The Best No-Hitters That Missed

As of 1991, MLB has defined a no-hitter as “a game in which a pitcher, or pitchers, gives up no hits while pitching at least nine innings. A pitcher may give up a run or runs so long as he pitches nine innings or more and does not give up a hit.”

Since SP George Bradley threw baseball’s first no-hitter in 1876, the feat has been achieved 304 times with only 23 of those ending in perfection. Every one of those pitchers etched themselves into the history books forever. However, there have been several instances where a player came close to earning the elusive accolade that is a no-hitter, but the effort for one reason or another was not officially recognized by MLB.

The first example that comes to mind is Tigers SP Armando Galarraga’s 28-out perfect game. Umpire Jim Joyce blew the perfect game bid with a missed call at first base, and Galarraga retired the 28th batter to earn a complete game victory. While that may go down in history as the worst call ever made, the game is officially recognized as a one-hit shutout even though fan’s will remember it as the 24th perfect game in MLB history. 

Sure, Galarraga falls under the umbrella of no-hitters that aren’t recognized, but there have been several far stranger or unfortunate reasons why a no-hitter was not officially recognized.

Bob Wicker, Chicago Cubs (June 11, 1904)

Wicker may be a relatively unknown player, but he enjoyed a fruitful six-year career between 1901-06. It was a different era of baseball, one that often saw starting pitchers reach the 200-inning plateau. Wicker was among those, reaching 220-plus innings in three of his six seasons. 

During his 1904 season with the Cubs, Wicker took the mound against the then-New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. In the current era of baseball, starters don’t pitch as many innings per game as they did in the past. As per Sports Illustrated, in the 2020 season the average starter lasted just under 5 innings pitched, not even enough to qualify for a win. Wicker took the mound in 1904 and dominated the Giants for 12 innings, holding them to only two hits after the ninth inning. Wicker would have thrown a no-hitter if the Cubs scored before the ninth inning, but instead he had to settle for a two-hit, complete game shutout.

Walter Johnson, Washington Senators (Aug. 25, 1924)

Johnson’s near-no-hitter is almost a what-if scenario. The Senators had a 2-0 lead on the then-St. Louis Browns and Johnson owned a no-hitter through seven innings; however, the game was called early due to rain. As stated in MLB’s rules, a game is considered official if 15 outs, or five innings, have been played. If an official game is called while the home team is winning, the game is over.

Since the Senators were the home team with a 2-0 advantage, the official game was called due to weather and Johnson was credited with a seven-inning complete game shutout. Again, due to MLB’s official scoring rules, Johnson’s failure to reach nine innings pitched meant the game didn’t count as a no-hitter. This is where the what-if scenarios come into play. If the game had continued, would he have recorded the final six outs without allowing a hit? We will never know; therefore, although Johnson was dealing, he was denied an opportunity to complete the second no-hitter of his illustrious career. 

Harvey Haddix, Pittsburgh Pirates (May 26, 1959)

There have been several odd, yet exhilarating games that have been played over the century, but this game between the Pirates and the then-Milwaukee Braves might have been the best of them all. Haddix was en route to perfection well past the ninth inning, but a series of unfortunate events in the 13th inning led to a loss and missed shot at history.

Haddix took the bump for the Pirates and carried a perfect game into the 13th inning. He faced 36 batters and sent each one back to the bench in order. According to an SABR article, it took Haddix only 104 pitches to get through 12 innings, but at that point anyone’s arm would be tired.

The perfect game went by the wayside on the first batter of the 13th inning when 3B Don Hoak made a throwing error allowing the first Braves baserunner to reach. A sacrifice bunt advanced the runner into scoring position before an intentional walk was issued to OF Hank Aaron. With two men on and one out, Haddix gave up the first hit of the game, a walk-off, three-run home run to 1B/OF Joe Adcock. Due to a rule violation by Aaron, the home run was reversed to a double but the Braves still claimed a 1-0 victory and ended Haddix’s bid at perfection.

Rich Hill, Los Angeles Dodgers (Aug. 23, 2017)

In more recent times, Hill needed just one run to lock down his no-hitter and etch his name into the history books. Unfortunately, a seemingly-always potent Dodgers lineup went silent that night despite putting 8 hits on the board. 

Hill gave the Dodgers everything that they could have asked for and more in the losing effort as their offense left Hill hanging like a shirt on a drying rack. A defensive error by 3B Logan Forsythe erased the possibility of a perfect game in the bottom of the 9th, and when 2B Josh Harrison stepped up to the plate to lead off the bottom of the 10th, he ended Hill’s no-no bid after depositing a 2-1 pitch into the left-field bleachers. Not to mention he raised the Jolly Roger and sent Pirates fans home happy with a walk-off win.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports