Sandy Koufax 1962 season What was significant about 1962? In 1962, the Dodgers moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum, Where did they move to? to pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. How was the stadium pitcher-friendly? The new park had a large foul territory and a comparatively poor hitting background. What was wrong with the hitting background? I don't know. How did moving stadiums affect the team? On June 30 against the expansion New York Mets, Koufax threw his first no-hitter.
Did he continue his no hitter streak?
Did Koufax continue his no hitter streak?
In 1962, the Dodgers moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum, which had a 250-foot left field line, to pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. The new park had a large foul territory and a comparatively poor hitting background. Koufax was an immediate beneficiary of the change, lowering his home ERA from 4.29 to 1.75. On June 30 against the expansion New York Mets, Koufax threw his first no-hitter. In the first inning of that game, Koufax struck out three batters on nine pitches to become the sixth National League pitcher and the 11th pitcher in Major League history to accomplish a nine-pitch/three-strikeout half-inning. With the no-hitter, a 4-2 record, 73 strikeouts, and a 1.23 ERA for June, he was named Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award. It would be the only time in his career he earned this distinction. Koufax had his strong season despite an injured pitching hand. While batting in April, Koufax had been jammed by a pitch from Earl Francis. A numbness developed in Koufax's index finger on his left hand, and the finger became cold and white. Koufax was pitching better than ever, however, so he ignored the problem, hoping that the condition would clear up. By July, though, his entire hand was becoming numb and he was unable to complete some games. In a start in Cincinnati, his finger split open after one inning. A vascular specialist determined that Koufax had a crushed artery in his palm. Ten days of experimental medicine successfully reopened the artery. Koufax finally was able to pitch again in September, when the team was locked in a tight pennant race with the Giants. But after the long layoff, Koufax was ineffective in three appearances as the Giants caught the Dodgers at the end of the regular season, forcing a three-game playoff. The night before the National League playoffs began, Manager Walter Alston asked Koufax if he could start the first game the next day. With an overworked pitching staff, there was no one else, as Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres had pitched the prior two days. Koufax obliged. Koufax later said, "I had nothing at all." He was knocked out in the second inning, after giving up home runs to Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Jim Davenport. After winning the second game of the series, the Dodgers blew a 4-2 lead in the ninth inning of the deciding third game, losing the pennant. CANNOTANSWER
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Sanford Koufax (; born Sanford Braun; December 30, 1935) is an American former professional baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched 12 seasons for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1955 to 1966. Koufax, at age 36 in 1972, became the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He has been hailed as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history.

Koufax joined the major leagues at 19 years old, and never pitched a game in the minor leagues.  His career peaked with a run of six outstanding years from  to , before arthritis in his left elbow ended his playing days prematurely at age 30. He was an All-Star for six seasons and was the National League's Most Valuable Player in . He won three Cy Young Awards (1963, , and 1966) by unanimous votes, making him the first three-time Cy Young winner in baseball history and the only one to win three times when a single award was given for all of Major League Baseball instead of one for each league. Koufax also won the NL Triple Crown for pitchers those same three years, leading the NL in wins, strikeouts, and earned run average.

Koufax was the first major league pitcher to pitch four no-hitters and the eighth pitcher to pitch a perfect game in baseball history. Despite his comparatively short career, Koufax's 2,396 career strikeouts ranked 7th all-time as of his retirement, trailing only Warren Spahn (2,583) among left-handers. Koufax is the first of just five pitchers elected to the Hall of Fame who had more strikeouts than innings pitched.

In four trips to the World Series Koufax won three rings, twice being named the Series' Most Valuable Player.

He is also remembered as one of the outstanding Jewish athletes in U.S. sports. His decision not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur garnered national attention as a conflict between religious calling and society, and remains a notable event in U.S. Jewish history.

Early life
Koufax was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family and was raised in Borough Park. His parents, Evelyn (née Lichtenstein) and Jack Braun, divorced when he was three years old. His mother was remarried when he was nine, to Irving Koufax. Shortly after his mother's remarriage, the family moved to the Long Island suburb of Rockville Centre. Before tenth grade, Koufax's family moved back to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn.

Koufax attended Brooklyn's Lafayette High School, where he was better known for basketball than for baseball. He started playing basketball for the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst local community center team. Eventually, Lafayette had a basketball team; Koufax became team captain in his senior year, and ranked second in his division in scoring, with 165 points in 10 games. In 1951, at the age of 15, Koufax also joined a local youth baseball league known as the "Ice Cream League". He started out as a left-handed catcher before moving to first base. While playing first base for Lafayette High School's baseball team with his friend Fred Wilpon, he was spotted by Milt Laurie, a baseball coach who was the father of two Lafayette players. Laurie recognized that Koufax might be able to pitch, and recruited the 17-year-old Koufax to pitch for the Coney Island Sports League's Parkviews.

Koufax attended the University of Cincinnati and was a walk-on on the freshman basketball team, a complete unknown to assistant coach Ed Jucker. He later earned a partial scholarship. In spring 1954, he made the college baseball varsity team, which was coached by Jucker at that time. In his only season, Koufax went 3–1 with a 2.81 earned run average, 51 strikeouts and 30 walks in 32 innings. Bill Zinser, a scout for the Brooklyn Dodgers, sent the Dodgers front office a glowing report that apparently was filed and forgotten.

After trying out with the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, Koufax did the same for the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field. During his Pirates tryout, Koufax's fastball broke the thumb of Sam Narron, the team's bullpen coach. Branch Rickey, then the general manager of the Pirates, told his scout Clyde Sukeforth that Koufax had the "greatest arm [he had] ever seen". The Pirates, however, failed to offer Koufax a contract until after he was already committed to the Dodgers. Dodgers scout Al Campanis heard about Koufax from Jimmy Murphy, a part-time scout. After seeing Koufax pitch for Lafayette, Campanis invited him to an Ebbets Field tryout. With Dodgers manager Walter Alston and scouting director Fresco Thompson watching, Campanis assumed the hitter's stance while Koufax started throwing. Campanis later said, "There are two times in my life the hair on my arms has stood up: The first time I saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the second time, I saw Sandy Koufax throw a fastball." The Dodgers signed Koufax for a $6,000 ($ today) salary, with a $14,000 ($ today) signing bonus. Koufax planned to use the money as tuition to finish his university education, if his baseball career failed.

Professional career

Early years (1955–1960)

Because Koufax's signing bonus was greater than $4,000 ($ today), he was known as a bonus baby. This forced the Dodgers to keep him on the major league roster for at least two years before he could be sent to the minors. To make room for him, the Dodgers optioned their future Hall of Fame manager, Tommy Lasorda, to the Montreal Royals of the International League. Lasorda would later joke that it took Koufax to keep him off the Dodger pitching staff.

Koufax made his major league debut on June 24, , against the Milwaukee Braves, with the Dodgers trailing 7–1 in the fifth inning. Johnny Logan, the first batter Koufax faced, hit a bloop single. Eddie Mathews bunted, and Koufax threw the ball into center field. He then walked Hank Aaron on four pitches to load the bases, but struck out Bobby Thomson on a 3–2 fastball—an outcome Koufax later came to view as "probably the worst thing that could have happened to me," leading, as it did, to five seasons spent "trying to get out of trouble by throwing harder and harder and harder."

Koufax's first start was on July 6. He lasted only  innings, giving up eight walks. He did not start again for almost two months, but on August 27, Koufax threw a two-hit, 7–0 complete game shutout against the Cincinnati Reds for his first major league win. Koufax threw  innings in 12 appearances that season, striking out 30 batters and walking 28. He had two wins in 1955, which were both shutouts.

