Glavine falls 4 outs shy of Mets no-hitter, 9 years ago today

My Kit Pellow baseball cardOn May 23, 2004, the Mets’ Tom Glavine had a no-no in tact heading into the eighth inning, and fans at Shea were growing increasingly excited and tense as they now stood for every at-bat.

After Glavine got the Colorado Rockies’ Jeromy Burnitz to fly out to left and struck out Matt Holliday, up to the plate stepped Kit Pellow, a 30-year-old Kansas City native who broke into the Majors in 2002 with the Royals. Pellow took a pitch in the dirt, then drove a 1-0 changeup over Shane Spencer’s head to the right-field wall for a double.

The Mets’ no-hitter drought would continue.

Glavine struck out Rene Reyes to end the inning, then retired pinch hitter Todd Greene (caught looking), Denny Hocking (F9) and Royce Clayton (F6) to salvage the 4-0 complete game shutout.

Last I heard, Pellow was playing some pretty good ball in the Mexican League, but I haven’t heard an update in a few years.

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Seaver’s 2nd one-hitter marked only time it has happened back-to-back

Mets one-hitter Number 6
May 15, 1970 – New York Mets 4, Philadelphia Phillies 0 – Connie Mack Stadium
No-no killed by third-inning Mike Compton single

Tom Seaver’s second one-hitter marked the only time in club history that Mets pitchers threw consecutive one-hitters.

The Mets had a travel day after Gary Gentry’s one-hitter, but Seaver took the mound the next night at Connie Mack Stadium and dominated the Phillies with a 15-strikeout performance.

The only hit yielded by Seaver was a third-inning Mike Compton single, although he walked three during the night and two batters reached base on Mets’ errors.

Thirty-three years later the Mets would throw two one-hitters in three games, but Gentry’s and Seaver’s back-to-back gems remain the team’s only consecutive one-hitters.

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Gentry’s first one-hitter, 42 years ago today

Mets' no-hitter No. 5
May 13, 1970 – New York Mets 4, Chicago Cubs 0 – Wrigley Field
No-no killed by Ernie Banks eighth-inning single

Gary Gentry, the winning pitcher in Game 3 of the World Series, retired the first 12 batters during this Wednesday afternoon contest at Wrigley Field before issuing a leadoff walk to Ron Santo in the fifth.

Gentry got Johnny Callison to ground into a 6-3 double play and kept his no-hitter alive until the eighth inning, when the legendary Ernie Banks hit a two-out single to left and extended the Mets no no-hitters streak to 1,330 games.

Gentry hit pinch-hitter Willie Smith with a pitch in the ninth but retired the next two batters for a Mets 4-0 win and the team’s fifth one-hitter.

Gentry helped his cause with the bat in the fifth inning by singling home Wayne Garrett, who had a 2-for-3 day with a double and triple after replacing third-baseman Joe Foy, who was hit by a pitch in the second.

When would the next Mets’ one-hitter come? Two days later during the club’s very next game in Philadelphia.

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Calling all Padres fans

Still looking for a #padres fan to continue the nonohitters.com tradition with a companion site hosted here at padres.nonohitters.com?

When Johan Sanatana tossed his no-no last June and broke the Mets’ streak of 8,019 games, it left San Diego as the only no no-no club.

I’ll be at Petco Park on Sunday and would love to pass the torch.

Any takers? Email me at passthetorch@nonohitters.com.

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Clip of Darvish losing perfecto

In case you missed it last night, here’s the clip of the Rangers’ Yu Darvish losing his perfect game with two outs in the ninth last night.

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Mets advance Padres’ no no-hitter count to 6,951 games

Ruben Tejada’s second-inning RBI double continues the Padres’ no-hitter drought, moving the count to 6,951 regular season games without a no-no.

When Johan Sanatana tossed his no-no last June and broke the Mets’ streak of 8,019 games, it left San Diego as the only no no-no club. We’re still looking for a Padres fan to take over a companion site, padres.nonohitters.com.

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Passing the torch to San Diego?

Are there any diehard Padres fans out there who would like to continue the nonohitters.com tradition this season with a companion site hosted here at padres.nonohitters.com?

When Johan Sanatana tossed his no-no last June and broke the Mets’ streak of 8,019 games, it left San Diego as the only no no-no club.

I’ll be in S.D. in a couple of weeks and would love to pass the torch.

Any takers? Email me at passthetorch@nonohitters.com.

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The Mets first no-hitter*, 48 years ago today

48 years ago today, on March 21, 1965, the Mets threw their first no-hitter. *

* it came in a Spring Training Game.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., that day, Gary Kroll and Gordy Richardson combined for a nine-inning no-hitter during a 6-0 contest. Page 30 of the 1965 Mets yearbook sports a picture of Richardson throwing a pitch in the ninth inning and another of Kroll and Richardson getting congratulations from the Mets front office brass the following day.

I wonder if either pitcher knew we’d still celebrate that moment until June 1, 2012.

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Marcum to join Mets’ rotation

ESPN New York is reporting that the Mets have a new starting pitcher.

The Milwaukee Brewers’ Shaun Marcum is joining a likely rotation that will include Johan Santana, Matt Harvey, Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee.

Apparently Marcum took no-hitters into the seventh inning at least twice, so maybe Sanatan will eventually have some company.

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33 days and counting

Just 33 days until the Mets’ pitchers and catchers report to embark on their quest for no-hitter No. 2!

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