Mets No-Hitters History at NoNoHitters.com

Just 33 days until the Mets’ pitchers and catchers report to embark on their quest for no-hitter No. 2!

42 years ago today, the Padres could have exited the no-no club early in the franchise’s history. On July 21, 1970, the Mets were beating the Padres 1-0, but Padres starter Clay Kirby still had a no-hitter going through eight innings. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, San Diego skipper Preston Gomez decided to pull Kirby for a pinch hitter, Cito Gaston. Gaston struck out, reliever Jack Baldschun gave up a ninth-inning lead-off single to Bud Harrelson and the Mets rallied to pad their lead to 3-0, which would be the final score.

Would Kirby have reached base and started a rally that would have given them a 2-1 lead and an eventual no-no win? Would Kirby have struck out, yet kept the no-hitter alive through the top of the ninth to set up a ninth-inning Padres walk-off victory? We’ll never know, and the club still doesn’t have no no-no.

And the Padres have one more dubious distinction than the Mets. They’re the only Major League franchise without a no-hitter AND without a player hitting for the cycle. The Mets have hit 10 hits-for-cycle in their 50-year history and one no-hitter.

One year ago today, on July 10, 2011, the San Diego Padres nearly left the Mets alone in the notoriety of being the only Major League franchise without a no-hitter. But the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Juan Uribe broke up San Diego’s no-hitter with a two-out double against Luke Gregorson in the ninth inning, and so that left two in the club (at least until June 1, 2012). The Dodgers wound up winning that game 1-0.

Padres starter Aaron Harang made it through six, and Josh Spence, Chad Qualls and Mike Adams kept L.A. hitless through eight.

Until Santana’s achievement last month, the Mets had gone without a no-no since 1962, while the Padres have been at it since 1969. The Rockies and Rays were also in the no no-hitter club at the start of the 2010 season but broke free with gems by Ubaldo Jimenez and Matt Garza that year.

43 years ago today – on July 9, 1969 – the Chicago Cubs’ Jimmy Qualls stepped up to the plate with one out in the ninth inning to face the Mets’ Tom Seaver. Seaver had a perfect game going and needed to retire just Qualls and one more batter to make Mets history.

But, as evidenced by the existence of his Web site, Seaver would not make history that day.

Qualls singled to left field and Seaver finished with a 4-0 win and one of three one-hitters during his Mets career. Qualls would achieve just 30 more hits during his brief 3-season career. (Where is Qualls now? Catch up with him in this recent Palm Beach Post story.)

Here’s the text from the Mets’ Web site of play-by-play announcer Bob Murphy’s call: “And it’s hit hard to left field … It’s going to be a base hit … A base hit by Jimmy Qualls and it breaks up the perfect game … Now the applause for Tom Seaver… Eight and one-third innings of perfect baseball by Seaver.”

Fourty-three years later, we finally shook the curse.

July 4, 1972 – New York Mets 2, San Diego Padres 0 – first game of Shea Stadium doubleheader
No-no killed by Leron Lee’s ninth-inning single

Tom Seaver took a no-hitter into the ninth inning this day, although he walked two batters in the fourth and two batters in the eighth so the perfect game was off the board.

Seaver took the mound in the ninth and got Dave Roberts to ground out before Leron Lee lined a ball up the middle to end the no-no bid. He then got Nate Colbert to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game for a 2-0 complete-game shutout, Seaver’s fourth career one-hitter.

Seaver struck out 11 batters, and the Mets scored their only runs with two outs in the third when Jim Fregosi and Ed Kranepool drew bases-loaded walks from the Padres’ Clay Kirby.