During the fall, he enrolled in the Columbia University School of General Studies, which offered night classes in architecture. The Dodgers won the 1955 World Series for the first title in franchise history, but Koufax did not appear in the series. After the final out of Game Seven, Koufax drove to Columbia to attend class.

The year 1956 was not very different from 1955 for Koufax. Despite the blazing speed of his fastball, Koufax continued to struggle with his control. He saw little work, pitching only  innings with a 4.91 earned run average, 29 walks and 30 strikeouts. When Koufax allowed baserunners, he was rarely permitted to finish the inning. Teammate Joe Pignatano said that as soon as Koufax threw a couple of balls in a row, Alston would signal for a replacement to start warming up in the bullpen. Jackie Robinson, in his final season, clashed with Alston on Koufax's usage. Robinson saw that Koufax was talented and had flashes of brilliance, and objected to Koufax being benched for weeks at a time.

To prepare for the  season, the Dodgers sent Koufax to Puerto Rico to play winter ball. On May 15, the restriction on sending Koufax down to the minors was lifted. Alston gave him a chance to justify his place on the major league roster by giving him the next day's start. Facing the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, Koufax struck out 13 while pitching his first complete game in almost two years. For the first time in his career, he was in the starting rotation, but only for two weeks. Despite winning three of his next five with a 2.90 earned run average, Koufax did not get another start for 45 days. In that start, he struck out 11 in seven innings, but got a no-decision. On September 29, Koufax became the last man to pitch for the Brooklyn Dodgers before their move to Los Angeles, by throwing an inning of relief in the final game of the season.

Koufax and fellow Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale served six months in the United States Army Reserve at Fort Dix in New Jersey after the end of the 1957 season and before spring training in 1958.

Over the next three seasons, Koufax was in and out of the Dodger starting rotation due to injuries. In 1958, he began 7–3, but sprained his ankle in a collision at first base, finishing the season at 11–11 and leading the NL in wild pitches. In June 1959, Koufax set the record for a night game with 16 strikeouts. On August 31, 1959, he set the NL single-game record and tied Bob Feller's major league record of 18.

In , the Dodgers won a close pennant race against the Braves and the Giants, then beat the Chicago White Sox in the World Series. Koufax pitched two perfect relief innings in the Series opener, though they came after the Dodgers were already behind 11–0. Alston gave him the start in the fifth game, at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 92,706 fans. Koufax allowed only one run in seven innings, but lost the 1–0 game when Nellie Fox scored on a double play. Returning to Chicago, the Dodgers won the sixth game and the Series.

In early , Koufax asked Dodgers general manager Buzzie Bavasi to trade him because he was not getting enough playing time. By the end of 1960, after going 8–13, Koufax was thinking about quitting baseball to devote himself to an electronics business that he had invested in. After the last game of the season, he threw his gloves and spikes into the trash. Nobe Kawano, the clubhouse supervisor, retrieved the equipment in case Koufax returned to play the following year.

Domination (1961–1964)

1961 season

Koufax tried one more year of baseball, showing up for the 1961 season in better condition than he ever had before. Years later he recalled, "That winter was when I really started working out. I started running more. I decided I was really going to find out how good I can be." During spring training, Dodger scout Kenny Myers discovered a hitch in Koufax's windup, where he would rear back so far he would lose sight of the target.

A day later, Koufax was pitching for the "B team" in Orlando. Teammate Ed Palmquist missed the flight, so Koufax was told he would need to pitch at least seven innings. In the first inning, Koufax walked the bases loaded on 12 straight pitches. Catcher Norm Sherry advised Koufax to throw slightly less hard in order to improve his control. The advice worked, Koufax struck out the side, then went on to pitch seven no-hit innings.

In perhaps an early display of sabermetrics, Dodger statistician Allan Roth is credited with helping Koufax tweak his game in the early 1960s, particularly regarding the importance of first-pitch strikes and the benefits of off-speed pitches.

1961 was Koufax's breakout season. He posted an 18–13 record and led the league with 269 strikeouts, breaking Christy Mathewson's 58-year-old NL mark of 267. Selected as an All-Star for the first time, he appeared in both All-Star Games that year.  (MLB held two All-Star games for the years from 1959 to 1962.) In the first game he faced only one batter, giving up a hit to Al Kaline in the ninth inning. In the second game, he pitched two scoreless innings.

1962 season
In , the Dodgers moved from the Los Angeles Coliseum, which had a 250-foot left-field line – an enormous disadvantage to lefthanded pitchers – to pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. The new park had a large foul territory and a comparatively poor hitting background. Koufax was an immediate beneficiary of the change, lowering his earned run average at home from 4.29 to 1.75. On June 30 against the expansion New York Mets, Koufax threw his first no-hitter. In the first inning of that game he struck out all three batters on nine total pitches to become the sixth recorded National League pitcher and the 11th recorded pitcher in major league history to accomplish an immaculate inning. His no-hitter, a 4–2 record, 73 strikeouts, and a 1.23 earned run average, earned him the Major League Baseball Player of the Month Award for June. It would be the only time in his career he earned this distinction.

Koufax had a strong season despite an injured pitching hand. While batting in April, he had been jammed by a pitch from Earl Francis. A numbness developed in Koufax's index finger on his left hand, and the finger became cold and white. Koufax was pitching better than ever, however, so he ignored the problem, hoping that the condition would clear up. By July, though, his entire hand was becoming numb and he was unable to complete some games. In a start in Cincinnati his finger split open after one inning. A vascular specialist determined that Koufax had a crushed artery in his palm. Ten days of experimental medicine successfully reopened the artery. Koufax finally was able to pitch again in September, when the team was locked in a tight pennant race with the Giants. But after the long layoff, Koufax was ineffective in three appearances as the Giants caught the Dodgers at the end of the regular season, forcing a three-game National League playoff.

The night before the playoffs began, manager Alston asked Koufax if he could start the next day. With an overworked pitching staff there was no one else, as Don Drysdale and Johnny Podres had pitched the prior two days. Koufax obliged. Koufax later said, "I had nothing at all." He was knocked out in the second inning, after giving up home runs to future Hall of Famer Willie Mays and Jim Davenport. After winning the second game of the series, the Dodgers blew a 4–2 lead in the ninth inning of the deciding third game, losing the pennant.

1963 season
In 1963 Major League Baseball expanded the strike zone. Compared to the previous season, National League walks fell 13 percent, strikeouts increased six percent, the league batting average fell from .261 to .245, and runs scored declined 15 percent. Koufax, who had reduced his walks allowed per nine innings to 3.4 in 1961 and 2.8 in 1962, reduced his walk rate further to 1.7 in 1963, which ranked fifth in the league. The top pitchers of the era – future Hall of Famers Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Jim Bunning, Bob Gibson, Warren Spahn, and above all Koufax – significantly reduced the walks-given-up-to-batters-faced ratio for 1963, and subsequent years.

On May 11 Koufax no-hit the San Francisco Giants 8–0, besting Marichal—himself a no-hit pitcher on June 15. Koufax carried a perfect game into the eighth inning against the powerful Giants lineup, including Willie Mays and fellow future Hall of Famers Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. He walked Ed Bailey on a 3-and-2 pitch in the eighth, and pinch-hitter McCovey on four pitches in the ninth, before closing out the game. The Dodgers won the pennant, and Koufax won the first of three pitchers' Triple Crowns, leading the league in wins (25), strikeouts (306) and earned run average (1.88). Koufax threw 11 shutouts, eclipsing Carl Hubbell's 30-year post-1900 mark for a left-handed pitcher of 10 and setting a record that stands to this day. Only St. Louis Cardinal Bob Gibson's 13 in his iconic 1968 season, "the year of the pitcher", has thrown more.

