4+ One-Hitters Since 1920
Posted by Steve Lombardi on December 4, 2010
Since 1920, how many starting pitchers have thrown 4+ one-hitters?
Here's the list -
| Rk | Player | #Matching | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nolan Ryan | 13 | Ind. Games | 12 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.08 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 117.1 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 145 | 0.51 |
| 2 | Bob Feller | 11 | Ind. Games | 11 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.27 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 0 | 99.0 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 51 | 91 | 0.63 |
| 3 | Don Sutton | 6 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.16 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 55.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 34 | 0.42 |
| 4 | Steve Carlton | 6 | Ind. Games | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.17 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 54.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 50 | 0.31 |
| 5 | Dave Stieb | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 45.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 27 | 0.36 |
| 6 | Tom Seaver | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.20 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 45.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 53 | 0.38 |
| 7 | Jim Palmer | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 45.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 0.31 |
| 8 | Bobo Newsom | 5 | Ind. Games | 4 | 1 | .800 | 0.20 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 46.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 37 | 0.67 |
| 9 | Jim Maloney | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 45.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 48 | 0.42 |
| 10 | Randy Johnson | 5 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 45.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 64 | 0.36 |
| 11 | Bert Blyleven | 5 | Ind. Games | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.20 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 46.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 34 | 0.46 |
| 12 | Vida Blue | 5 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.20 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 45.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 33 | 0.40 |
| 13 | Whit Wyatt | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.50 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 0.31 |
| 14 | Rick Wise | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 0.42 |
| 15 | Lon Warneke | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 27 | 0.42 |
| 16 | Bob Turley | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 31 | 0.61 |
| 17 | Virgil Trucks | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 30 | 0.42 |
| 18 | Steve Rogers | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 24 | 0.39 |
| 19 | Ken Raffensberger | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0.31 |
| 20 | Billy Pierce | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 28 | 0.56 |
| 21 | Mike Mussina | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 48 | 0.19 |
| 22 | Sam McDowell | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 39 | 0.58 |
| 23 | Pedro Martinez | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.25 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 48 | 0.14 |
| 24 | Woodie Fryman | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 0.33 |
| 25 | Danny Darwin | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.25 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 0.33 |
| 26 | Mike Cuellar | 4 | Ind. Games | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.00 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 36.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 21 | 0.33 |
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Ken Raffensberger? Betcha can't name three people who have never been in his kitchen.
Yeah, I know, that was John Ratzenberger...
December 4th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
beyond Pedro... who is only sorta-active at the moment... who is the leader actively?
December 4th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Interesting that Carlton and Sutton rank so high on this list, yet they never managed to pitch a no-hitter.
December 4th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I presume Halladay has at least one no hitter.
December 4th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Interesting that only one pitcher ever got the loss in the game.
December 4th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
How are some of these not CGs?
December 4th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
@5, BSK -- Nice catch on the non-CGs. I don't know if MLB has the same strict definition of a one-hitter as it has for a no-hitter, but if so, some of these would not qualify. An official no-hitter, of course, must be a CG. It appears that this list is built on "IP>=9 and H=1".
December 4th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Yeah, that's a flaw. I used 9+ IP since there was no option for CG only.
December 4th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
Active leader is Kerry Wood with two?
December 4th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Active:
3: Pedro
2: Kerry Wood, Tim Hudson, Roy Halladay, Matt Cain
Also, if you set the search to complete games, 1 Hit Allowed, Ryan drops to 12, but Feller goes up to 12 thanks to an 8 inning 1-0, 1 hit loss.
December 4th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
And presumably this list does not count postseason? Otherwise Halladay would be there.
December 4th, 2010 at 8:09 pm
-- In just 262 career starts, Jim Maloney had 5 one-hitters and 2 no-hitters, including a 10-inning, 10-walk, 12-K no-no in Wrigley Field in which Maloney himself went 2 for 4.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN196508191.shtml
-- Look at Pedro's 4 games: 48 Ks ... 1 walk. And the walk went to ... Ed Taubensee???
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN199707130.shtml
-- And Ken Raffensberger's quartet: 5 Ks (???), including a no-K effort:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN194807110.shtml
-- And of course, the only loss in this group went to the illustrious Bobo Newsom. The winning pitcher, Rube Walberg, allowed 10 hits in 9 innings ... of relief.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA193409180.shtml
December 4th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Roy Halladay has at least one one-hitter - in his first month in the majors, a no-hit bid broken up in the 9th inning by a Bobby Higginson home run. Fortunately, he still won the game.
December 4th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
One of the enjoyable aspects of baseball and this site is discovering something or someone new. Today, that would be Ken Raffensberger. I know every other name on the list but his.
