I wonder what Don Larsen would have thought about the World Series game on Nov. 2. It was the fourth game of this year’s Series, won by the Houston Astros in six games.
It’s the game that will go down as a no-hitter, albeit one in which Houston’s Cristian Javier pitched six innings, followed by three other pitchers. Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly each hurled one inning without allowing a hit.
As Javier, 25, went inning to inning, allowing no hits, I rooted for him, that he would pitch nine innings. He did not, of course.
He issued just two walks while striking out nine before he exited to a big hug from Astros manager Dusty Baker after 97 pitches.
Relievers Abreu (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 3 Ks), Montero (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K) and Pressly (1.0 IP, 0H, 1 BB, 1 K) followed with no-hit innings of their own to complete just the second no-hitter in World Series history.
Do you remember the first? I do, of course. It was Don Larsen’s perfect game. Larsen was pitching for the New York Yankees. He pitched it in game five of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
I probably remember it most because my favorite player, Dale Mitchell, made the 27th out of Larsen’s perfect game. Mitchell played most of his career with the Cleveland Indians and was traded to the Dodgers late in the 1956 season. He rarely struck out, but did so with a called strike three to complete Larsen’s perfect game.
Larsen pitched for seven teams. His win-loss record was 81-91. Larsen was 90 when he died on Jan. 2, 2020. Larsen and Mark Shaw wrote a book with a forward by Yogi Berra, who was Larsen’s catcher, titled, “The Perfect Yankee: The Incredible Story of the Greatest Miracle in Baseball History.” I have not read it, so I cannot give it a plus or minus.
The third no-hitter thrown in post-season would be Roy Halladay’s of Oct. 6, 2010. He pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies against the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Philadelphia won 4-0.
There have been 314 no-hitters in Major League history, including 23 perfect games starting in 1880. Five no-hitters were recorded in 2022.
One of the most famous without being a complete perfect game was pitched by Harvey Haddix on May 26, 1959. Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings for Pittsburgh against the Milwaukee Braves. In the 13th inning, third baseman Don Hoak made an error on a grounder by Felix Mantilla, according to Wikipedia. Eddie Matthews sacrificed Mantilla to second and Hank Aaron was intentionally walked.
Joe Adcock then apparently homered, so not only did Haddix lose his perfect game and no-hitter, but the victory as well. However, Aaron left the basepaths and was passed by Adcock for the second out. Supposedly the Braves won, 2-0. The National League president eventually ruled that Adcock’s homer was a double and only Mantilla’s run counted, resulting in a final score of 1-0.
But the Pirates and Haddix still lost.