Koufax won the National League MVP Award and the Hickok Belt, and was the first-ever unanimous selection for the Cy Young Award.  It was not only the first of three times he would be a unanimous selection, it was the only Cy Young award given out to the entire sport during his career (baseball going to one award for each league starting in 1967).

Facing the Yankees in the 1963 World Series, Koufax beat Whitey Ford 5–2 in Game 1 and struck out the first five batters and 15 overall, breaking Carl Erskine's decade-old record of 14 (a record that would fall to Gibson's 17 in the 1968 World Series opener). After seeing Koufax's Game 1 performance, Yogi Berra said, "I can see how he won 25 games. What I don't understand is how he lost five," to which Maury Wills responded, "He didn't. We lost them for him." In Game 4, Koufax completed the Dodgers' series sweep with a 2–1 victory over Ford, clinching the Series MVP Award for his performance.

1964 season
Koufax's  season started with great expectations. On April 18, he struck out three batters on nine pitches in the third inning of a 3–0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, becoming the only National League pitcher to have two "immaculate innings". On April 22, however, "he felt something let go in his arm," resulting in three cortisone shots for a sore elbow and three missed starts.

On June 4, playing at Connie Mack Stadium against the Phillies, Koufax walked Richie Allen on a very close full-count pitch in the fourth inning. Allen, who was thrown out trying to steal second, was the only Phillie to reach base that day. With his third no-hitter in three years Koufax tied Feller as the only modern era pitchers to hurl three no-hitters.

Koufax jammed his pitching arm in August while diving back to second base to beat a pick-off throw. He managed to pitch and win two more games. However, the morning after his 19th win, a shutout in which he struck out 13 batters, he could not straighten his arm. He was diagnosed by Dodgers' team physician Robert Kerlan with traumatic arthritis. With the Dodgers out of the pennant race he did not pitch again, ending the season with a 19–5 record and leading the NL with a 1.74 ERA.

Playing in pain (1965–66)

1965 season

The 1965 season brought more obstacles for Koufax. On March 31, the morning after pitching a complete spring training game, Koufax awoke to find that his entire left arm was black and blue from hemorrhaging. Koufax returned to Los Angeles to consult with Kerlan, who advised Koufax that he would be lucky to be able to pitch once a week. Kerlan also told Koufax that he would eventually lose full use of his arm. Koufax agreed not to throw at all between games—a resolution that lasted only one start. To get himself through the games he pitched in, Koufax resorted to Empirin with codeine for the pain, which he took every night and sometimes during the fifth inning. He also took Butazolidin for inflammation, applied capsaicin-based Capsolin ointment (also sold by the brand name  "Atomic Balm") before each game, and soaked his arm in a tub of ice afterwards.

Despite the constant pain in his pitching elbow Koufax pitched a major league leading  innings and led the Dodgers to another pennant. He won his second pitchers' Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (26), earned run average (2.04) and strikeouts (382, the highest modern-day total at the time, topped only by Nolan Ryan's 383 in ), and captured his second unanimous Cy Young Award. He held batters to 5.79 hits per nine innings, and allowed the fewest base runners per nine innings in any season ever: 7.83, breaking his own record (set two years earlier) of 7.96. Koufax had 11-game winning streaks in both 1964 and 1965.

Perfection

On September 9, 1965, Koufax became the sixth pitcher of the modern era, and eighth overall, to throw a perfect game. The game was Koufax's fourth no-hitter, setting a Major League record (subsequently broken by Ryan in 1981), and the first by a left-hander since 1880. He struck out 14 batters in the 1–0 win, at the time the most recorded in a perfect game (tied by Matt Cain in 2012). The game also set a record for the fewest hits ever in a big league contest,  thanks to a one-hitter thrown by the opposing pitcher, Bob Hendley of the Cubs, who only allowed only two batters to reach base. Both pitchers had no-hitters intact until the seventh inning.

The winning run was unearned, scored without a hit when the Dodger's Lou Johnson walked, reached second on a sacrifice, stole third, and scored on a throwing error by Chicago catcher Chris Krug.

World Series and Yom Kippur
Koufax garnered headlines by declining to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series in order to observe the Jewish religious holiday of Yom Kippur. His decision garnered national headlines, raising the conflict between professional pressures and personal religious beliefs to front-page news. Don Drysdale pitched the opener, but was hit hard by the Minnesota Twins.

In Game 2 Koufax pitched six innings, giving up two runs, and the Twins won the Game 5–1 to take an early 2–0 lead in the series. The Dodgers fought back in Games 3 and 4, with wins by Claude Osteen and Drysdale. With the Series tied at 2–2, Koufax pitched a complete-game shutout in Game 5 for a 3–2 Dodgers lead as the Series returned to Minnesota's Metropolitan Stadium for Game 6. The Twins won Game 6 to force a seventh game. Starting Game 7 on just two days of rest, Koufax pitched through fatigue and arthritic pain. Despite giving up on his curveball early in the game after failing to throw strikes with it in the first two innings and pitching the rest of the game relying almost entirely on fastballs, Koufax threw a three-hit shutout to clinch the Series. The performance earned him his second World Series MVP award, making him the first player to win the award twice. Koufax also won the Hickok Belt a second time, the first time anyone had won the belt more than once. He was awarded Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year award.

1966 season

Holdout
Before the 1966 season began, Koufax and Drysdale met separately with Dodger general manager Buzzy Bavasi to negotiate their contracts for the upcoming year. After their meeting Koufax met Drysdale for dinner and complained that Bavasi was using his teammate against him in the negotiations, taunting, "How come you want that much when Drysdale only wants this much?" Drysdale responded that Bavasi had done the same thing with him, in reverse. Drysdale's first wife, Ginger Drysdale, suggested that they negotiate together to get what they wanted. They demanded $1 million (equivalent to $ million in ), divided equally over the next three years, or $167,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) each for each of the next three seasons. Both players were represented by an entertainment lawyer, J. William Hayes, which was unusual in an era when players were not even represented by agents. At the time, Willie Mays was Major League Baseball's highest paid player at $125,000 (equivalent to $ million in ) per year, and multi-year contracts were extremely unusual.

Koufax and Drysdale did not report to spring training in February. Instead, both signed to appear in the movie Warning Shot, starring David Janssen. Drysdale was to play a TV commentator and Koufax a detective. Meanwhile, the Dodgers waged a public relations battle against them. After four weeks, Koufax gave Drysdale the go-ahead to negotiate new deals for both of them. Koufax ended up getting $125,000 and Drysdale $110,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). They rejoined the team in the last week of spring training.
In April 1966, Kerlan told Koufax it was time to retire and that his arm could not take another season. Koufax kept Kerlan's advice to himself and went out every fourth day to pitch. He ended up with a third pitcher's Triple Crown, pitching 323 innings, posting a 27–9 record, and recording a 1.73 earned run average. Since then, no left-hander has had more wins, nor a lower earned run average, in a season (Only Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton matched the 27-win mark, in 1972). In the final game of the regular season the Dodgers had to beat the Phillies to win the pennant. In the second game of a doubleheader Koufax faced Jim Bunning for the second time that season, in a match-up between perfect game winners. On two days rest Koufax pitched a 6-3 complete game victory to clinch the pennant. He started 41 games (for the second year in a row); only two left-handers started more games in any season over the ensuing years through 2021.

