Evening star., 1911-08-21
Special Dispatch 10 The Star.

game" The clamor OF the crowd. the
hero worshipers of their Idol. the star
pitcher of the hum team. is ever thus.
Half dozen. two, even one h.tless in
ming. and the fans are up on their toes
shouting for a column of ciphers in the
n" part of the invaders box score
And do these same fans realize the
magnitude of the task they are demand
ing and what II means to the pitcher:
Seldom: 1t means fame and glory TO tie
pitcher-that is. his name will go down In
base ball history as one of the greatest
or them all. 1t means that he will be one
among the other twenty-six who have
accomplished the feat since the advent OF
the twentieth century-an average of less
than once year in each of the big
leagues. And consider the great pitch
ers who have never turned the Trick.
when ice Wood twirled a no-ht game
against the st. Louis Browns in the last
series between the Boston Red Sox and
the cellar champions of the American
League, many passed over the perform
ance with the remark: "Oh, there's noth-
ing wonderful in doing that to the
broWns These people are mistaken.
Ihere Is something wonderful in dong
that to the Browns, or any other team
FOR that matter Every year the cham
plon clubs have met the ta.l-enders The
80 AioSc opptSeQ Illc WcTSt some twenty
ODD times each season. And yet, not
once year. on the average. has the
Under dog IA led to register a hit.
Wood no-hit game at ST. LOUIS broke
tie between the two leagues that has
existed since May 10 of last year when
Chief Bender of the Athletics pitched hit
less ball against Cleveland. Wood per-
iormance made the count during the last
Twelve seasons eleven for the American
as against ten for the Nationals.
in %t,r e3ref is-t,<
or the century to be credited with no.
hit game. He did it against the Phiies
July II. 1900. Next year came Christy
Mathewson. then in his ''teeEs.'' who re-
| tired the st. Louis Card mails without
bingle. No National Lacquer achieved the
feat In 1902. but in 1853 Chick Fraser of
Philadelphia made the Cubs victims of a
perfect exhibition of sabcraft. Mathew
son repeated his 1901 performance in 1905
and 1906 saw Lush of Philadelphia and
Nal Eason of Brooklyn enter the honor
! lst In 1907 Fred Pfeffer of Boston and
Maddox OF Pittsburgh were the heroes
George Wiltse of the New York Giants
| held the Phillies hitless for ten innings
July 8. 1908. and Nap Rucker of Brook
/ lyn was the performer in the last no-hit
game pitched in the National League
| when he downed the then fairly strong
Boston team September 5. 1908.
Sox was the first no-hit pitcher OF the
American League. The man who is now
| hailed as the greatest come back in
base ball history was then In his prime,
and he did the deed against the Detroit
Tigers In 19O2. Two years later, grand
| old Cy Young duplicated the performance
and brought the Boston Red Sox into the
| limelight. Connie Mack's Athletics were
the vanaushed in this ha'ne; After
and Henley of Philadelphia had turned
| the trick In 1904 and 1908. Young came
back in HOS and repeated Addie Joss
Of Cleveland fnOw deady shared the 1905
honors with Young and again pitched a
| no-hit game in, 1910. That same year
Bender of Philadelphia hung UP his rec
| ord performance. 1t was the last no-hii
game until Woods recent great exhi-
| bitfon.
Among these twenty-one stars, only
three have achieved a no-hit game more
than once in their careers. They are
| Mathewson, Young and Joss. each OF
| whom uncorked two spotless perform
| ances.
Miss Honor by Slight Margin.
| Several times this year pitchers have
done faultless work for a number OF
innings. so that it seemed more than
likely that a no-hit game would result.
Exactly a month ago George Wiltse OF
the New York Giants held the st. Louis
Cardinals hitless for six innings. Then
/
cracked out a two-bagger that spoiled
an otherwise perfect performance. a
| day later Nap Rucker of Brooklyn, one
OF the greatest southpaws In the game
today, opposed Cincinnati For eight in
| nings he kept the hard-hitting red-Iegs
) from counting q safe clout. In the ninth,
gigantic Larry Mclean was first at bat.
He struck out. So did Pitcher Frank
Smith. Bobby Bescher's turn came next
and the Dodger fans were preparing to
l nn-ht OoY
was all that stood between him and the
coveted honor. What did Bescher do?
| He knocked a slow one over second base
tat the sluggish Brooklyn infielders
could not reach, and Fuckers remarkable
| work was set at naught, SO far as get
| ting a no-hit game was concerned.
Every One a shut-out.
1t SO happens that all no-hit games in
| the big leagues have been shut-outs
That may seem like a waste of words
the average fan always considers a no
hit game a shut-out as a matter of
| course. Far be it from such. Several
| instances in the minor leagues can be
| cited where a team failed to get sin
gle hit. but yet won the game. Errors.
bases on balls and the like did the
work. although the opposing finger
was not hit safely during the entire
game. What the aforementioned fan
is really thinking of, although he may
| not know 1t, is -man-to first base
game.
| While the no-hit game is surely
| rare enough bird, the norman to-first-
/ base game is almost unheard of. Fact
| is. there have been only two such per-
| formances in the history of modern
| league base ball. And the authors of
them also have another no-hit to their
credit-just to show IL was no fluke.
| They are Cy Young, the grand old man
of base balr'--long may he live-and
Addie Joss-long live his memory Old
Cy offciated on the mound for the Red