@2, DavidRF, as we've probably all heard in our baseball-watching years, pitching a no-hitter usually does require some luck. In many no-hitters, there's usually one or two balls hit that could have ended up as hit if not for a good play, or perhaps another type of randomness comes into play. Don Larsen obviously was on for his perfect game, but I'm guessing he was helped by the afternoon shadows at Yankee Stadium. In other games, the pitcher might draw an umpire with a wide strike zone.
Overall, though, any pitcher tossing multiple no-hitters, one-hitters and two-hitters will have to be good for a period of time. That got me to wondering who is the "worst" pitcher on this list? I immediately zeroed in on Raffensberger, but was surprised to see he was a good pitcher. He's probably forgotten by many because he clearly was on some very bad teams, resulting a poor won-lost record. Couple in the less than memorable name of Raffensberger, and he becomes forgotten by most. And, no, he's never been in my kitchen!
So who is the weakest of the group? Woody Fryman? Bob Turley is a possibility, although that gets into the question of defining weakest. Pure stuff wise, Turley is probably toward the top of the group, who might have been an AJ Burnett-like pitcher (but not as good) with electric stuff and the promise to always be something more. Probably not fair to compare AJ to him, since Turley seemed to have very poor command, walking a ton. Any other candidates?
December 4th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Halladay has 2 regular season 1-hitters..
@10 Halladay has never thrown a post season 1-hitter. In fact only 6 pitchers have:
Roger Clemens (2000)
Bobby Jones (2000)
Kevin Millwood (1999)
Jim Lonborg (1967)
Bill Bevens (1947)
Claude Passeau (1945)
December 4th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
@10, Dark Leviathan says: .And presumably this list does not count postseason? Otherwise Halladay would be there.
---------------
If I understand how this list is constructed, Halladay would not show up even if this did include the post season. The is a search for pitchers with four or more one-hitters. No-hitters wouldn't be included. In other words, the bad-luck club. So Nolan Ryan, in addition to his seven no-hitters, also has thirteen one-hitters.
BTW Old Hoss Radbourn had seven one-hitters, but that was back in the late 1800s, so wasn't included in the search.
December 4th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I guess it should be noted that my list above (#9) was generated by using complete games with no inning limitation.. so it could include any type of rain shortened games.....
December 4th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
The great Bobo Newsom -- the only pitcher in the live-ball era with three 20-loss seasons, and the only modern 200-game winner with a losing record. But he was a good pitcher. He carried Detroit's pitching staff to the pennant in 1940, and came this-close to being a 3-win hero in the '40 Series.
He had 5 different stints with the Senators, but they never once gave up another player to get him. Just a wild, wonderful career. There must be a good biography of him out there somewhere....
December 4th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
@9
Roy Oswalt also has two one-hitters. So he can be added to the active list.
December 4th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
@16, John Autin, yup, I considered Bobo for the "worst" of the group, but he was too interesting and good to be bad, both on the field and in his personal life!
December 4th, 2010 at 8:58 pm
Woody Fryman seems to have the lowest ERA+ of this group, at 96.
But we loved him in Detroit in late summer '72....
Rick Wise & Bob Turley both have ERA+ of 101.
P.S. I love Raffensberger's expression in this picture -- he seems to be wondering, "Geez, how the heck did they stick me with the loss this time?"
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raffeke01.shtml
December 4th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
...and if Woody is the worst, then that reinforces that a pitcher has got to be pretty good to pitch four or more one-hitters.
Fryman and Raffensberger are a bit similar in that they do appear to be more outliers for this group, which includes approximately ten HOFers (I'm going under the belief that Blyleven and Mussina will both eventually get in, and Pedro is a no-brainer); some under-appreciated, excellent pitchers like Dave Steib; and a group of major power arms like McDowell and Turley.
Fryman and Raffensberger are both lefties and I called them outliers since both don't seem to be logical candidates for multiple one-hitters. Fryman didn't start all that many games, which makes four one-hitters pretty impressive, and while I don't know anything about Raffensberger, his stats suggest a soft-tossing, excellent lefty control pitcher. Low strike-outs and low walks, with more hits than innings pitched. That type of pitcher usually doesn't rack up a lot of low-hit games. He must have frustrating and infuriating to batters when his game was on.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:04 am
I always heard that Bob Feller had the most 1-hitters (I thought it was 12 or 13). Is my memory fouled or is this list screwy somehow?
Well, one of Nolan Ryan's is not actually a 1-hitter, since he didn;t finish it. But I can't figure how Feller is short, unless the gamelogs for his career aren't complete.
OK, Wiki says Feller shares the record with 12. We know Ryan only has 12 at most. Feller is still missing one somewhere.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:10 am
Looking at Mussina's line blew my mind. Then Pedro goes and beats it.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:50 am
As many as Jim Joyce wants and the umpire ass-kissers at this blog approves.