Season
The Dodgers went on to face the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series, and Game 2 marked Koufax's third start in eight days. He pitched well enough—Baltimore first baseman Boog Powell told Koufax's biographer, Jane Leavy, "He might have been hurtin' but he was bringin'"—but three errors by Dodger center fielder Willie Davis in the fifth inning produced three unearned runs. Baltimore's 20-year-old future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer pitched a four-hitter and the Orioles won 6–0. Alston lifted Koufax at the end of the sixth  with the idea of getting him extra rest before a potential fifth game. Instead, the Dodgers were swept in four games, not scoring a single run in the last  In his three World Series losses, all starts, spread over three different Series, Koufax gave up a total of three earned runs; the Dodgers scored a total of one run in in support, total, in all three.

Less than six weeks after the series Koufax announced his retirement due to an arthritic elbow on Friday,

Career overall
In his 12-season major league career Koufax had a 165–87 record with a 2.76 earned run average, 2,396 strikeouts, 137 complete games, and 40 shutouts. He was the first pitcher to average fewer than seven hits allowed per nine innings pitched (6.79) and to strike out more than nine batters (9.28) per nine innings pitched. He also became the second pitcher in baseball history to have two games with 18 or more strikeouts, and the first to have eight games with 15 or more strikeouts. In his last ten seasons, from 1957 to 1966, batters hit .203 against him, with a .271 on-base percentage and a .315 slugging average.

Due to a lack of run support Koufax's postseason won-lost record over four World Series is an unimpressive 4–3, but his historic 0.95 earned run average and two World Series MVPs testify to how well he actually pitched. He remains over half a century later on the very short list of pitchers who retired with more career strikeouts than innings pitched. He was selected as an All-Star for six consecutive seasons and made seven out of eight possible All-Star Game appearances those seasons (he was not selected for the second All-Star Game in 1962). He pitched six innings in four All-Star games, including being the starting pitcher for three innings in the 1966 All-Star Game.

Koufax was the first pitcher to win multiple Cy Young Awards, an especially impressive feat because it was during the era when only one was given out for both major leagues. He is also the first pitcher to win a Cy Young Award by a unanimous vote—a recognition which he accomplished twice more. Koufax and Juan Marichal are the only two pitchers to have more than one 25-win season in the post-World War II era, with each man recording three.

Pitching style

Koufax threw with a pronounced straight-over-the-top arm action. This aided in his devastating curveball and may have increased his velocity, but reduced the lateral movement on his pitches, especially movement away from left-handed hitters. Most of his velocity came from his strong legs and back, combined with a high leg kick during his wind-up and long forward extension on his release point toward home plate. Throughout his career, Koufax relied heavily on two pitches. His four-seam fastball gave batters the impression of rising as it approached them, due to back-spin. It not only appeared to move very late but also might move on multiple planes. His overhand curveball, spun with the middle finger, dropped vertically 12 to 24 inches due to his arm action. Sabremetrician Rob Neyer called it the best curve of all time. He also occasionally threw a changeup and a forkball.

At the beginning of his career Koufax fought a tendency to "tip" pitches to the opposing team through variations in his wind-up, which included the position he held his hands at the top of the wind-up.  When throwing a fastball with baserunners his hand position in the stretch would be higher than when he threw a curveball. Once alerted he made an effort to better disguise his deliveries. Late in his career his tendency to tip pitches became even more pronounced. Good hitters could often predict what pitch was coming, but were still unable to hit it. Willie Mays said "I knew every pitch he was going to throw – fastball, breaking ball or whatever. Actually, he would let you look at it. And you still couldn't hit it."

Post-playing career
In 1967, Koufax signed a 10-year contract with NBC for US$1 million (equivalent to $ million in ) to be a broadcaster on the Saturday Game of the Week. He quit after six years, just prior to the start of the  season.

The Dodgers hired Koufax to be a minor league pitching coach in . He resigned in , saying he was not earning his keep, but most observers blamed it on his uneasy relationship with manager Tommy Lasorda. Koufax returned to the Dodger organization in  when the Dodgers were sold to Frank McCourt. The Dodgers again hired Koufax in 2013 as a special advisor to team chairman Mark Walter to work with the pitchers during spring training and consult during the season.

Legacy 

Koufax was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, , just weeks after his 36th birthday. He was the youngest player ever elected, five months younger than Lou Gehrig upon his special election in 1939 (which waived the five-year waiting period before enshrinement).  However, due to changes in Hall customs, the 1972 induction ceremony was nearly eight months after the election, leaving Koufax slightly older than Gehrig at the time of the induction. On June 4 of that same year Koufax's uniform number 32 was retired alongside those of Dodger greats Roy Campanella (39) and Jackie Robinson (42).

In , The Sporting News placed Koufax at number 26 on its list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players". That same year he was named as one of the 30 players on the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Although he rarely makes public appearances, he went to Turner Field in Atlanta for the introduction ceremony before Game 2 of the 1999 World Series.

In 1990 Koufax was inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He was the final player chosen in the inaugural Israel Baseball League draft in April 2007, picked, at 71 years old, by the Modi'in Miracle. "His selection is a tribute to the esteem with which he is held by everyone associated with this league", said former New York Met Art Shamsky, who managed the Miracle. "It's been 41 years between starts for him. If he's rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team." Koufax declined the offer.

Before the 2015 MLB All-Star Game in Cincinnati Koufax was introduced as one of the four best living players (as selected by the fans of major league baseball), along with Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Johnny Bench.  He threw the ceremonial first pitch to Bench from in front of the base of the mound.

Koufax was included among a group of prominent Jewish Americans honored at a May 27, 2010, White House reception for Jewish American Heritage Month. During welcome remarks in a reminiscence of Koufax's decision not to play on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, U.S. President Barack Obama said that the two had "something in common." Obama continued: "He can't pitch on Yom Kippur. I can't pitch." Obama directly acknowledged the high esteem with which Koufax is held: "This is a ... pretty distinguished group," he said of the invited guests, which included members of the House and Senate, two justices of the Supreme Court, Olympic athletes, entrepreneurs, rabbinical scholars, "and Sandy Koufax." The mention of his name brought the biggest cheer at the event.

Personal life 
Koufax has been described by Sports Illustrated writer John Rosengren as a secular Jew. Regardless, his decision to not pitch on Yom Kippur in 1965 was highly significant for Jewish-Americans. Author Larry Ruttman called Koufax "an icon" for Jewish people because of his pitching skill and what he called Koufax's "deep respect for his Judaism" as shown in 1965.

Koufax married Anne Widmark, the daughter of actor Richard Widmark, in 1969; they divorced in 1982. His second marriage, to personal trainer Kimberly Francis, lasted from 1985 to 1998. Neither marriage produced children. His third wife is Jane Dee Purucker Clarke, a college sorority sister of future first lady Laura Bush. Koufax is the step-father of Clarke's daughter from her prior marriage to artist John Clem Clarke.

Koufax serves as a member of the advisory board of the Baseball Assistance Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping former Major League, Minor League, and Negro League players through financial and medical difficulties.

