The no-hitters

 I started the solitaire Strat-O-Matic hobby in 2010, which is not to say that I've been playing it continuously for more than a decade. There was a hiatus between the Presidential League, which I almost abandoned in mid-season, and the 40-Years Tourney, aka Tournament One.

But once I started the 40-Years Tourney, the Strat projects have been pretty much a daily part of my life. There are few days in which I don't do something to advance my current project.

So I've played a few hundred -- a few thousand? -- games over the years. And there have now been six no-hitters in those games. I decided to catalog them here for easy reference:

1) Walter Johnson, Presidential League. In a bit of serendipity, this happened to be the very first game I played in the very first solitaire project. Johnson was assigned to the Obamas, a squad of mixed eras; he no-hit the Crawfords, a team assembled from the Negro League set. I've said before that the setup of the Presidential League was flawed; the NeL teams were simply not competitive against the HoF teams. This would be one extreme data point.

2) Paul Edmondson, Losers League. Spot starter for the 1969 Chicago White Sox, no-hit the 1969 San Diego Padres in their game of May 31. The real life Edmondson was a rookie who went 1-6 in 14 starts in 1969 and then died in a traffic accident shortly before spring training the next year. In this league -- eight teams that lost 90 or more games in 1969 playing the 1924 AL schedule -- he was a factor in the White Sox winning the pennant.

3) Tommy John, Tournament Three. His gem came for the 1973 Los Angeles Dodgers in Game Four of their series against the 2019 San Diego Padres.  The real life John never threw a no-hitter in his distinguished career.

4) Tom Bradley, Tournament Three. Pitching for the 1973 San Francisco Giants against the 2019 Los Angeles Angels in Game Seven of their series. The real life Bradley had a short career as a workhorse starter; to the extent that he's remembered today it is as part of the three-man rotation for the 1972 White Sox with Wilbur Wood and Stan Bahnsen. Those three combined for 130 starts in the strike-shortened season. Bradley made seven starts on two days rest that year, then was traded to the Giants for Ken Henderson and Steve Stone. He blew out his arm in 1974 and eventually became a college coach.

5) Roric Harrison, 73 Least League. Pitching for the 1973 Atlanta Braves against the 1973 Houston Astros in their game of May 15. 1973 was the best season of Harrison's brief career, most of which was spent with the Braves. Came up with the Orioles in 1972, was traded to the Braves with Dave Johnson in the following offseason, finished his career with the Twins in 1978. I have no memory of him with the Twins. According to Wikipedia, he was the last pitcher to homer in an American League game before the introduction of the designated hitter.

6) Nelson Briles, 73 Least League. Pitching for the 1973 Pittsburgh Pirates against the 1973 Houston Astros in their game of June 21. "Nellie" pitched for three pennant winners and two World Series champs in a 14-year career. One of those champs was the 1971 Pirates; he threw a two-hit shutout in his only start in that World Series.

7) Alan Foster, 73 Least League. Pitching for the 1973 St. Louis Cardinals against the 1973 New York Mets in their game of July 28. Foster pitched for five teams over a 10-year period. 1973 was his best season -- 13-9, 3.14 in 203 innings, all career bests. 

My intent with this post is to update and repost the above details with each no-hitter going forward.

Games of Monday, July 28

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               58     39       .598     ---
New York             48    44       .522     7.5
Atlanta                 47     46       .505     9
St. Louis              47     47       .500     9.5
Montreal              45     49       .479   11.5
Pittsburgh            43     47       .478   11.5
Chicago               43     49       .467   12.5
Philadelphia         41     51       .446  14.5

Tuesday's games
Houston (Forsch) at Montreal (Rogers)
St. Louis (Murphy) at New York (Sadecki)
Pittsburgh (Ellis) at Atlanta (Schueler)
Chicago (Hooton) at Philadelphia (Carlton)

Houston 6, Montreal 5: Cesar Cedeno's three-run homer in the eighth capped a five-run rally as the front-running Astros snapped their three-game losing streak. Cedeno also tripled and doubled. J.R. Richard got credit for the win despite allowing a run in his one inning of work. Balor Moore fanned 11 in seven innings of work for the Expos but wound up with a no-decision. Pat Jarvis was charged with the loss. Ken Singleton had a three-run homer for Montreal.

