Boston Red Sox: A look at the top no-hitters in franchise history
By Rick McNair
Dutch Leonard had two no-hitters for Boston and the second one stands out since the umpire was an interesting baseball personality. This was also 1918 and a championship season that, unfortunately, Leonard would not be part of it since he opted to avoid the draft by working at the Fore Rive Shipyard. In December, Leonard would be traded to the Yankees and eventually sold to the Tigers after a salary dispute. Leonard also gets a no-hitter nod over his rather bizarre connection to baseball superstars and gambling.
At Navin Field in Detroit on June third, the left-handed Leonard was at his best with a lone walk preventing a perfect game in a 5-0 victory over the Tigers. The game also saw the Red Sox centerfielder – someone named Babe Ruth – hit a home run. The Babe also whiffed twice.
Home plate umpire Bill Dinneen had an interesting connection to the Red Sox (Americans) – he once pitched for them, including the first World Series in 1903 when he went 3-1. Dinneen also pitched for the Boston Beaneaters (Braves) during his pitching career which finished at 170-177. For a how times have changed the view of MLB – Dinneen became an MLB umpire 17 days after he pitched his last game. Dinneen umpired in the first All-Star game and in eight World Series.
The catcher for Leonard was Sam Agnew, who would probably make the offense of Ryan Hanigan look like Mike Piazza. In the championship year of 1918, Agnew hit .166 in 72 games and stroked a career .204 with two home runs and 98 RBI. In the 1918 World Series Agnew went 0-9.
Leonard remained in the majors until 1925 posting a career 134-119 record. Leonard was a contributor to two other Red Sox championships with victories in the World Series of 1915 and 1916. The first no-hitter was at home against the St. Louis Browns and Leonard issued two walks while striking out three.
Leonard had a notorious rivalry with Ty Cobb and attempted to connect Cobb and Tris Speaker to game fixing. The murky situation never resulted in any punishment as Leonard refused to testify before Commissioner Landis.