What Do Michael Wacha and Tom Seaver Have In Common?

On Tuesday night, Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals was one out away from baseball immortality.  He had retired twenty-six Washington Nationals without allowing a hit.  All he had to do was find a way to get Ryan Zimmerman out and he would have completed his first no-hitter in just his ninth major league start.

But Zimmerman had other ideas.  The Nats' third baseman chopped a ball that grazed off the top of Wacha's glove and rolled in the direction of shortstop Pete Kozma.  Kozma's throw pulled first baseman Matt Adams off the bag, who could not apply the tag to a hustling Zimmerman.

The no-hitter was not to be for Wacha, as he fell one out short of immortality on September 24.  That date should bring back memories of a similar circumstance that happened to Tom Seaver in 1975.

Thirty-eight years ago, also on September 24, Tom Seaver took the mound against the Chicago Cubs.  Seaver had already taken two no-hitters into the ninth inning in his career.  But both of those gems were broken up with one out in the ninth.

On July 9, 1969, Chicago's Jimmy Qualls looped a clean single to left after Seaver had retired the first twenty-five Cubs to face him.  Seaver retired the next two batters, then stood on the mound with his hands at his waist wondering what might have been in the Mets' 4-0 victory.

Three years later, Seaver was once again two outs away from pitching the Mets' first no-hitter (although this one was not a perfect game, as Seaver walked four hitters) when he faced the San Diego Padres on July 4, 1972.  But Leron Lee channeled his inner Jimmy Qualls and lined a single to center to break up the no-no.  Seaver then induced the next batter, Nate Colbert, to ground into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play, giving the Mets a 2-0 win over the Padres.

After two near-misses in 1969 and 1972, Seaver took another no-hitter into the ninth inning on September 24, 1975 when he matched up against the Chicago Cubs.  But this time he was able to retire the batter he faced with one out in the ninth, striking out the Cubs' Rick Monday.  Needing one out to pitch nine hitless innings, Seaver allowed a two-out single to rightfielder Joe Wallis to break up the no-hitter.  However, even if Seaver had retired Wallis, he would not have been able to celebrate a no-hitter at that moment because the game would not have ended there.  Neither team had scored through the first eight innings and the scoreless duel continued into extra innings.  The Mets eventally lost the game, 1-0, when closer Skip Lockwood walked Bill Madlock to force in a run in the 11th inning.

Since 1975, when Seaver lost his no-hitter with two outs in the ninth, no Met had even taken a no-hitter into the ninth until Johan Santana did so on June 1, 2012.  But Santana finished what Seaver couldn't, striking out David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the first no-hitter in franchise history.

Michael Wacha, now Freese's teammate in St. Louis, came within one out of throwing his first career no-hitter on September 24, 2013.  Tom Seaver, on September 24, 1975, also missed his first career no-hitter by one out, becoming the only Met to have a hitless game broken up with two outs in the ninth inning.

What do Michael Wacha and Tom Seaver have in common?  They both share a September 24 heartbreak.  Wacha hopes that's not the only thing he can share with Seaver before his career is over.
 

Another No-Name Keeps The Mets From A No-Hitter

Do you recognize that mug to the left? No? Then welcome to the club. The man in the Padres hat is Chris Denorfia, and he became the latest player to keep the Mets from finally recording their first no-hitter.

Last night, Chris Denorfia lined a leadoff double in the third inning against Jonathon Niese. It turned out to be the Padres' only hit (and only baserunner) of the game.

Denorfia now has full membership in the Mets' No-Hitter Breaker-Uppers Club, which is supposedly somewhere near the Caesar's Club and the Acela Club. In joining players like Jimmy Qualls, Chin-Hui Tsao, Kit Pellow and Paul Hoover, Denorfia is entitled to full Club privileges. These privileges include being booed mercilessly by Mets fans who have great long-term memories and the right to never be known for anything else other than being the one man who prevented the Mets from finally achieving that ever-elusive first no-hitter in franchise history!

Let's talk more about the latter privilege discussed above and the other Club members we mentioned.

Jimmy Qualls

Jimmy Qualls was given Club membership when he broke up Tom Seaver's perfect game on July 9, 1969. After denying Seaver his perfecto, Qualls went on to rack up only 91 more at-bats in his short career. The ninth-inning hit against Seaver was the 12th of the 31 hits collected by Qualls over his short career that saw him start only 20 games in the major leagues. However, one of those 20 games was on July 9, 1969.


Chin-Hui Tsao

Chin-Hui Tsao had a short-lived career as a pitcher for the Rockies and the Dodgers. In his fifth major-league start on August 18, 2003, Tsao opposed Steve Trachsel for the Mets. After Trachsel retired the first 17 batters to face him, Tsao hit a double to break up the no-hitter and perfect game. The two-bagger was the first hit and only double of Tsao's career, a career that saw him start only three more games, appear in 42 others as a reliever and spawn only one more base hit, which he collected five days after joining the No-Hitter Breaker-Uppers Club.

Kit Pellow

Kit Donovan Pellow (yes, his birth certificate really does list "Kit" as his first name) played briefly for the Kansas City Royals before signing with the Colorado Rockies in 2003. His moment in the sun came in his final year in the majors, when he doubled to break up Tom Glavine's no-hit bid with two outs in the eighth inning on May 23, 2004. The double was one of only 52 hits picked up by Pellow in his career. It was also the last double of his career. After joining the Club, Pellow only started seven more games in the big leagues and picked up eight additional base hits, none of which put him on another team's No-Hitter Breaker-Uppers Club.

Paul Hoover

Paul Hoover wasn't even supposed to be in the game on September 29, 2007. However, Marlins' starting catcher Miguel Olivo had been ejected from the game in the fifth inning for charging at Jose Reyes, who was standing on third base, igniting a bench-clearing incident. Three innings later, Hoover hit a 30-foot roller in front of home plate that didn't roll foul. The squibber ended John Maine's no-hit bid with two outs in the eighth inning. It was one of only three hits picked up by Hoover in 2007. Although Hoover made his major league debut in 2001 and has played in the majors as recently as three weeks ago with the Philadelphia Phillies, he has still only amassed 25 hits in the big leagues in 96 official at-bats. The No-Hitter Breaker-Uppers Club is the only thing that has rescued Hoover from baseball anonymity.

Last night, Jonathon Niese became the latest Met to be victimized by a member of the No-Hitter Breaker-Uppers Club when Chris Denorfia recorded the only hit against him in the third inning. It's only fitting that it was a player like Denorfia who got the hit. After all, looking at his career statistics, he seemed destined to become a Club member.

Denorfia broke into the major leagues in 2005 with the Cincinnati Reds and is now playing for his third major league team. Despite the fact that he has been on a major league roster for five of the past six years, he has only collected 74 hits in the big leagues, of which 16 have been doubles. Unfortunately for Jonathon Niese and the Mets, hit #74 and double #16 prevented no-hitter #1 from happening.

The No-Hitter Breaker-Uppers Club card has its advantages, which is why card-carrying members should never leave home without it. After all, unless if you're a Mets fan, no one would ever have any idea who these Club members were.