Boston Red Sox: A look at the top no-hitters in franchise history
By Rick McNair
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Two Red Sox pitchers recently went into no-hitter territory in back-to-back games. What were the most notable no-hitters in team history?
The Red Sox have had 18 no-hitters in Franchise history and each one has been a victory. That may seem strange, but baseball history is littered with no-hitters that resulted in a loss thanks to errors, fits of wildness and the other team shutting you down.
Of the 18 no-hitters, five have been on the road. The Chicago White Sox have been victimized the most by Boston with four being tossed against them.
Three unusual no-hit occurrences have taken place and one may be a record that will certainly be difficult to match – Johnny Vander Meer, who tossed consecutive no-hitters. The first was against the Boston Bees (Braves) and the second was four days later against the Dodgers.
A second one is a no-hitter I recall when Harvey Haddix pitched 12 perfect innings only to lose in the 13th inning on a two-run double by Joe Adcock. The double was actually a home run, but the celebration by the Braves resulted in a base running snafu and Adcock received credit for a double.
The last was a no-hitter by the Red Sox Howard Ehmke in September of 1923. In that contest against Philadelphia Slim Harriss hit a wall ball double off Ehmke, but was called out for failing to touch first base.
I have seen four no-hitters in Boston. My father only took me to one baseball game and that was 1956 when Mel Parnell tossed one. I remember Parnell collecting a groundball back to the mound and making the play at first unassisted.
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My second one was in 1962 with Earl Wilson pitching. Wilson was linebacker size and had some significant heat. I was celebrating school ending and took in a ballgame and the real highlight was Wilson hammering a home run that was actually the winning run. Wilson was a very impressive hitter.
A dreary day in September of 1965 had me at Fenway Park to watch a lousy Red Sox team finish off a typical lousy Red Sox season. I worked in Boston at the time and had some flexible hours so a fellow Red Sox fan and I sauntered over to the game. Dave Morehead was pitching for Boston and the crowd was the smallest I ever recall seeing at Fenway. Morehead tossed a no-hitter and beat the Indians 2-0 and that, to me, was the season highlight.
The last one was attended with my daughter and that was the one tossed by Clay Buchholz. The place was much energized as this was 2007 and a championship was down the road. I do remember seeing Dustin Pedroia make a nice play in a game the Red Sox had well in hand – eventually winning 10-0. After the game, I read where the Sox were thinking of pulling Buchholz over a pitch count.
As a side note, I passed up the one that Jon Lester pitched. I was going to that one with my daughter, but gave the ticket to a friend of hers. That was also the fourth no-hitter that Jason Varitek caught – a team record.
So just what were the best ones? I have five that stand out for various reasons and will pass on the ones I attended.