
Johan Santana
(NoNoHitters.com photo)
Santana’s no-no left the San Diego Padres as the only franchise without a no-hitter, and anointed the circa-1969 Padres with newfound infamy as the team with the longest drought. We’ve since retooled the main NoNoHitters.com site around all of baseball’s no-hitters and we also chronicle the Padres’ streak in hopes that team can accomplish the feat, but Mets.NoNohitters.com will continue to celebrate the now-defunct Mets’ streak. The Mets’ drought stretched into the team’s 51st season, originating when the St. Louis Cardinals’ Julian Javier singled to left off Mets starter Roger Craig on April 11, 1962, during the Mets franchise’s first Major League game. The Colorado Rockies and the Tampa Bay Rays exited the no no-no club during the 2010 season.
A Mets pitcher never hurled a no-hitter before Johan?
That’s correct. A pitcher on the mound for the New York Mets never threw a no-no before 2012.
Really? What about Ryan, Seaver and guys like that?
Yes, Nolan Ryan pitched seven no-hitters during his Hall of Fame career, but they all came after he was traded by the Mets. And Tom Seaver finally got his sole no-hitter as a Cincinnati Red during his first season away from the Mets. In fact, seven former Mets pitched no-hitters after leaving New York. Mike Scott (Houston Astros), Dwight Gooden (New York Yankees) David Cone (Yankees), Hideo Nomo (Boston Red Sox) and Philip Humber (Chicago White Sox) round out the list. Click here for more details.
Were there also Mets pitchers who threw no-hitters prior to joining the Mets?
Yep. Don Cardwell (Chicago Cubs), Warren Spahn (Milwaukee Braves), Dean Chance (Minnesota Twins), Dock Ellis (Pittsburgh Pirates, while tripping on acid), John Candelaria (Pittsburgh Pirates), Bret Saberhagen (Kansas City Royals), Al Leiter (Florida Marlins), Scott Erickson (Minnesota Twins), Kenny Rogers (Texas Rangers) and Hideo Nomo (Los Angeles Dodgers) all did it. Note that Nomo is the only pitcher to hurl no-nos before and after his stint with the Mets. Click here for more details on this group’s no-hitters.
There must be pitchers that have no-hit the Mets, right?
You are correct. Six pitchers have thrown no-hitters against the Mets during their years of existence. This group includes Sandy Koufax, Jim Bunning, Bob Moose, Bill Stoneman, Ed Halicki and Darryl Kile.
Click here for more details on these games.
Was the Mets’ no-hitter drought the longest in Major League Baseball history
No. The Mets streak lasted 50+ seasons. The Philadelphia Phillies were void of a no-hitter for 58 years, 1 month, 18 days between 1906 and 1964. The 8,945-game-long streak began on May 3, 1906, one game after Phillies’ southpaw Johnny Lush threw a 6-0 no-hitter against the Brooklyn Superbas. It ended on June 21, 1964, when Jim Bunning threw a 6-0 perfect game against the Mets during a Father’s Day doubleheader at Shea.
OK, so why did I launch a Web site devoted to this?
To break the curse.
Yeah … right
I understand the skepticism, but hear me out. I am a lifelong Mets fan, but my football team is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On Dec. 5, 2007, I launched the now defunct PointOfNoReturns.com, a site dedicated to the Bucs’ equally dubious streak of never returning a kickoff for a touchdown. Eleven days later, Michael Spurlock returned a kickoff for a touchdown, ending 31¾ years of futility. Coincidence? Who knows, but I thought a Mets no-hitters site was worth a try.
So are the Mets really cursed? How did that happen?
Well it’s no surprise that the Mets didn’t throw a no-hitter through most of the 1960s as they simply weren’t that good of a team. But with Ryan, Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Jon Matlack on the roster, the Mets surely had enough talent on the roster from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s to get it done. Some trace the curse back to Dec. 10, 1971, when the Mets traded Nolan Ryan along with pitcher Don Rose, catcher Francisco Estrada and outfielder Leroy Stanton to the California Angels for infielder Jim Fregosi. Ryan went on to throw seven no-nos and the Mets remained without until 2012.
