Hall of Famer Bob Feller threw the only Opening Day no-hitter in baseball history, 78 years ago today.
The 21-year-old Feller used his “heater from Van Meter” fastball on April 16, 1940 to mow down eight White Sox batters as the Cleveland Indians topped Chicago 1-0. Feller’s parents and sister, Marguerite, were among the 14,000 fans at Chicago’s Comiskey Park that afternoon.
“I knew I had a chance for a no-hitter in the ninth,” Feller told the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “but I tried to put the thought out of my mind by reminding myself you never have a no-hitter until the last man is out.”
Feller threw two additional no-hitters, tying Larry Corcoran and Cy Young for a major league record that would later be broken by Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan:
| 2 | Bob Feller |
|---|---|
| Cleveland Indians (AL) | |
| Tuesday, April 30, 1946 Cleveland Indians 1, New York Yankees 0 Yankee Stadium (New York) |
|
| 3 | Bob Feller |
| Cleveland Indians (AL) | |
| Sunday, July 1, 1951 (First game of doubleheader) Cleveland Indians 2, Detroit Tigers 1 Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland) |
Feller nearly had some company on April 16, 1940. With all 16 teams in action, Boston Red Sox southpaw Lefty Grove took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before it was broken up with a single by the Washington Senators’ Cecil Travis. Grove retired the game’s first 21 batters but lost the perfecto on an eighth-inning error. He settled for a two-hit 1-0 complete-game shutout.
Asked by an AP reporter if he was disappointed by Travis’ single, Grove said, “No. No-hitters are bad luck.”
Two other no-hitters were thrown on the date of April 16, but they were not on the first day of the season:
| 1 | Burt Hooton |
|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs (NL) | |
| Sunday, April 16, 1972 Chicago Cubs 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0 Wrigley Field (Chicago) |
|
| 2 | Bob Forsch |
| St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | |
| Sunday, April 16, 1978 St. Louis Cardinals 5, Philadelphia Phillies 0 Busch Stadium (St. Louis) (His first of two no-hitters) |
