Today is the 75th anniversary of the Cincinnati Reds’ Clyde Shoun’s no-hitter against the Boston Braves, the no-no witnessed by the smallest crowd in the past century.
Shoun was nearly perfect on Monday, May 15, 1944, but his feat was witnessed by just 1,014 fans at Crosley Field. His only blemish came on a third-inning walk issued to opposing pitcher Jim Tobin.
Tobin had just thrown his own no-hitter less than three weeks earlier, and that game also makes our Top 5 list of the sparsest no-hit crowds over the past 100 years:
5 smallest crowds to watch a no-no
(Past 100 years)
Clyde Shoun
Cincinnati Reds (NL)
Monday, May 15, 1944
Cincinnati Reds 1, Boston Braves 0
Crosley Field (Cincinnati)
Attendance: 1,014
Dave Morehead
Boston Red Sox (AL)
Thursday, September 16, 1965
Boston Red Sox 2, Cleveland Indians 0
Fenway Park (Boston)
Attendance: 1,247
John Montefusco
San Francisco Giants (NL)
Wednesday, September 29, 1976
San Francisco Giants 9, Atlanta Braves 0
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta)
Attendance: 1,369
Jim Tobin
Boston Braves (NL)
Thursday, April 27, 1944
Boston Braves 2, Brooklyn Dodgers 0
Braves Field (Boston)
Attendance: 1,447
Bill Dietrich
Chicago White Sox (AL)
Tuesday, June 1, 1937
Chicago White Sox 8, St. Louis Browns 0
Comiskey Park (Chicago)
Attendance: 1,500