St. Louis 7, New York 0: Alan Foster no-hit the sliding Mets, and Tommy Agee homered twice and dorve in four runs for St. Louis. The Mets got no baserunners until the ninth, when Ted Martinez was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Wayne Garrett drew a two-out walk. Foster struck out four men. Luis Melendez drove in two runs with a double for the Cards. Jerry Koosman took the loss.

Chicago 5, Philadelphia 3: Jose Cardenal opened the game with a solo homer, then drove in two more runs with a single in the second-inning as the Cubs took a 5-0 lead early and hung on. Mike Schmidt hit a two-run homer for the Phillies. Fergie Jenkins allowed three runs on seven hits in eight innings, and Jack Aker worked a scoreless ninth for the save. Ken Brett took the loss. Glenn Beckert is injured for 15 days.

Pittsburgh 10, Atlanta 5: Willie Stargell homered twice and drove in six runs. Al Oliver went 5-for-6 with a triple and two doubles, scored three runs and drove in a pair. Manny Sanguillen homered. Jim Rooker went eight innings, allowing three earned runs on nine hits, for the win. Roric Harrison opened with three perfect innings for Atlanta but yielded five runs in the fourth inning and took the loss.

Games of Sunday, July 27

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               57     39       .594     ---
New York             48    43       .527     6.5
Atlanta                 47     45       .510     8
St. Louis              46     47       .495     9.5
Montreal              45     48       .484   10.5
Pittsburgh            42     47       .472   11.5
Chicago               42     49       .462   12.5
Philadelphia         41     50       .450  13.5

Monday's games
Houston (Roberts) at Montreal (Moore)
St. Louis (Foster) at New York (Koosman)
Pittsburgh (Rooker) at Atlanta (Harrison)
Chicago (Jenkins) at Philadelphia (Brett)

Montreal 7, Houston 6: Bob Bailey's two-out hit in the bottom of the ninth brought in two runs and completed the Expos' second comeback of the first game of their doubleheader against the first-place Astros. Boots Day homered and had three RBIs for Montreal and Ken Singleton also homered.  Pat Jarvis, who had given up a homer in the top of the ninth to Bob Watson, got credit for the win. Jim Crawford was charged with the loss.

Montreal 4, Houston 2 (11 innings): Ken Singleton hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 11th to complete the doubleheader sweep. Mike Marshall struck out six in three innings of relief for the win. Singleton also doubled and scored the Expos' first run in the sixth inning. Larry Dierker took the loss.

St. Louis 6, New York 2: Bob Gibson threw a five-hitter and Ken Reitz hit a bases-loaded double in the fifth. Lou Brock had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Rusty Staub homered and tripled for the Mets, but Gibson held his mates in check, walking one and striking out six. George Stone was the losing pitcher.

Games of Saturday, July 26

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               57     37       .606     ---
New York             48    42       .533     7
Atlanta                 47     45       .510     9
St. Louis              45     47       .489   11
Montreal              43     48       .473   12.5
Pittsburgh            42     47       .472   12.5
Chicago               42     49       .462   13.5
Philadelphia         41     50       .450  14.5

Sunday's games
Houston (D Wilson and Griffin) at Montreal (Stoneman and Torrez), 2
St. Louis (Gibson) at New York (Stone)

Montreal 2, Houston 1:  Ron Fairly doubled in the tying run n the eighth inning off Jerry Reuss, and John Boccabella singled over the drawn-in outfield in the ninth to win it. Starters Reuss and Steve Renko each went eight innings for no-decisions. Renko conceded just two hits, one a homer by Lee May in the fourth. Reuss got three double plays and pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh. Tom Walker was credited with the win, and Jim Ray took the loss. 

New York 8, St. Louis 6: John Milner homered in the bottom of the ninth to walk off Rich Folkers and the Cardinals in a sloppy game. The Mets combined to commit three errors, and St. Louis second baseman Ted Sizemore committed two errors. Tom Seaver went the distance, allowing five earned runs. Lou Brock led off with a homer, and Tommy Agee hit a three-run shot pinch-hitting for Reggie Cleveland in the sixth. Don Hahn and Felix Millan homered for New York. 

