Although the New York Mets have never thrown a no-hitter, the club has come within one hit of the accomplishment 33 times. We’re now begrudgingly including two rain-shortened one-hitters by Tom Glavine and John Maine in 2007. Oddly, baseball rules consider rain-shortened one-hitters as one-hitters, but not rain-shortened no-hitters as no-hitters. Anyway, here’s the list, which this off-season we’re expanding with more details on each.




Al Jackson

June 22, 1962 – New York Mets 2, Houston Colt .45s 0 – The Polo Grounds – opener of a twi-night doubleheader
No-no killed by Joey Amalfitano single in first

The expansion New York Mets had a 2-12 record when lefty Al Jackson pitched the club’s first shutout – an April 29, 1962, 8-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets’ second shutout, also with Jackson on the mound, would also be the franchise’s first one-hitter.

Jackson retired the game’s first batter but let Joey Amalfitano reach base on a single to left for the Mets’ 65th no no-hitter. After walking Norm Larker, Jackson retired the next 22 batters before issuing a ninth-inning leadoff base-on-balls to pinch-hitter Pidge Browne. Jackson closed out the ninth with three straight outs for the complete-game shutout.

Jackson had a little help in the field during the game, according to an AP report from that day. Richie Ashburn made a leaping catch at the right field fence in the fifth to rob Jim Pendelton of a hit, and shortstop Elio Chacon made a backhand grab behind second, flipped the ball to second baseman Charlie Neal who made the throw to first to get Hal Smith.

Jack Hamilton

May 4, 1966 – New York Mets 8, St. Louis Cardinals 0 – Busch Stadium
No-no killed by Ray Sadecki bunt single in fourth

This Web site wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Cardinals’ southpaw Ray Sadecki, a one-time 20-game winner who would later join the Mets and help them win the National League pennant in 1973.

Mets’ starter Jack Hamilton had retired the first eight Cardinals batters on May 4, 1966, when Sadecki stepped up to the plate. Sadecki, looking to spark a two-out rally after spotting New York a 5-0 lead, reached base on a bunt single for what would be the game’s only hit. (The Mets franchise’s 664th no no-hitter.)

Hamilton followed by issuing Lou Brock a base on balls before striking out Alex Johnson. He would retire the next 18 Cardinals batters for the 8-0, complete-game shutout, thanks to big days at the plate by Eddie Bressoud (3-for-5, home run, 3 RBIs) and Ron Swoboda (2-for-4, home run and a double, 2 RBIs).

Hamilton had actually piched a minor-league no-hitter in 1957, throwing a seven-inning no-no for the Appalachian League Wytheville Cardinals.

