On June 1, 2012, when New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana threw the team’s first ever no-hitter after a 50+ season drought, the San Diego Padres took on the role as being the only Major League team with no no-hitter.
For four-and-a-half seasons (2008-2012), NoNoHitters.com dutifully logged the climbing count of Mets games without a no-hitter, which finally ended at 8,019. We even watched two of baseball’s newer franchises – the Colorado Rockies and the Tampa Bay Rays – exit the club in 2010. So that left the circa-1969 San Diego Padres as the sole member, and we decided to devote part of this website to the Friars in the hope that every team finally gets its due.
A San Diego Padres pitcher has never hurled a no-hitter?
That’s correct … well, a major league Padres pitcher has never hurled a no-hitter. Before the 1969 expansion the Padres were a minor league team in the Pacific Coast League, and the squad recorded three no-hitters. On May 7, 1959, when the Padres were an Indians AAA affiliate, Russ Heman no-hit the Vancouver Mounties en route to a 2-0 win. Al Worthington, a AAA White Sox affiliate pitcher, no-hit Hawaii 5-0 on Aug. 26, 1961, and Sammy Ellis got one against Tacoma when the Padres were a Reds affiliate on Aug. 14, 1962, 4-0.
So even with great pitchers like Randy Jones, Jake Peavy and Clay Kirby, the MLB club couldn’t break through?
None of them could do it, although Kirby came close … several times. And perhaps Kirby’s start on July 21, 1970 reveals the origin of The Curse.
In that game, the New York Mets were beating the Padres 1-0 but Kirby still had a no-hitter going through eight innings. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, San Diego skipper Preston Gomez decided to pull Kirby for a pinch hitter, Cito Gaston. Gaston struck out, reliever Jack Baldschun gave up a ninth-inning lead-off single to Bud Harrelson and the Mets rallied to pad their lead to 3-0, which would be the final score.
Would Kirby have reached base and started a rally that would have given them a 2-1 lead and an eventual no-no win? Would Kirby have struck out, yet kept the no-hitter alive through the top of the ninth to set up a ninth-inning Padres walk-off victory? We’ll never know, and the club still has no no-no.
So the Padres are cursed?
I have no idea, but perhaps a blessing from The Swinging Friar could help break it. Not sure if there’s a Franciscan prayer for no-hitters, but the gesture certainly couldn’t hurt.
And it’s a much better option than pulling a Pedro Cerrano to try to sacrifice a chicken – certainly not The San Diego Chicken. Or … maybe we could ask the San Diego Chicken to sacrifice a VHS copy of “Major League: Back to the Minors.” That would do future moviegoers a ton of good.
Great job putting together this page! I love how you went the extra mile and used the Padres old colors. Was surprised to learn that two teams have actually gone longer than the Padres without a no-hitter. Enjoyed the video of you promoting your book, too. Horace Clarke makes for a great trivia question/answer. Would never have known that.
Thanks. Glad to give Clarke some due. He gets lumped in with those bad Yankees teams of the 70s all too often.
Add ty Ross to tonight’s count of padres no no-no’s. 🙁
Would have been interesting to see if green let ty go into the 9th with 127 pitches already
Yeah, that hit certainly made it easier on Green. Heartbreaking way to lose a no-no.
July 25, 2018 – As a Met fan I’m hoping to jinx Clayton Richard’s perfect 4 innings so far. Could he be the first Padre with a no-no?
Not today!
You have to mention the closest the Padres ever got to that no-hitter.
It was July 1972. The Padres were playing the Philadelphia Phillies, and Steve Arlin, arguably our best pitcher, had gone 8 2/3 innings without allowing a hit, and was ONE STRIKE away from clinching the no-hitter.
Then things fell apart. Denny Doyle got what was labeled a “bad hop” single (actually, Don Zimmer. the manager, screwed up the player positioning to make that a possibility). Then all hell broke loose, and the Padres ended up LOSING that game 2-1!
I was so mad that I wanted to pulverize the radio into a fine powder.
Another reason for Arlin to hate Philadelphia (they gave up on him early in his career).
The Arlin near no-no and 21 others are chronicled on our Padres near no-hitters page: https://www.nonohitters.com/padres-near-no-hitters/