December 5th, 2010 at 2:17 am
@21 JT ~
I mentioned in @9 that one of Feller's 1-hitters was a 1-0 loss, in which he only pitched 8 innings. The list in the post is actually pitchers who have pitched 9 or more innings while only giving up 1 hit, so not particularly a 1 hitter.
in the post, one of Ryan's games is lost, due to him not pitching a complete game, and Feller gains one.
December 5th, 2010 at 2:21 am
Here's (http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLA/SLA195204230.shtml) that Feller game... which is actually a double 1-hitter, with Bob Cain 'out-dueling' Feller....
December 5th, 2010 at 6:46 am
Jim Maloney is an interesting case in part because injuries basically ended his career in 1970 at age 30, just as the Big Red Machine was forming. It's not unreasonable to think that had he stayed healthy he would have racked up a few more 20 win seasons and might well have been a serious candidate for the Hall of Fame. Bobo Newsom is the only other player on the list with 5 or more who isn't at least in the discussion for the Hall, although Steib didn't get much respect from the voters in his only season of eligibility.
December 5th, 2010 at 7:15 am
Raffensberger: according to the Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers, his key pitch early in his career was a rising fastball. As a veteran, he went with a forkball, a slow curve, a fastball, and a change. They quote Stan Musial at length about Raffy and his slow stuff, also Baseball Magazine in 1941 said he probably had the widest range of pitching deliveries in the majors. James considers him the 9th unluckiest pitcher in history, that with his ERA he should have gone 146-127 instead of 119-154, his actual record.
December 5th, 2010 at 7:35 am
Just for fun, I played with the numbers a bit, to varying results.
Because today, a CG is "almost" as rare as a one hitter, I lowered the IP total to 6 or >, which is the modern definition of a Quality Start, and included no-hitters as well.
It blew me away but Nolan Ryan came in way ahead of the pack with 30.
Pretty impressive. His nearest competitor was the Big Unit, with 17, then Feller with 15.
I imagine Feller was hurt by his era. I can't imagine a scenario where Rapid Bob Feller gets pulled after giving up a hit in the 7th. I'm sure Johnson did, which i not saying he didn't dominate. Just benefited from pitch count, stronger bullpen/closers and managerial strategic changes.
Which makes me wonder, even though during his peak, the Unit was a horse, could he of been as dominate in the 40's or 50's.
That being said, what could of Bob Feller done if he was held to 235 IP and 4 days rest every year. That and a great bullpen?
December 5th, 2010 at 7:40 am
At a quick glance of my aforementioned list, one of Johnson's "one-hitters" was a 7 inning relief stint. Which I think is equally as impressive, having not fully prepared to pitch and all.
December 5th, 2010 at 8:09 am
Raffensberger's four one-hit shutouts:
On May 31, 1948, he carried a no-hitter against the Cardinals into the eighth inning before Nippy Jones singled. He beat the Cardinals again on one hit six weeks later.
On May 22, 1949, Brooklyn's Gil Hodges broke up his no-hitter in the eighth. Raffensberger set down the Dodgers on 83 pitches. "The one against Brooklyn I think was the greatest," he later said.
At Chicago's Wrigley Field on September 2, 1951, Eddie Miksis beat out a dribbler down the third-base line in the third inning for the Cubs' only hit. Raffensberger walked none, one man reached on an error, and he threw only 69 pitches.
In 1951 The Sporting News asked several veteran hitters to explain Raffy's success:
Jackie Robinson: "He is one of the smartest pitchers. He gives you that tantalizing stuff that looks good but isn't."
Marty Marion: "You feel that you want to hit at that nice, easy motion, but he always has a little more than you think."
Enos Slaughter: "You swing at something which isn't exactly where you think it is."
Stan Musial, wrote, "The fork ball looked as big as a grapefruit, but fell off the table, low."
December 5th, 2010 at 8:38 am
Wow, Ken Raffensberger lead the league in losses and WHIP one year..weird!
December 5th, 2010 at 8:45 am
Lon Warneke
The most wins of any Arkansas pitcher. Right there with Dean
December 5th, 2010 at 8:47 am
Here are the alttime leaders in ERA+ in
age range 22-27, with the innings requirement to 1,400.
ERA+ IP WS
Hal Newhouser 148 1671 167
Tom Seaver 144 1641 155
Lefty Gomez 138 1460 111
LON WARNEKE 137 1421 129
Robin Roberts 136 1860 168
Bert Blyleven 134 1657 130
Juan Marichal 132 1414 116
Dave Stieb 131 1524 129
DIZZY DEAN 129 1728 162
Don Drysdale 129 1734 137
"The Arkansas Hummingbird" --sweet bird of youth
December 5th, 2010 at 9:06 am
I like this. The yankee channel is always re-playing and talking about the perfect games/no-hitters (Righetti, Wells, Cone, Abbott, Gooden). When in fact, very little gets mentioned about the best perfomance (or 2nd best) I ever watched... Mike Mussina's 1 hitter in Boston. Clemens peformance against Seattle in the playoffs was probably more dominating.
