 … Cubs, A’s, Orioles, Yankees). He went 174-150, 3.49, He was a 20-game winner in 1973 (21-13, 2.97 for the A’s) and six time won 17 or more games in a season.
Ken Holtzman threw a second no-hitter on June 3, 1971 (for the Cubs against the Reds in Cincinnati). That one was a 1-0 win in which he walked four and fanned six.
Primary Resources: Baseball-Reference.com; Baseball-Almanac.com
Coming Soon: Revisiting Baseball Roundtable’s Favorite All Star Game performances.
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