Career statistics

See also

List of Major League Baseball annual ERA leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual strikeout leaders
List of Major League Baseball annual wins leaders
List of Major League Baseball single-game strikeout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders
List of Major League Baseball career WHIP leaders
List of Major League Baseball perfect games
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
List of Major League Baseball players who spent their entire career with one franchise
Major League Baseball titles leaders
List of baseball players who went directly to Major League Baseball
List of select Jewish baseball players
List of SN Player of the Year
List of SN Pitcher of the Year

Notes

References
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pietrusza, David; Silverman, Matthew & Gershman, Michael, ed. (2000). Baseball: The Biographical Encyclopedia. Total/Sports Illustrated. .
 Ruttman, Larry. "Sandy Koufax: Pitcher Nonpareil and Perfect Gentleman". In American Jews and America's Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball, University of Nebraska Press, 2013,

Further reading
 Lieber, Leslie. "Who's the Fastest Pitcher". Washington Star. June 19, 1960. pp. 11–12
 "Close-Up: Good Life of Baseball's Number 1 Hero". Life. October 22, 1963. pp. 54–56.
 Gross, Milton. "Baseball's Fragile Superstars". Popular Science. May 1966. pp. 76–79.
 Linn, Ed. "Sandy Koufax – Best Pitcher of All". Boy's Life'. March 1967. pp. 28–31.
 Brosnan, Jim. "Baseball's Greatest Pitcher". Boy's Life. February 1979. pp. 25–27. 
 Verducci, Tom. "The Left Arm of God". Sports Illustrated. July 12, 1999.
 Mott, Patrick. "Bon Mott: Sandy's Shrine". Orange Coast Magazine. March 2000. p. 16.

External links

Sandy Koufax at SABR (Baseball BioProject)

Biography and career highlights Baseball Library''
A Pair of Tefillin for Sandy Koufax – article from Chabad.org about the impact of Koufax's decision not to pitch on Yom Kippur on the Jewish community

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In baseball, a no-hitter (also known as a no-hit game and colloquially as a no-no) is a game in which a team was not able to record a single hit through conventional means. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter". In most cases, no-hitters are recorded by a single pitcher who throws a complete game; one thrown by two or more pitchers is a combined no-hitter.

A no-hitter is a rare accomplishment for a pitcher or pitching staff—only 314 have been thrown in MLB history since 1876, an average of about two per year. The most recent major league no-hitter by a single pitcher was thrown on August 14, 2021, by Tyler Gilbert of the Arizona Diamondbacks against the San Diego Padres. The most recent combined no-hitter was thrown on September 11, 2021, by starter Corbin Burnes and closer Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers against the Cleveland Indians. The MLB season with the most no-hit games is the  season, in which nine no-hitters were pitched.

It is possible to reach base without a hit, most commonly by a walk, error, or being hit by a pitch. Other possibilities include the batter reaching first after an uncaught third strike, catcher's interference or fielder's choice. A no-hitter in which no batters reach base at all is a perfect game, a much rarer feat. Because batters can reach base by means other than a hit, a pitcher can throw a no-hitter (though not a perfect game) and still give up runs, and even lose the game, although this is extremely uncommon, and most no-hitters are also shutouts. One or more runs were given up in 25 recorded no-hitters in MLB history, most recently by Ervin Santana of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in a 3–1 win against the Cleveland Indians on July 27, 2011. On two occasions, a team has thrown a nine-inning no-hitter and still lost the game. It is theoretically possible for opposing pitchers to throw no-hitters in the same game, although this has never happened in the major leagues. Two pitchers, Fred Toney and Hippo Vaughn, completed nine innings of a game on May 2, 1917, without either giving up a hit or a run; Vaughn gave up two hits and a run in the 10th inning, losing the game to Toney, who completed the extra-inning no-hitter.

MLB no-hitters

Definition
A no-hitter is defined by MLB: "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." This 1991 definition by MLB's Committee for Statistical Accuracy caused previously recognized no-hitters of fewer than nine innings or where the first hit had been allowed in extra innings to be stricken from the official record books. Games lost by the visiting team in  innings but without allowing any hits do not qualify as no-hitters, as the visiting team has only pitched eight innings.

Frequency
MLB has recognized 314 no-hitters thrown since 1876, 23 of which were perfect games. Two no-hitters have been thrown on the same day twice: Ted Breitenstein and Jim Hughes on April 22, 1898; and Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela on June 29, 1990.

Nine no-hitters were thrown in the 2021 season. The previous record was eight, set in 1884. The previous modern era record (since 1901) was seven, accomplished in 1990, 1991, 2012, and 2015.

The longest period between two no-hitters in the modern era is three years and 44 days, between Bobby Burke on August 8, 1931, and Paul "Daffy" Dean on September 21, 1934. There was a drought of three years and 11 months without a no-hitter after the first National League no-hitter on July 15, 1876, pitched by George Bradley. The most recent year without any no-hitters is 2005.

The greatest span of games without a no-hitter in the major leagues is 6,364, between Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18, 2004 for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Aníbal Sánchez's no-hitter on September 6, 2006 for the Florida Marlins. The previous record was a 4,015-game streak without a no-hitter from September 30, 1984, to September 19, 1986.

Individual

The pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is Nolan Ryan, who threw seven in his 27-year career. His first two came exactly two months apart with the California Angels: the first on May 15, 1973, and the second on July 15. He had two more with the Angels on September 28, 1974, and June 1, 1975. Ryan's fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26, 1981, broke Sandy Koufax's previous record. His sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 1, 1990, and May 1, 1991. When he tossed number seven at age 44, he became the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

Only Ryan, Sandy Koufax (four), Cy Young (three), Bob Feller (three), Larry Corcoran (three), and Justin Verlander (three) have pitched more than two no-hitters. Corcoran was the first pitcher to throw a second no-hitter in a career (in 1882), as well as the first to throw a third (in 1884).

Thirty-six pitchers have thrown more than one no-hitter, combined no-hitters not counting. Nolan Ryan has the longest gap between no-hitters: he threw his first as a member of the California Angels on May 15, 1973 and his last as a Texas Ranger on May 1, 1991.

The pitcher who holds the record for the shortest time between no-hitters is Johnny Vander Meer, the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts, while playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938. Besides Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds (in 1951), Virgil Trucks (in 1952), Ryan (in 1973), and Max Scherzer (in 2015) were the only major leaguers to throw two no-hitters during the same regular season.

Jim Maloney also had two no-hitters under the old rules in the 1965 season, both of them taking extra innings. In the first one on June 14, he gave up a home run to Johnny Lewis to open the top of the 11th inning, turning 10 innings of no-hit ball into a 1–0 loss to the New York Mets. According to the rules at the time, this was considered a no-hitter. On August 19, a home run by Leo Cárdenas in the tenth inning allowed Maloney to earn a 1–0 10-inning no-hit win over the Chicago Cubs.

Roy Halladay threw two no-hitters in 2010 – a perfect game during the regular season and a no-hitter in the 2010 National League Division Series. He is the only major leaguer to have thrown no-hitters in regular season and postseason play.

Two pitchers missing their non-pitching hand have thrown no-hitters; Hugh Daily, of the Cleveland Blues, defeated the Philadelphia Quakers 1–0 on September 13, 1883, and Jim Abbott, of the New York Yankees, defeated the Cleveland Indians 4–0 on September 4, 1993. Daily lost his left hand in a gun accident as a child, and Abbott was born without a right hand.