Atlanta 6, Pittsburgh 0: Dusty Baker, Dave Johnson and Marty Perez each homered for the Braves and Carl Morton pitched a five-hitter. Morton walked one, struck out three and retired 13 straight from the fourth through eighth innings. Bruce Kison was charged with the loss.

Philadelphia 2, Chicago 0: Wayne Twitchell threw eight innings of four-hit ball and scored the game's first run on a Bill Bonham wild pitch. Twitchell walked none and struck out eight. Bill Wilson got the final three outs for the save. Bonham allowed one run on three hits in seven innings but was saddled with the loss. 

Games of Friday, July 25

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               57     36       .613     ---
New York             47    42       .528     8
Atlanta                 46     45       .505   10
St. Louis              45     46       .495   11
Pittsburgh            42     46       .477   12.5
Montreal              42     48       .467   13.5
Chicago               42     48       .467   13.5
Philadelphia         40     50       .444  15.5

Saturday's games
Houston (Reuss) at Montreal (Renko)
Pittsburgh (Kison) at Atlanta (Morton)
St. Louis (Cleveland) at New York (Seaver)
Chicago (Bonham) at Philadelphia (Twitchell)

Atlanta 4, Pittsburgh 3: The Braves scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Marty Perez bunting home Joe Pepitone for the winning run. Bob Robertson hit a two-run homer in the seventh to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead, but Perez singled home Pepitone in the bottom of the inning to narrow the margin. Ron Reed got the win for two scoreless frames. Nelson Briles, who went the distance, took the loss. 

St. Louis 7, New York 3: Ted Simmons drove in four and and Ken Reitz three. Rick Wise allowed two earned runs in eight innings. Rusty Staub and John Milner homered to account for the Mets' three runs. Simmons singled in a run in the first off loser Jon Matlack, doubled in a pair in the sixth to break a tie, and singled in another in the eighth. Reitz homered in the sixth and singled in a run in the eighth. 

Chicago 1, Philadelphia 0: Rick Reuschel threw a five-hitter to outduel Steve Carlton. Rick Monday singled in Glenn Beckert in the sixth inning for the only run of the game. Reuschel walked none and struck out five. Carlton had a no-hitter going into the sixth and allowed just four hits in eight innings, but he walked six with eight strikeouts.

Game of Thursday, July 24

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               57     36       .613     ---
New York             47    41       .534     7.5
Atlanta                 45     45       .500   11
St. Louis              44     46       .488   11.5
Pittsburgh            42     45       .483   12
Montreal              42     48       .467   13.5
Chicago               41     48       .460   14
Philadelphia         40     49       .449  15

Friday's games
Pittsburgh (Briles) at Atlanta (Niekro)
St. Louis (Wise) at New York (Matlack)
Chicago (Reuschel) at Philadelphia (Carlton)

Pittsburgh 5, Montreal 0: Dock Ellis threw a four-hit shutout with five walks and seven strikeouts. Willie Stargell hit a pair of doubles. Two Pirates runs scored on a two-base error by losing pitcher Ernie McAnally, who allowed three runs, one earned, in six innings.

Games of Wednesday, July 23

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               57     36       .613     ---
New York             47    41       .534     7.5
Atlanta                 45     45       .500   11
St. Louis              44     46       .488   11.5
Pittsburgh            41     45       .477   12.5
Montreal              42     47       .472   13
Chicago               41     48       .460   14
Philadelphia         40     49       .449  15

Thursday's game
Montreal (McAnally) at Pittsburgh (Ellis)

Chicago 13, Atlanta 10: The wind was blowing out at Wrigley. Henry Aaron hit three homers, and teammates Dave Johnson and Dusty Baker each hit two-run homers in the top of the ninth as the Braves took a 10-7 lead. But in the bottom of the inning, after Ron Reed struck out Rick Monday, Jim Hickman and Don Kessinger singled and Randy Hundley walked. Tom House, the final Atlanta reliever, entered. Glenn Beckert walked to force in a run. Pinch-hitter Adrian Garrett singled to tie the score at 10. And Jose Cardenal homered to end the contest. House took the loss; Jack Aker, who blew the lead in the top of the inning, got the win.

Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 2: Richie Hebner drove in two runs and Bob Robertson homered. Bob Moose allowed one run in four innings before leaving with a minor injury. John Morlan worked two scoreless innings and was credited with the win. Ramon Hernandez got the final three outs for the save. Steve Rogers took the loss.

St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 3 (12 innings): Luis Melendez doubled with one out in the bottom of the 12th and scored the winning run on Joe Torre's single. Orlando Pena got the win with two innings of hitless relief. Bob Boone had two RBIs for the Phillies, and Jose Cruz drove in a pair for the Cardinals.The Phillies returned to the cellar with the loss and the Cubs win.  

Houston 8, New York 2: The Astros swept the second-place Mets in the four-game series in the Astrodome and widened their lead to 7.5 games. New York led this game 2-0 after five innings, but Tommy Helms tied it in the sixth with a bases-loaded single and Skip Jutze followed with an RBI single of his own. Helms drove in two more runs in the seventh, and Cesar Cedeno hit a two-run homer in the eighth as the Astros pulled away. Ken Forsch got the win, allowing one earned run on five hits in seven innings. Jerry Koosman took the loss,

Games of Tuesday, July 22

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               56     36       .609     ---
New York             47    40       .540     6.5
Atlanta                 45     44       .506   10
St. Louis              43     46       .483   11.5
Montreal              42     46       .477   12
Pittsburgh            40     45       .470   12.5
Philadelphia         40     48       .455  14
Chicago               40     48       .455   14

Wednesday's games
Atlanta (Dobson) at Chicago (Hooton)
Montreal (Rogers) at Pittsburgh (Moose)
Philadelphia (Ruthven) at St. Louis (Foster)
New York (Koosman) at Houston (Forsch)

Atlanta 10, Chicago 1: Frank Tepedino and Dave Johnson hit back-to-back homers and Ralph Garr had a pair of RBI doubles to back Gary Gentry in the rout. Gentry went seven innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits. Losing pitcher Milt Pappas allowed seven runs, five earned, in five innings.

Chicago 6, Atlanta 4: Ron Santo's two-out three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Cubs to a split of the doubleheader. Henry Aaron hit a pair of homers off Fergie Jenkins, a solo shot in the first and a two-run homer in the eighth. Jose Cardenal homered and had three singles for the Cubs and scored four times. Santo totaled four RBIs for the game. Ray Burris got the win and Tom House was the loser.

Pittsburgh 4, Montreal 2: Jim Rooker allowed one run in 6.1 innings, reliever Bob Johnson got out of a bases loaded jam with a double play and the Pirates pieced together four one-run innings for the win. Rooker allowed six hits and walked five, but largely kept the Expos off the board. Losing pitcher Mike Torrez allowed two runs in six innings, and Pat Jarvis was charged with the other two runs,

St. Louis 4, Philadelphia 3: Lou Brock hit a two-run homer in the eighth to vault the Cardinals over the Phillies. Tom Murphy allowed three runs in the first four innings but then shut out the Phillies for the next four frames for the win. Diego Segui worked a perfect ninth for the save. George Culver took the loss in relief of Jim Lonborg, who held St. Louis to two runs in 6.1 innings. 

Houston 6, New York 5: Tommy Helms tripled off Harry Parker to tie the game in the seventh, then scored on a wild pitch as the Astros overcame the Mets and stretched their lead in the standings to 6.5 games. New York plated four unearned runs in the first inning after Jesus Alou dropped Jim Gosger's leadoff flyball, but Tom Griffin allowed just one more run over the next five innings. Jim Crawford -- who got credit for the win -- Jim Ray and Jim York split the following three inning, with York retiring the final two batters for the save. Bud Harrelson had two RBIs for the Mets, and Doug Rader a pair for Houston.