Date	Pitcher	Road team	Home team	Sole hit
July 9, 1969	Tom Seaver	Chicago Cubs 0	New York Mets 4	Jimmy Qualls, single, 9th (1 out)
April 18, 1970	Nolan Ryan	Philadelphia Phillies 0	New York Mets 7	Denny Doyle, 1st-inning single
May 13, 1970	Gary Gentry	New York Mets 4	Chicago Cubs 0	Ernie Banks, single, 8th
May 15, 1970	Tom Seaver	New York Mets 4	Philadelphia Phillies 0	Mike Compton, single, 3rd
April 18, 1971 (Game 1 of doubleheader)	Gary Gentry	Pittsburgh Pirates 2	New York Mets 5	Roberto Clemente, triple, 6th
Sept. 26, 1971	Tom Seaver	Pittsburgh Pirates 1	New York Mets 3	Vic Davalillo, single, 7th
July 4, 1972 (Game 1 of doubleheader)	Tom Seaver	San Diego Padres 0	New York Mets 2	Leron Lee, single, 9th (1 out)
July 10, 1973	Jon Matlack	Houston Astros 0	New York Mets 1	Tommy Helms, double, 6th
June 29, 1974	Jon Matlack	St. Louis Cardinals 0	New York Mets 4	John Curtis, double, 3rd
April 17, 1977	Tom Seaver	Chicago Cubs 0	New York Mets 6	Steve Ontiveros, single, 5th
Oct. 1, 1982	Terry Leach	New York Mets 1	Philadelphia Phillies 0 (in 10)	Luis Aguayo, triple, 5th
Sept. 7, 1984	Dwight Gooden	Chicago Cubs 0	New York Mets 10	Keith Moreland, single, 5th
A little commentary on this one-hitter from NoNoHitters.com reader Steve: “You should know that Keith Moreland’s hit against Dwight Gooden in September 1984 — I was there — was an absolutely positively *&%$#$ %*$&!#% ERROR by Ray Knight on a slow roller toward third base. Knight gloved it, double clutched and could have rolled it to first and beaten the Kranepool-esque Moreland and gotten him. Knight never threw, I never forgave him or the official scorer, who was a total and complete brainless nitwit (G rated) to score it a hit. For confirmation, you can ask Rick Sutcliffe, who has said on the air a number of times that it should have been a no-hitter.” Another comment comes from NoNoHitters.com reader Mark: “I too was at that game, and I too yelled and screamed at Knight for not having the common sense and decency to at least throw the ball away in an attempt to draw an error on that play, since it was obvious that Gooden was unhittable that night. Still, even I acknowledge that had to be scored a hit, whatever Rick Sutcliffe might say.”
April 16, 1985	Ron Darling(7) Jesse Orosco (2)	New York Mets 2	Pittsburgh Pirates 1	Johnnie Ray, single, 1st
May 11, 1985	Sid Fernandez (6) Roger McDowell (3)	Philadelphia Phillies 0	New York Mets 4	Von Hayes, single, 4th
Aug. 29, 1988	David Cone	San Diego Padres 0	New York Mets 6	Tony Gwynn, double, 4th
Sept. 10, 1991	Pete Schourek	Montreal Expos 0	New York Mets 9	Kenny Williams, single, 5th
Sept. 14, 1991	David Cone (7) Jeff Innis (1)	New York Mets 1	St. Louis Cardinals 2	Ray Lankford, single, 5th
Sept. 20, 1991	David Cone	New York Mets 1	St. Louis Cardinals 0	Felix Jose, double, 8th
Oct. 8, 2000 (NLDS)	Bobby J. Jones	San Francisco Giants 0	New York Mets 4	Jeff Kent, double, 5th
July 14, 2001	Glendon Rusch (8) Armando Benitez (1)	Boston Red Sox 0	New York Mets 2	Trot Nixon, bunt single, 1st
April 26, 2002	Shawn Estes	Milwaukee Brewers 0	New York Mets 1	Eric Young, single, 7th
June 15, 2003	Steve Trachsel	New York Mets 8	Anaheim Angels 0	David Eckstein, double, 6th
June 17, 2003	Jae Seo (7) David Weathers (1) Armando Benitez (1)	Florida Marlins 0	New York Mets 5	Juan Encarnacion, single, 5th
Aug. 18, 2003	Steve Trachsel	Colorado Rockies 0	New York Mets 8	Chin-hui Tsao, double, 6th
May 23, 2004	Tom Glavine	Colorado Rockies 0	New York Mets 4	Kit Pellow, double, 8th
April 15, 2005	Aaron Heilman	Florida Marlins 0	New York Mets 4	Luis Castillo, single, 4th
Sept. 3, 2006	Orlando Hernandez (5 1/3) Roberto Hernandez (1) Darren Oliver (2/3) Guillermo Mota (1)	New York Mets 1	Houston Astros 2	Aubrey Huff, single, 2nd
June 27, 2007	Tom Glavine	St. Louis Cardinals 0	New York Mets 2	Scott Rolen, single, 2nd
Note: This was a rain-shortened 5 1/2-inning game, but it is officially considered a Mets one-hitter.
July 29, 2007	John Maine	Washington Nationals 0	New York Mets 5	Ronnie Belliard, leadoff single in 1st
Note: This was a rain-shortened 5-inning game, but it is officially considered a Mets one-hitter.
Sept. 29, 2007	John Maine (7 2/3) Willie Collazo (1/3) Carlos Muniz (1)	Florida Marlins 0	New York Mets 13	Paul Hoover, single, 8th
July 12, 2008	Pedro Martinez (4) Carlos Muniz (2) Aaron Heilman (1) Scott Schoeneweis (1) Billy Wagner (1)	Colorado Rockies 0	New York Mets 3	Brad Hawpe, single, 4th
Source: Mets.com