The record for most no-hitters caught by a catcher is four, a record shared by Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. Varitek caught no-hitters for Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, Clay Buchholz, and Jon Lester. Varitek also caught a rain-shortened, five-inning unofficial no-hitter for Devern Hansack on October 1, 2006. Ruiz caught two no-hitters for Roy Halladay, including a perfect game, as well as one for Cole Hamels, and a combined no-hitter for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon. Before MLB redefined "no-hitter", Ray Schalk had long held the record of catching four no-hitters, but his first nine-inning no-hitter had ended with a hit in the tenth inning. Victor Caratini is the only player to catch consecutive no-hitters with two different teams, and the tenth to catch consecutive no-hitters at all. the first came on September 13, 2020 with the Chicago Cubs, and the second on April 9, 2021 with the San Diego Padres.

Five pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in both the American League and the National League: Cy Young, Ryan, Jim Bunning, Nomo, and Randy Johnson. Only five catchers have caught a no-hitter in each league: Gus Triandos, Jeff Torborg, Darrell Porter, Ron Hassey, and most recently, Drew Butera. Triandos caught Hoyt Wilhelm's 1958 no-hitter and Jim Bunning's perfect game, Torborg caught Koufax's perfect game and Ryan's first no-hitter, Porter caught Jim Colborn's 1977 no-hitter and Bob Forsch's second no-hitter in 1983, and Hassey caught Len Barker's and Dennis Martínez's perfect games. Butera caught a 2011 no-hitter by Francisco Liriano and a 2014 no-hitter by Josh Beckett.

Team
No team has thrown no-hitters in consecutive games, although it has happened once on consecutive days: On May 5, 1917, Ernie Koob of the St. Louis Browns no-hit the Chicago White Sox, and teammate Bob Groom repeated the feat in the second game of a doubleheader the following day.

On two occasions, there have been back-to-back no-hitters thrown by each team in a series. On September 17, 1968, Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cardinals' Ray Washburn no-hit the Giants the following day. On April 30, 1969, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Houston Astros, and the Astros' Don Wilson no-hit the Reds the following day. Surprisingly, it was both Maloney's and Wilson's second no-hitter in their careers.

Teams have thrown two straight no-hitters, with no other teams pitching one in the interim, 19 times; most recently by the Houston Astros (a combined no-hitter using 4 pitchers and Justin Verlander in 2019). The only team to throw three straight no-hitters was the Milwaukee Braves, with Lew Burdette, followed by consecutive no-no's by Warren Spahn, in 1960 and 1961. Individual pitchers have thrown two straight no-hitters seven times: Addie Joss 1908 and 1910; Vander Meer in 1938; Allie Reynolds in 1951; Warren Spahn in 1960 and 1961; Ryan twice, first in 1973, then in 1974 and 1975; and Bailey. All seven instances were with the same team.

The Cleveland Indians are the only team to be no-hit three times in a single season, doing so in 2021. They were no-hit by Carlos Rodón of the Chicago White Sox on April 14, 2021. They then failed to record a hit against the Cincinnati Reds' Wade Miley on May 7, 2021. Finally, they were held hitless by Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader of the Milwaukee Brewers on September 11, 2021. Remarkably, Zach Plesac was the Indians' pitcher for all three no-hitters. In addition to these official no-hitters, the Indians also failed to record a hit against the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a doubleheader on July 7, 2021. This is not considered an official no-hitter because the game only lasted seven innings.

Combined no-hitters
The vast majority of no-hit games are finished by the starting pitcher, but 14 MLB no-hitters have been thrown by a combination of the starting and relief pitchers. The first such combined no-hitter occurred on June 23, 1917, when Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox relieved starter Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for arguing with the umpire after walking the first batter of the game. The runner was subsequently caught stealing and Shore retired the next 26 batters without allowing any baserunners. This game was long considered a perfect game for Shore, since he recorded 27 outs in succession; current rules classify it only as a combined no-hitter. Another major league combined no-hitter did not occur until April 30, 1967, when Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles recorded the final out in relief of Steve Barber in a 2–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

The only combined extra inning no-hitter to date occurred on July 12, 1997. Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers Francisco Córdova (9 innings) and Ricardo Rincón (1 inning) combined to no-hit the Houston Astros, 3–0. Victory was secured with a three-run walk-off home run by pinch hitter Mark Smith in the bottom of the tenth inning.

On June 11, 2003, the Houston Astros set a record with six pitchers involved in a combined no-hitter. On that day, Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner combined to hold the New York Yankees hitless. Oswalt was removed after one inning due to injury. Munro pitched the most innings, . He also allowed five of the six baserunners, giving up three walks, hitting a batter and seeing another reach on an error by third baseman Geoff Blum. The only other baserunner was allowed by Dotel, who threw a third-strike wild pitch to Alfonso Soriano with one out in the eighth; Dotel went on to record the forty-fifth four-strikeout inning in regular-season play. Lidge, who retired all six hitters he faced over the sixth and seventh innings, earned the victory. On June 8, 2012, the Seattle Mariners tied this record when Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers. Millwood pitched 6 innings before he was taken out due to a groin injury.

Only one pitcher has thrown a no-hitter as a starter and contributed to a combined no-hitter as a reliever. On September 30, 1984, Mike Witt threw a 1–0 perfect game for the California Angels against the Texas Rangers. On April 11, 1990, pitching the eighth and ninth innings in relief of Mark Langston, Witt earned a save in another 1–0 no-hit victory for the Angels over the Seattle Mariners.

Vida Blue, Kent Mercker, Kevin Millwood, and Cole Hamels are the only pitchers to start both a complete game no-hitter and a combined no-hitter. Vida Blue no-hit the Minnesota Twins on September 21, 1970, while pitching for the Oakland Athletics. He combined with Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers to no-hit the California Angels on September 28, 1975. While with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Peña no-hit the San Diego Padres in the National League's first combined no-hitter. Mercker threw a complete game no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994. In addition to the game above in which Millwood and the Seattle Mariners tied the record by using six pitchers in a no-hitter, Millwood previously threw a complete game no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on April 27, 2003, while with the Philadelphia Phillies. Both Mercker and Blue were All-Stars in the seasons of their combined no-hitters, and Blue also won the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player Award during his career.

Combined no-hitters are not recognized by Nippon Professional Baseball.

Opening Day, title-clinching, and postseason no-hitters

The Cleveland Indians' Bob Feller left the Chicago White Sox hitless in the 1940 season opener on April 16, the only official Opening Day no-hitter.

The Houston Astros' Mike Scott no-hit the San Francisco Giants on September 25, 1986, a victory that also clinched the National League West title for the Astros; this is the only such concurrence in Major League history to date. In the first game of a doubleheader on September 28, 1951, Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox which clinched a tie for the American League pennant; the pennant was clinched outright in the doubleheader's second game.

There have been two postseason no-hitters in MLB history, one by a pitcher from each league. For the AL, on October 8, 1956, Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game in Game 5 of that year's World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Nine years earlier, the Yankees' Bill Bevens had come within one out of a no-hitter against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series, only to lose the game on a pinch-hit double by Cookie Lavagetto. (There have been other one-hitters in the World Series, with the lone hit coming earlier in the game than in Bevens' effort.) For the NL, on October 6, 2010, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the first postseason appearance of his career, threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, in Game 1 of the Phillies' NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.

Rookie no-hitters
Twenty-two MLB rookies have pitched a no-hitter since 1901. Four pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in their first major league start; two others have done it in their second major league starts.

Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds threw a no-hitter on October 15, 1892 in his first major league game. 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.

Ted Breitenstein pitched a no-hitter in his first major league start on October 4, 1891; however, it was not his first major league game. He later threw a second no-hitter on April 22, 1898.

On May 6, 1953, Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in his first major league start (also not his first major league game). 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. 