But, again this list is dominated by pitchers from 1960's / early 1970's when the mound was higher and the strike zone was larger.
December 5th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Lots of Base on Balls there by Ryan / Feller. I probably would not even want to watch some of those games. I would think 5 or more walks in a game vs 1 or 2 walk games are not even in the same category.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Clemens peformance against Seattle in the playoffs was probably more dominating.
Definitely.
December 5th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Feller had the record for most career walks for a while. Ryan has it now, and by a much larger % then his K record.
Jonathan Sanchez gave up 96 walks this year, to lead the majors. This is the first time in a non-strike year that the most BB < 100 since 1881. Of course, in 1881 the season was much shorter anyway. So effectively the first time in ML history!
December 5th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
KDS-
Are walk rates as a whole down?
December 5th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
That's fascinating about Sanchez, I had no idea. BSK, no. The walk rate this season (3.3 per 9) was toward the low end of where it's been since the offensive explosion, but not extremely so, and is about average since 1900. I guess the continually shrinking number of SP IP is the primary cause.
December 5th, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Taking a closer look, the Sanchez "achievement" is not that remarkable, except in its relation to a big round number. In the last 20 seasons, the MLB leader has been at 100 (twice), 103, 105, 106 (twice). And it's not been at all uncommon for one league's leader to be under 100. So it was just a matter of time. Still, interesting.
In the 1970s, the leader was commonly at 150 or more. That's partly because of SP routinely throwing over 300 IP and partly because of Nolan Ryan.
In modern history, the champion seasons look to be 1977 (AL - Ryan 204, NL - P. Niekro 164) and 1955 (AL - Turley 177, NL - Sam Jones 185).
December 6th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Wow, what amazes me the most is Pedro's.
36 innings, ONE walk, 48 strikeouts.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:38 am
@42 - For me it was Mussina. , But definately if you pick two names off the list as far as pitching nearly perfect games ... it would be Pedro and Mussina.
December 6th, 2010 at 9:17 am
Dave Steib had at least 2 (maybe 3? - too lazy to look) of these one-hitters had the hits come in the 9th inning. I remember watching a particularly dominating performance against the Yankees where Roberto Kelly broke up the no hitter with 2 outs in the ninth. (I want to say it would have been a perfect game, but my memory typically fails me in these types of recollections).
I was very happy for Dave when he finally got his no hitter after so many close calls.
December 6th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
Duke, re #30:
The game you mention is a fascinating one, because if not for Padres catcher Wiki Gonzales, we would all immediately know this game as the "Curt Schilling-Randy Johnson combined perfect game" (as if they didn't do enough in 2001):
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN200107180.shtml
From what I could find, Qualcomm had some sort of electrical problems the night of the 18th, causing the game to be suspended after two innings and completed the following day as part of a doubleheader. Johnson's "relief" stint therefore didn't take him by surprise exactly, as he "started" the resumption as he normally would any other game and on his regular four days of rest, but is extremely impressive nonetheless.
Schilling had retired the first six Padres, and the Big Unit pitched very effectively the next day as well. Gonzales would be the only man to reach, drawing a 3-2 walk to lead off the sixth, and breaking up the no-hitter with a first-pitch single after two were out in the eighth. Of the 21 outs Johnson got to complete the one-hitter, SIXTEEN were by way of strikeout, breaking the all-time record for a relief appearance; he struck out the side in the 4th and 7th innings and recorded two Ks the other five innings.
I don't recall any other combined no-hitters across more than one day due to rain or any other type of delay, so this certainly would have been a unique footnote in baseball history. As it stands, a great performance in an interesting situation--perhaps a foreshadowing of another great relief performance by Johnson later that season, on a much bigger stage?
December 6th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
@44,
I checked out that game I mentioned above (Dave Steib almost perfect game against NYY). While it is true that Roberto Kelly broke up the perfect game with 2 outs in the ninth, what I forgot is that Steve Sax followed Kelly's double with a single of his own that scored a run. So Stieb's game was actually not on the list above because it was a 2-hitter. This was the best non-shutout I ever watched. Steib was absolutely dealing and kelly was lucky to get that 2 strike double. I would chalk Sax's hit up to Steib being annoyed.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
@31, 33-34 -- Petro -- Nice stuff there, especially the historical sense of Raffensberger. Appreciated.
And on Warneke ... you didn't even mention his brilliant work against my Tigers in the '35 Series!