OK, gumshoes. With just a month to go before the San Diego Padres can overtake the New York Mets’ no-hit futility record of 8,019 regular season games, we ask your help in answering the question, “Where in the World is a No-No in San Diego?”
Clues have pointed to July 21, 1970, but Padres’ Manager Preston Gomez pulled Clay Kirby after eight innings of no-hit ball and reliever Jack Baldschun couldn’t hold back the Mets. A magnifying glass over July 18, 1972 shows Friars skipper Don Zimmer signaling in third baseman Dave Roberts to guard against a bunt, prompting a Denny Doyle single that killed Steve Arlin’s no-no through 8⅔.
In fact, Padres pitchers have taken no-hitters into the eighth inning 22 times, as chronicled here, but no one has yet been able to complete the feat.
So can we assemble a team of gumshoes to find a no-no in San Diego before the Padres host the Pittsburgh Pirates on May 16 for what is scheduled to be no no-no No. 8,020? Time is of the essence.