On August 14, 2021, Tyler Gilbert of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in his first major league start and fourth appearance. His first major league game came just 11 days before his no-hitter.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are nine 300-game winners—Grover Cleveland Alexander, Kid Nichols, Lefty Grove, Early Wynn, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens and Tom Glavine—who failed to pitch a no-hitter.

On August 11, 1991, Wilson Álvarez of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's first career start, he had allowed three runs on a pair of home runs and did not retire a single batter. Unlike Jones and Holloman, Alvarez went on to win 102 games over a 16-year career.

Clay Buchholz pitched a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox in his second major league start on September 1, 2007 at Fenway Park. The game ended in a 10–0 victory for the Red Sox over the Baltimore Orioles.

Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game against the Detroit Tigers on April 30, 1922, in his fourth career start and fifth career appearance.

Nine-inning no-hitters in a losing effort

Unlike a perfect game, in which no batters reach base, in regular no-hitters batters can reach base in other ways, such as a walk, an error, or a hit batsman, thus it is possible for the team pitching the no-hitter to lose. On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten, 1–0, by the Cincinnati Reds. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.

On April 30, 1967, Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined no-hitter, but lost 2–1 to the Detroit Tigers.

On July 1, 1990, Andy Hawkins of the New York Yankees pitched an eight-inning no-hitter (the Yankees were the away team) against the Chicago White Sox and lost the game 4–0 after an eighth inning which saw three errors. The four runs that the White Sox scored are the most by any team in a game in which they had no hits. Because Hawkins only threw eight innings, this game is not recognized as an official no-hitter by Major League Baseball; however, it was considered a no-hitter at the time it was pitched. In the year after the game, the rules regarding no-hitters, (and rules regarding other statistics), were changed and applied retroactively in order to "clean up the record book". The Hawkins "no-hitter" failed on one main provision of the new standards. To be classified a valid no-hitter, the pitcher or pitching staff must hold the opposing team hitless for the entire game and face opposing batters in at least nine full innings, meaning the only way a team can pitch a losing no-hitter on the road is if the game goes to extra innings and the home team manages to win the game on a walk-off without the benefit of a hit.

On April 12, 1992, Matt Young of the Boston Red Sox faced the Cleveland Indians in the first game of a doubleheader. Young allowed no hits but gave up two runs on seven walks and an error by shortstop Luis Rivera, en route to the second unofficial no-hitter by a losing pitcher on the road.

Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Los Angeles Angels also combined for eight innings of no-hit baseball in a 1–0 road loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 28, 2008, after Matt Kemp reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on another error, and scored on a sacrifice fly. However, since the Angels only pitched eight innings, this game is once again not recognized as an official no-hitter.

Shortened no-hitters

A game shortened by previous agreement or that cannot continue due to weather or darkness may be considered a completed official game, as long as at least five innings have been completed. Until 1991, any such game in which a pitcher held the opposing team without hits was considered an official no-hitter; however under the current rule, a no-hitter must last for at least nine innings to count. There are thirty-seven such shortened no-hitters. As the rule was applied retroactively, there are thirty-five games in which a no-hitter was shortened by previous agreement, weather, or darkness, with lengths ranging from 5 to 8 innings, that are no longer considered no-hitters.

There are four shortened no-hitters that were ended early as part of a previous agreement for travel purposes.

In 2020, MLB started using 7-inning doubleheaders, and on April 25, 2021, Madison Bumgarner threw the fifth shortened no-hitter in baseball history not shortened by weather or darkness. On July 7, 2021, Collin McHugh, Josh Fleming, Diego Castillo, Matt Wisler, and Pete Fairbanks of the Tampa Bay Rays threw a combined 7-inning no-hitter. No-hitters recorded in 7-inning doubleheaders do not count as official no-hitters unless the game lasts at least nine innings and the no-hitter is preserved through the end of the game.

If the home team leads after the top of the ninth, they do not bat in the bottom of the ninth, thus the visiting team only pitches 8 innings. Since it is possible to score runs without getting hits, a visiting team can complete a full game without allowing a hit but not be credited with an official no-hitter. This has happened four times in MLB history: Silver King (1890), Andy Hawkins (1990), and Matt Young (1992) pitched complete games without allowing a hit, but pitched only 8 innings as the losing pitcher from the visiting team, and thus are not credited with a no-hitter. On June 28, 2008, Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Los Angeles Angels threw 8 no-hit innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, but lost the game, 1–0, and are not credited with a no-hitter. This is the first near no-hitter of this kind in which more than one pitcher was involved.

No-hitters broken up in extra innings
A game that is a no-hitter through nine innings may be broken up in extra innings. Under current rules, such a game (whether won or lost) is not considered an official no-hitter because the pitching staff did not keep the opposing team hitless for the entire course of the game.

On May 2, 1917, a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds reached the end of nine innings in a hitless scoreless tie, the only time in baseball history that neither team has had a hit in regulation. Both Hippo Vaughn of the Cubs and Fred Toney of the Reds continued pitching into the tenth inning. Vaughn lost his no-hitter in the top of the tenth, as the Reds got two hits and scored the winning run. Toney retired the side in the bottom of the tenth and recorded a ten-inning no-hitter. This game was long considered a "double no-hitter", but Vaughn is no longer credited with a no-hitter under the current rules.

Of the thirteen potential no-hitters that have been lost in extra innings, two were perfect games until the inning when the first hit was surrendered. On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a remarkable twelve perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves before losing the perfect game on an error and then the no-hitter and the game in the thirteenth inning. On June 3, 1995, Pedro Martínez of the Montreal Expos pitched nine perfect innings against the San Diego Padres before giving up a hit in the tenth and exiting the game, which the Expos then won, 1–0.

On August 23, 2017, in a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill pitched nine no-hit innings, only to lose his no-hit bid (and the game) on a walk-off homer by Josh Harrison in the 10th inning. This was another potential perfect game; the perfect game was broken up by a ninth-inning error, the first time that had happened in MLB history.

Time between franchise no-hitters
All 30 active teams in Major League Baseball have pitched a no-hitter. The last active MLB team to throw its first no-hitter was the San Diego Padres, when pitcher Joe Musgrove struck out ten batters and held the Texas Rangers hitless at Globe Life Field on April 9, 2021, 52 years after the team's debut in 1969. The closest attempt by a single pitcher prior to 2021 was against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 18, 1972: Steve Arlin came within one out of a no-hitter before Denny Doyle broke up his bid with a single. On July 9, 2011, five Padres pitchers combined for  innings of no-hit pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers before Juan Uribe hit a double, which was followed by a Dioner Navarro single that allowed the Dodgers to score to win the game, 1–0.

The Cleveland Indians have the longest active no-hitter drought; the last such game thrown by the team was Len Barker's perfect game on May 15, 1981.

The New York Mets, who began play in 1962, went without a no-hitter until Johan Santana pitched one on the night of June 1, 2012, against the St. Louis Cardinals at home at Citi Field. The 8–0 victory closed out their era as the oldest franchise without a no-hitter and ended a drought that lasted 8,019 regular-season and 74 post-season games. As of the start of the 2021 season, Mets pitchers have thrown 39 one-hitters.

The longest no-hitter drought in MLB history was suffered by the Philadelphia Phillies between May 1, 1906, and June 21, 1964, a span of 8,945 games.

The Washington Nationals achieved their first no-hitter on September 28, 2014. The franchise has four previous no-hitters in its history as the Montreal Expos, including a perfect game by Dennis Martínez.

