No-Hit Wonders: More Than Just the Pitcher

On this episode, Mark Simon (@markasimonsays) is joined by Dirk Lammers (@ddlammers), author of Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders and an expert on the history of no-hitters for a conversation on all the different factors that go into throwing one. Dirk explains the origins of his research, how much research he’s done, and his favorite (2:18). They then discuss the most prominent defensive plays in no-hitters, what made Gregor Blanco’s perfect game-saving catch so special, what percentage of no-hitters feature a good or great defensive play, and why Kevin Kouzmanoff should be remembered for his defensive work (7:21). They also get into the role of umpires and catchers (14:36) and look at patterns in pitchers that throw no-hitters (18:47). Lastly they discuss the most likely current pitchers to throw a no-hitter (20:01). Thanks for listening and stay safe!

Dirk’s website – NoNoHitters.com (@nonohitters)

No-Hitters Referenced

Robin Yount catch in Juan Nieves no-hitter LINK

Gregor Blanco catch in Matt Cain perfect game LINK

DeWayne Wise catch in Mark Buehrle perfect game LINK

Mike Baxter catch in Johan Santana no-hitter LINK

Dallas Braden perfect game LINK

Roy Halladay perfect game LINK

Francisco Liriano no-hitter LINK

Harvey Haddix near-perfect game LINK

Max Scherzer’s 17-strikeout no-hitter LINK

Sandy Koufax perfect game LINK

Tom Seaver’s no-hitter LINK

The story of a Cy Young’s no-hitter LINK