Hey, back up a few sections there. Did you say that Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while tripping on acid?
Yes, and it’s apparently not an urban legend. He thought the Pirates had a day off and decided to drop a few tabs before realizing that Pittsburgh had a doubleheader and he was scheduled to pitch Game 1. The Dallas Observer, an alternative weekly, has a comprehensive retelling of the odd feat, quoting a then drug-free Ellis, who passed away in 2008. The win apparently wasn’t pretty, as Ellis walked eight and hit at least one batter.
Back to the Mets, I’m pretty sure they had some one-hitters, right?
Yes, 38 to date, including two taken into the ninth inning by Tom Seaver. (We’re begrudgingly including the including two 2007 rain-shortened one-hitters by Tom Glavine and John Maine in our count. Ridiculous baseball rules consider rain-shortened one-hittters as one-hitters, but not rain-shortened no-hitters as no no-hitters.) Most recently, Jacob deGrom threw a 5-0 complete-game one-hitter against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 17, 2016. See the full list here.
[…] game dashed (though not quite in yesterday’s fashion). There is a fantastic site, http://www.nonohitters.com, which is dedicated to the Mets “48 seasons of futility” in this department. The site […]
Good evening. Through Sunday’s game (7/24/2011) the Mets all-time have 3,784 wins, and 4,115 loses, totaling 7,899 regular season games ( I ,too, have kept track, also.) Please check and see where the extra 8 games came from – possibly Elias or somebody else messed up when they started this count for you?
You are omitting the eight ties on the Mets’ record books, as official Major League games used to be able to end in a tie. See the year-by-year record below.
Dirk
1962 40 120 1
1963 51 111 0
1964 53 109 1
1965 50 112 2
1966 66 95 0
1967 61 101 0
1968 73 89 1
1969 100 62 0
1970 83 79 0
1971 83 79 0
1972 83 73 0
1973 82 79 0
1974 71 91 0
1975 82 80 0
1976 86 76 0
1977 64 98 0
1978 66 96 0
1979 63 99 1
1980 67 95 0
1981 41 62 2
1982 65 97 0
1983 68 94 0
1984 90 72 0
1985 98 64 0
1986 108 54 0
1987 92 70 0
1988 100 60 0
1989 87 75 0
1990 91 71 0
1991 77 84 0
1992 72 90 0
1993 59 103 0
1994 55 58 0
1995 69 75 0
1996 71 91 0
1997 88 74 0
1998 88 74 0
1999 97 66 0
2000 94 68 0
2001 82 80 0
2002 75 86 0
2003 66 95 0
2004 71 91 0
2005 83 79 0
2006 97 65 0
2007 88 74 0
2008 89 73 0
2009 70 92 0
2010 79 83 0
2011 50 51 0 (through Sunday)
Just stumbled upon your site. I text my friends before almost every Met game that this is going to be the day, the first nono in Met history. As you know, it fails every time. Hopefully today is the day!
Today was the day. What are you going to do now?
After seeing the news today of the drought ending, I began to wonder “Have any pitchers that have ever been with the Mets thrown a no-hitter as a non-Met?” I tried mlb.com -nada. A few other sites, still no luck. Then I found your cool site. Love it. Obsolete now, but still very interesting.
Mets almost had a no-hitter (perfect game even) in 1969. July 9, 1969 – big series vs. the Cubs. Seaver was perfect until one out in 9th when pinch-hitter Jimmy Qualls (who he?) singled to right. Me, my uncle and a friend tried to go to the game that night but it was sold out. I got home just in time to see the Qualls hit on TV. 🙁
Yeah, that one was a bummer. Seaver got to the ninth three times with no-nos on the board but couldn’t complete the job until he joined the Reds.