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Because it is possible to Reach Base without a hit (most commonly via Walk or Error ), the term ''no-hitter'' does not imply that the opposing team had no baserunners. Thus, although it is extremely uncommon, it is possible for a pitcher to throw a no-hitter and yet lose the game. The case of a no-hitter in which the other team has not reached base at all is called a Perfect Game , which is a victory, a Shutout , and a no-hitter. In a perfect game, a pitcher will have retired all 27 batters faced. One of the most common Baseball Superstition s is that it is bad luck to mention a no-hitter in progress, especially to the pitcher and/or for the pitcher's teammates to mention it.1 Some Sportscaster s observe this Taboo , while others have no reservations about mentioning no-hitters before completion. Some teams are so wary of "jinxing" a no-hitter that the players won't speak to or even look at their pitcher from roughly the sixth inning onward, with the result that for the rest of the game, the pitcher sits in the dugout with two or three feet of empty bench on either side of him. On the field, the pitcher's teammates show their support by going to heroic extremes to prevent opposing batters from safely reaching base. NO-HITTERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Definition A no-hitter is defined by Major League Baseball thusly: "An official no-hit game occurs when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings."http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/about_mlb/rules_regulations.jsp By this rule, a pitcher who throws fewer than nine no-hit innings (for example, a no-hitter called on account of rain after seven innings) is not credited with a no-hitter, and neither is a pitcher who throws nine no-hit innings but gives up a hit in extra innings. This rule was instituted by MLB's Committee for Statistical Accuracy in 1991, and resulted in several pitchers who had thrown no-hitters of fewer than nine innings being stripped of credit for an official no-hitter.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/yearly/yr1991n.shtml Records In and Jim Hughes on April 22 , 1898 ; and Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela on June 29 , 1990 . The most recent no-hitter was thrown by Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox on September 1 , 2007 . The pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is , 1974 and June 1 , 1975 . Ryan threw his fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26 , 1981 , which broke Sandy Koufax 's record. His sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 11 , 1990 , and May 1 , 1991 , respectively. When he tossed number seven at age 44, he was also the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter. The pitcher who holds the record for the longest period between no-hitters is (three) and Bob Feller (three) have pitched more than two.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_noh1.shtml Combined no-hitters There have been nine combined no-hitters, that is, when multiple pitchers collectively throw a no-hitter during a game. The first was on June 23 , 1917 , with Babe Ruth as the starting pitcher. After walking the first batter of the game, Ruth was ejected for arguing with an umpire. Ernie Shore relieved Ruth; the runner at first was caught attempting to steal second base, and Shore then consecutively retired the next 26 batters without allowing any baserunners. The first, and only, combined Extra Inning no-hitter to date occurred on July 12 , 1997 , when the Pittsburgh Pirates ' Francisco Cordova (9 innings) and Ricardo Rincon (1 inning) combined to no-hit the Houston Astros , 3-0. The extra inning no-no was capped off by a three run Walk-off Home Run by Pinch Hitter Mark Smith in the bottom of the tenth inning. The Major League record for pitchers combining to pitch a no-hitter is six, set by the Houston Astros against the New York Yankees on June 11 , 2003 . The pitchers were Roy Oswalt (the starting pitcher), then relievers Pete Munro , Kirk Saarloos , Brad Lidge , Octavio Dotel , and Billy Wagner . Only one pitcher, Mike Witt , has thrown a no-hitter as a starter, and also contributed to a no-hitter as a reliever. On September 30 , 1984 , Witt threw a 1-0 Perfect Game for the California Angels against the Texas Rangers . Then on April 11 , 1990 , Witt relieved Mark Langston after 7 innings, pitching the last two innings to get the Save in another 1-0 win for the Angels over the Seattle Mariners . Opening Day and the post-season The , 1975 , four Oakland Athletics pitchers ( Vida Blue , Glenn Abbott , Paul Lindblad , and Rollie Fingers ) tossed a combined no-hitter against the California Angels ; and on September 30 , 1984 , Mike Witt of the California Angels pitched a perfect game against the Texas Rangers . On October 8 , 1956 , Don Larsen of the New