Games of Monday, July 21

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               55     36       .604     ---
New York             47     39       .547    5.5
Atlanta                 44     43       .506     9.5
Montreal              42     45       .483   11
St. Louis              42     46       .477   11.5
Pittsburgh            39     45       .464   12.5
Philadelphia         40     47       .460  13
Chicago               39     47       .453   13.5

Tuesday's games
Atlanta (Gentry and Morton) at Chicago (Pappas and Jenkins), 2
Montreal (Torrez) at Pittsburgh (Rooker)
Philadelphia (Lonborg) at St. Louis (Murphy)
New York (Stone) at Houston (Griffin)

Montreal 5, Pittsburgh 4 (10 innings):  Bob Stinson singled in Bob Bailey for the go-ahead run in the 10th to make a winner of Mike Marshall, who worked a pair of scoreless innings. The Expos drew six walks and were twice hit by pitches in the game. Jim Lyttle drove in a pair of runs with a single in a four-run fourth. Al Oliver had two RBIs for Pittsburgh. Ramon Hernandez took the loss.

Pittsburgh 3, Montreal 2: Willie Stargell homered twice, a solo shot in the third inning and a two-run homer in the eighth, as the Pirates earned the split. Nelson Briles allowed two runs in eight innings for the win, and Dave Giusti worked around a leadoff single in the ninth for the save. Steve Renko went the distance for the Expos.

Atlanta 3, Chicago 1: Phil Niekro outdueled Larry Gura and Henry Aaron hit a solo homer in the first inning. Niekro went all nine innings, allowing seven hits and two walks while gathering seven strikeouts. Randy Hundley homered for the sole Cubs runs. Gura went eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits; he retired 15 Braves in a row at one point.

Philadelphia 2, St. Louis 0: Steve Carlton threw a one-hitter and Willie Montanez tripled and homered to score both runs as the Phillies moved out of the cellar. Carlton walked none, struck out six and hit a batter. Both St. Louis baserunners reached in the fourth inning, and Carlton retired the final 17 men he faced. Bob Gibson also went the distance, allowing four hits and one walk while fanning eight.

Houston 2, New York 0 (12 innings): Cesar Cedeno ended the scoreless duel with a two-run homer off Buzz Capra in the bottom of the 12th. Tom Seaver went nine innings for the Mets, allowing six hits and one walk while pitching around three errors. Jerry Reuss threw eight innings for the Astros, scattering five hits and two walks. J.R. Richard got the win with two perfect innings of relief; he struck out three men. Capra was the sole New York reliever.

Games of Sunday, July 20

                             W      L        Pct.     GB

Houston               54     36       .600     ---
New York             47     38       .553    4.5
Atlanta                 43     43       .500     9.5
St. Louis              42     45       .483   10.5
Montreal              41     44       .482   10.5
Pittsburgh            38     44       .463   12
Chicago               39     46       .459   12
Philadelphia         39     47       .453  13

Monday's games
Montreal (Renko and Moore) at Pittsburgh (Briles and Kison), 2
Atlanta (Niekro) at Chicago (Gura)
Philadelphia (Carlton) at St. Louis (Gibson)
New York (Seaver) at Houston (Reuss)

Philadelphia 4, St. Louis 2:  Ken Brett went the distance. allowing two earned runs on seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Tom Hutton had a two-run single in the first inning of losing pitcher Reggie Cleveland, and Del Unser and Willie Montanez each tripled in the fifth.

Philadelphia 5. St. Louis 3: Bill Robinson homered, doubled and scored twice and Philadelphia got three perfect innings of relief to close out the doubleheader sweep. Larry Christenson allowed three runs on nine hits in six innings for the win, with George Culver working two innings and Bill Wilson the ninth for the save. Mike Tyson drove in all three runs for St. Louis. Rick Folkers took the loss.

Atlanta 5, Chicago 1: Ron Schueler got the start over Phil Niekro, and the switch worked for the Braves. Schueler limited the Cubs to six hits, one a solo homer by Billy Williams. The Braves pieced together five one-run innings, with Henry Aaron hitting a homer. Rick Reuschel took the loss.  

Houston 5, New York 3: Doug Rader hit a two-run homer in the first and Cesar Cedeno matched it in the seventh as the Astros took the first game of the showdown. Dave Roberts went seven innings for the win, allowing three runs on eight hits. Jim Ray faced the minimum in the eighth and ninth for the save. Jon Matlack took the loss.