Fred Frankhouse, a Dodgers pitcher who knows what it feels like to reach the eighth inning with a no-hitter intact but not be included in the official record books, was born 112 years ago today.
On Friday, August 27, 1937, in the first game of a doubleheader at Ebbets Field, The Brooklyn Dodgers’ curve-baller threw 7⅔ innings of no-hit ball against the Cincinnati Reds before the skies opened up. The rain ended the action and it was called as a Dodgers 5-0 win. (The second game of the doubleheader was canceled.)
Frankhouse allowed six walks, and another Reds batter reached base on an error.
Of course the papers of the day credited Frankhouse with a no-hitter, using such phrases as “Frankhouse enters Hall of Fame,” but a 1991 ruling by baseball’s committee for statistical accuracy zapped rain- and darkness-shortened no-nos from the official ledgers.
On Friday night, the Dodgers’ Ross Stripling tossed 7⅓ innings of no-hit ball in his first major-league appearance before being pulled for a reliever when he hit 100 pitches. Dodgers’ manager Dave Roberts took the ball from Stripling, who had battled back from Tommy John surgery, and handed it to Chris Hatcher, who yielded a two-run homer to Trevor Brown.