York Yankees became the only person in Major League history to throw a no-hitter during a World Series game. Larsen's victory against the Brooklyn Dodgers was also a perfect game. It remains the only no-hitter in World Series history, and indeed the only such feat in ''any'' Postseason game. (The only other pitcher to come close to such a feat was the Yankees' Bill Bevens , who came within one out of no-hitting the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series , only to lose the game on a pinch-hit double by Cookie Lavagetto .) Rookie no-hitters A degree of luck is involved in pitching a no-hit game. Many Hall-of-Fame pitchers never pitched a no-hitter, whereas some journeymen or short-career pitchers have struck gold. The most notorious of the latter is probably Bobo Holloman . In 1953 , Holloman pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in his first major league start (not his first major league game though, as he had made a few relief appearances earlier in the season). This game would prove to be one of only three major league wins that Holloman achieved, against seven losses, all in 1953. Bill Veeck , then-owner of the Browns, in his autobiography described the 27 outs of Holloman's no-hitter as consisting of hard-hit ground balls, screaming line drives, and deep fly balls. Going back further, we find an even bigger "no-hit wonder": Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds holds the distinction of being the only player to throw a no-hitter in his first big-league game, on October 15 , 1892 . Jones pitched only eight games in the big leagues, finishing with a career win/loss record of 2-4 and a career Earned Run Average of 7.99. In 1991 , Wilson Alvarez of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's first career start, he allowed three runs on a pair of home runs and did not retire a single batter. Bud Smith of the St. Louis Cardinals threw a no-hitter toward the end of his rookie season ( 2001 ); he started the following season with the Cardinals, then was demoted to the minor leagues after a lackluster start to his second season. He never pitched in the majors again and has since retired. On September 1 , 2007 , Clay Buchholz of the Boston Red Sox pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in his second career major league start, winning the game 10-0. He became the first rookie pitcher in Red Sox history to throw a no-hitter. In all, 21 rookies have pitched a no-hitter since 1901.http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/history/rare_feats/index.jsp?feature=rookie_no_hitter Pitched a no-hitter and lost On ( 1890 ), Andy Hawkins ( 1990 ), and Matt Young ( 1992 ) – have lost eight-inning unofficial no-hitters where the home team won the game.http://www.baseball-almanac.com/pitching/pinohit1.shtmlhttp://www.baseballlibrary.com/chronology/byyear.php?year=1890#June Lost in extra innings A game that is a no-hitter through nine innings may be lost in Extra Innings . On May 2 , 1917 , Fred Toney of the Cincinnati Reds and Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs pitched a hitless, scoreless tie after nine innings – the only time in baseball history that neither team has had a hit in regulation. The Reds got two hits in the top of the tenth inning and scored the winning run. In the bottom of the tenth, Toney retired the side and recorded a ten-inning no-hitter. (The closest any game has come since to having no hits in regulation was in 1965 , when Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game and opposing pitcher Bob Hendley of the Cubs gave up only one hit to the Dodgers , in the seventh inning.) A Total of thirteen potential no-hitters have been lost in extra innings; two were Perfect Games . In 1959 , Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched twelve perfect innings before losing the no-hitter and the game to the Milwaukee Braves in the thirteenth inning. Pedro Martínez , then a member of the Montreal Expos , was the last pitcher to lose a no-hitter in the tenth against the San Diego Padres in 1995 . Vaughn, Haddix, Martínez, and the other ten pitchers who lost no-hitters in extra innings are not credited with official no-hitters because they did not keep the opponent hitless for the entire course of the game. Teams without no-hitters Four teams in Major League Baseball have not had a pitcher toss a no-hitter. Two of the four are recent expansion teams: on May 14 , 1996 , and David Cone (a perfect game) on July 18 , 1999 . In fact, Mets' television play-by-play man Gary Cohen recently expressed his frustration with the Mets not having a no-hitter in their history. The Mets' color commentator Ron Darling said during a John Maine start that he had "no-hit stuff." Cohen replied by saying, "no he doesn't, he's a Met." SEE ALSO REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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