The No-Hitters

Several Dodger pitchers over the years have thrown no-hitters. Thirteen of the twenty-five in team history were thrown for the Brooklyn franchise. Nine of those came after 1900. Of those nine, six came from 1940 to 1956 when Sal Maglie threw the last no-hitter in the Brooklyn era.

Three were thrown while Leo Durocher was the manager. Tex Carleton beat the Reds in Cincinnati, 3-0, on the 30th of April, 1940. Herman Franks was his catcher and he allowed 3 base-runners. It was the first Dodger no-hitter since 1925. Dazzy Vance tossed that one.

In April of 1946, Ed Head beat the Braves at Ebbets Field, 5-0. It so far is the earliest date in the season that a Dodger pitcher threw a no-hitter. Ferrell Anderson was his catcher.

Rex Barney then threw one on September 28th, 1948 at the Polo Grounds against the Giants, winning 2-0. His catcher was Bruce Edwards. He allowed 2 base-runners.

Carl Erskine would toss the next two no-hitters, both of them at Ebbets Field. In 1952 he beat the Cubs, 5-0 with Campy behind the plate, and then in 1956, he bested the Giants, 3-0, again with Campy behind the plate. It was the first no-hitter with Alston as the manager.

For the first time in their history, Brooklyn had two no-hitters in the same season when Maglie did it to the Phillies at Ebbets, 5-0, in September. Campy caught his 3rd no-no.

The team moved to Los Angeles. While they played in the coliseum, no one threw a no-hitter. They moved into the new Dodger Stadium for the 1962 season. They only had to wait until June for the first no-hitter in Dodger Stadium history.

June 30, 1962. Sandy Koufax, beginning the second year of what would be a Hall of Fame making six year run, no-hit the hapless Mets, 8-0 with Johnny Roseboro behind the plate. It would not be his last.

1963, May 11th. Sandy got his second beating the Giants, 8-0, at Dodger Stadium. Rosey was again behind the plate. Sandy allowed just 2 baserunners.

1964, June 4th. At Shibe Park in Philadelphia, Koufax no-hit the Phillies, 3-0. His catcher that day was Doug Camilli, Dolph’s son, and he allowed only one base runner. It was his only no-hitter on the road.

1965, September 9th. Sandy’s fourth no-hitter was a perfect game. The game set the record for the least amount of hits in a game, one. The Dodgers won 1-0 and the Cubs pitcher, Bob Hendley allowed only one hit. Koufax struck out the last six batters he faced.

A side note from this is that Koufax had not won a game in three weeks ever since Roseboro was clubbed on the head by Marichal. So he was caught by Jeff Torborg. Sandy struck out fourteen, a record tied by Matt Cain of the Giants when he got his perfect game, and he struck out at least one batter in every inning, still not matched by any pitcher who has thrown one.

Jeff Torborg and Sandy Koufax

Sandy was the first left-hander to throw a perfect game and the first pitcher to throw a perfect game at night.

Torborg would be behind the dish for the next Dodger no-hitter in 1970. Bill Singer threw the fourth no-hitter in Dodger Stadium history against the Phillies in July. It was also the seventh no-hitter while Walter Alston was manager. It would be the last under Walt.

Jerry Reuss was the next man up when he no-hit the Giants at Candlestick in June of 1980. He beat the hated ones, 8-0 allowing one baserunner with Yeager behind the plate. The first no-hitter under Lasorda. He must have loved it that it was against the Giants in their home park.

Ten years later, almost to the day, another lefty, Fernando Valenzuela, no-hit the Cardinals, 6-0, at Dodger Stadium with Scioscia behind the plate. Fifth in Dodger Stadium history. It was the second of two no-hitters tossed that day. Dave Stewart, a former Dodger, also tossed one that day for the Oakland A’s.

The last out inspired one of Vin Scully’s most memorable calls. After staying silent for the listeners to soak in the crowd’s cheers, Vin remarked, ” If you have a sombrero, toss it to the sky.”

In August of 1992, a not so memorable season in Dodger history, they would lose 99 games, the most ever by a Los Angeles Dodger team, Kevin Gross, who won 8 games all season, tossed a 2-0 gem against the Giants in Dodger Stadium. Scioscia was again behind the plate. Third no-no in Lasorda’s tenure.

In July of 1995, Ramon Martinez, pitching against the Marlins, allowed just one runner, a 8th inning walk, in his no-hitter. Piazza was his catcher. His brother Pedro had just missed pitching one in June when he pitched 9 perfect innings for the Expos, but gave up a homer in the 10th. They missed becoming the second brother duo to do so. Ken and Bob Forsch.

It was the last no-hitter with Lasorda as the manager. The seventh at Dodger Stadium, which could clearly be labeled a pitchers park. The next one came on the road at maybe the most difficult park to throw a no-hitter at, Coors Field in Denver. Hideo Nomo no-hit the Rockies with Piazza behind the plate, and new manager Bill Russell on the bench, 9-0. The Tornado as he was nicknamed, allowed four baserunners.

It would be 18 years before the next one. But on a bright May 2014 afternoon in Philadelphia, Josh Beckett had his best performance as a Dodger, beating the Phillies, 6-0. His catcher was Drew Butera. It was the first under Don Mattingly. Beckett allowed 3 baserunners.

Not to be outdone, Clayton Kershaw no-hit the Rockies, 8-0 in June with Ellis doing the catching. CK would have had a perfect game except for an error by Hanley Ramirez. That was the only baserunner. Also of note in that game was a spectacular play at third made by Miguel Rojas, who was traded to the Marlins after that season and traded back this year. The last one under Mattingly and the eight in Dodger Stadium history.

The last no-hitter thrown by the Dodgers came in Monterey, Mexico in 2018.  It was a combined no-hitter by four Dodger pitchers. Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore combined for a 4-0 win over the Padres. Walker went 6 innings and the rest of the pitchers went one each.

It was the first under Dave Roberts and the first thrown outside of the United States or Canada. So there is an overview of the no-hitters thrown from 1940 until now. I had never even heard of Ed Head.

I did go back and check some of the box scores to see what kind of a team and hitters the pitchers were facing. When Barney faced the Giants in 48, they were two games back of the Dodgers.

Probably the two best hitters he had to face were Johnny Mize and Joe Gordon. But Walker Cooper and Don Mueller were also very good hitters. He walked 2 and the Dodgers made two errors.

By comparison, the 1956 Giants team that Erskine faced had only one real superstar hitter in the lineup, Mays, and Willie was hitting .220 at the time. Lockman and Al Dark were the only two hitters he faced who were over .300.

Maglie faced some good Phillies hitters, Ashburn, Lopata, Ennis, Valo and Jones. But no real sluggers. Koufax’s against the Giants came against a pretty potent Giant offense. Just the first five hitters would scare you, Kuenn, Alou, Mays Cepeda and Bailey. Another oddity to me is that Koufax only struck out four in this game. And they beat Marichal.

The no-no in 64 against the Phils also featured some pretty good bats in the Phillies lineup, Allen, Johnny Callison, Danny Cater, Gus Triandos and Roy Sievers.

The Cubs were not a great hitting team in ’65, but they had a lot of power in the 3-5 spots in the lineup, Williams, Santo and Banks.

I think that game had a lot more pressure than most since it was a 1-0 game. Just who faced the toughest lineup is very debatable as eras are so different along with the style of play. But it is  fun to look back and see those moments.

Dodger pitchers have come close, Stripling, Scherzer, but it has definitely been a while, and in this day and age, it will take a different mindset for the manager to even let his pitchers go that deep. Pitch counts and all.