We’ve given it a 1-in-8,019 chance, but Joe Torre says he’ll rule on whether R.A. Dickey gets a retroactive no-hitter by tomorrow.
So in the meantime – and for no good reason other than we did this research before – here’s Torre’s no-hitter resume:
Torre made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves on Sept. 25, 1960, just missing the Braves’ two 1960 no-hitters (Lew Burdette’s Aug. 18 1-0 over the Phillies Phillies and Warren Spahn’s Sept. 16, 4-0 victory over the Phillies). Torre was called up for the 1961 season on May 21, less than a month after Spahn’s April 28 1-0 no-no against the San Francisco Giants.
The Braves had no more no-hitters during Torre’s playing tenure. They were no-hit once (June 18, 1967, by the Astros’ Don Wilson), but backup catcher Bob Uecker was in the lineup that day, not Torre.
Torre spent his next six years (1969-1974) with the St. Louis Cardinals, and he got to participate in his only no-hitter as a player on August 14, 1971, when pitching great Bob Gibson no-hit the Pittsburgh Pirates during an 11-0 rout. Torre had already made the move from catcher to third base, but he went 4-for-6 that night with an RBI and two runs scored.
Torre played three seasons with the Mets, but he was on the bench for the Giants’ Ed Halicki’s Aug. 24, 1975 no-hitter against New York in the second game of a doubleheader. (Wayne Garrett got the start in both games that day.)
Torre began his managerial career with the Mets in 1977, and we of course know that he never oversaw a Mets no-hitter because no such event exists. The Braves and Cardinals were also void of no-nos during Torre’s managerial tenure with those clubs.
It was as skipper of the cross-town New York Yankees that Torre got to celebrate three managerial no-hitters, and two of them were thrown by former Mets:
– Dwight Gooden, May 14, 1996, Yankees 2, Seattle Mariners 0
– David Wells (perfect game), May 17, 1998, Yankees 4, Minnesota Twins 0
– David Cone (perfect game), July 18, 1999, Yankees 6, Montreal Expos 0
The only no-hitter against a Torre managed club was on June 11, 2003, when the Houston Astros blanked the Yanks 8-0. Who threw that one? … Roy Oswalt (1 in), Peter Munro (2 2/3 in), Kirk Saarloos (1 1/3 in), Brad Lidge (2 in), Octavio Dotel (1 in) and Billy Wagner (1 in).