Six current NL teams—the Braves, Dodgers, Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Reds—all pitched their first no-hitters before the advent of the American League in 1901. Among the early National League teams still playing, the last to get their first no-hitter was the St. Louis Cardinals, when Jesse Haines pitched one on July 17, 1924. Of the original American League teams, the last team to get their first no-hitter was the New York Yankees, when George Mogridge pitched one on April 24, 1917. There are a number of short-lived Major League franchises from the nineteenth century that folded without ever recording a no-hitter.

Avoiding no-hitters
All modern-era MLB teams have experienced at least two no-hitters pitched against them. The record for the longest period of time without being no-hit is held by the Chicago Cubs, who succeeded in getting at least one hit in every game following Sandy Koufax's perfect game against them on September 9, 1965, until they were no-hit by Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25, 2015, a period of  (7951 games, including 31 postseason games). Koufax's perfect game, together with Bob Hundley's one-hitter, is the only major league game in which the two teams combined for only one hit.

The second-longest streak without having an official no-hitter pitched against them is held by the New York Yankees, who had a gap of  between nine-inning no-hitters from September 21, 1958, to June 10, 2003. However, during this time, the Yankees failed to collect a hit in a rain-shortened official game on July 12, 1990, after .

Including games of less than nine innings, the St. Louis Cardinals have the second-longest streak between games when they did not collect a hit: May 12, 1919, to May 14, 1960, a period of . Among AL teams, the Kansas City Royals hold the longest such streak: May 15, 1973 to May 19, 2008, a period of .

The longest current streak is held by the Oakland Athletics, last held hitless on July 13, 1991 ( ago) via a combined no-hitter by four Baltimore Orioles pitchers.

No-hitters and ballparks
Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the middle of the 1909 season until the middle of the 1970 season, is the only long-term major league ballpark where a no-hitter was never thrown during its existence. There are four recently built fields where no-hitters have not yet been thrown, Busch Stadium, Truist Park, Target Field, and Yankee Stadium. Four parks presently in existence for a decade or more have only seen one no-hitter each: Coors Field, the hitter-friendly home of the Colorado Rockies (Hideo Nomo on September 17, 1996); the Orioles' current home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, known for being hitter friendly (Nomo on April 4, 2001); PNC Park, the current home of the Pirates, which like Forbes Field is known for being hitter-friendly (Homer Bailey on September 28, 2012); and Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, which initially was known as a pitcher's park but was modified with shorter fences in 2013 (Tim Lincecum on July 13, 2013).

American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, has hosted two no-hitters, but only one involved its home team. Both no-hitters were thrown by the Chicago Cubs—Alec Mills threw a no-hitter on September 13, 2020, against the Brewers; and Carlos Zambrano pitched one on September 14, 2008, against the "home" Houston Astros in a game displaced by Hurricane Ike.

Nippon Professional Baseball

There have been 66 no-hitters in Nippon Professional Baseball history. As noted above, unlike Major League Baseball, the Japanese league does not count combined or not shutout no-hitters.

Negro leagues
Ongoing research by baseball historians has revealed the existence of 34 no-hitters thrown in Negro league baseball; the research has had to clarify differences between play from teams and barnstorming, and one of the no-hitters was done at a Benefit All-Star Game. In 2020, Major League Baseball announced the addition of the seven "Negro Major Leagues" that played from 1920 to 1948 as major leagues, which recognized statistics from over 3,400 players that played in those seasons, which will only increase the need for further research and verification over no-hitters. 

This presumes that 22 to 24 no-hitters from that said era (22 regular season, one postseason, one All-Star game) could be recognized by official record books such as Elias in future years. There are also six games that were prematurely cut from the intended length of nine innings that were called due to weather that ranged from 1926 to 1945, one of which includes Luther Farrell and his seven-inning no-hitter in Game 5 of the 1927 Colored World Series. 

Four pitchers threw two no-hitters: Bill Gatewood, Phil Cockrell, Jesse Winters, and Satchel Paige; Dick Redding, nicknamed "Cannonball", was reported to have thrown as many as 30 no-hitters in his career, but the disparity in finding enough box scores to verify such claim still proves too great for researchers (incidentally, Paige had estimated he threw 55 no-hitters in a long career of league games and barnstorming). At any rate, his no-hitter for the Lincoln Giants against the Cuban Stars is generally considered the first no-hitter documented between two African American teams considered to have played at the highest level. Leon Day threw a no-hitter on May 5, 1946 to open the season for the Newark Eagles against the Philadelphia Stars, which is believed to be the second no-hitter thrown by a pitcher on Opening Day.

Eleven were done in the 1910s, while fourteen were verified to have been done in the 1920s, six in the 1930s, and three in the 1940s. Likely the most famous no-hitter thrown by a player in the Negro leagues was Red Grier, who pitched a no-hitter in Game 3 of the 1926 Colored World Series on October 3, 1926, doing so for the Bacharach Giants against the Chicago American Giants. It was the first no-hitter thrown in a major league postseason game, and no one would throw another in the playoffs until Don Larsen 30 years later.

In December 2020, Major League Baseball announced that it was classifying the seven "Negro Major Leagues" as major leagues, recognizing statistics and approximately 3,400 players who played from 1920 to 1948.

International competition
In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Shairon Martis pitched a no-hitter for the Netherlands against Panama, however it was only for seven innings due to the mercy rule.

No-hitter with complete game shutout win
Unlike the MLB and WBSC (global sanctioning body of baseball) definitions, a no-hitter is called a "no hit, no run" game in Eastern Asian professional leagues.  The requirements are different than the traditional definition;  the game is a shutout victory where the starting pitcher pitches the entire game while allowing no hits, and no runs are scored (a no-hitter by the traditional definition runs may score by walk, hit by pitch, defensive interference, errors, stolen bases, and balks).  In those leagues, a no-hitter is not regarded as official record unless the starting pitcher pitches the whole game and the opposing team scores zero runs, and the team either wins or the game ends in a tie, which happens when the innings limit is reached.  There is a twelve-inning limit in these leagues.

Superstitions
One of the most common baseball superstitions is that it is bad luck to mention a no-hitter in progress, especially to the pitcher and in particular by their teammates (who sometimes even go so far as to avoid even going near the pitcher). Some sportscasters observe this taboo while others have no reservations about mentioning no-hitters before completion. When Sandy Koufax pitched his no-hitter against the Mets in 1962, one of their 120 losses that season, Mets' coach Solly Hemus, apparently trying to jinx Koufax, kept heckling him through the game about pitching a no-hitter, according to a post-game interview Koufax gave after pitching his third no-hitter in 1964. An early biography of Koufax quoted him as telling his catcher, during that 1964 no-hitter, "Let's just go to the fastball and get this no-hit thing over with." Mickey Mantle, in an interview for Ken Burns' 1994 Baseball documentary series, related that Don Larsen, famed for his 1956 World Series perfect game, tried to talk about his no-hitter throughout the contest but much to his chagrin his Yankee teammates avoided his conversation and maintained the superstition.

When Los Angeles Angels rookie Bo Belinsky entered the final inning of his no-hitter in 1962, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jackie Brandt passed him on the field as the teams changed sides. According to Belinsky biographer Maury Allen, Brandt told Belinsky, "Nice game, Bo, but it's over. I'm leading off with a bunt single." Belinsky got Brandt out to start the final inning of his no-hitter.

In 2009, when Mark Buehrle was pitching his perfect game, as he exited the field after the eighth inning, White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson exclaimed, "Call your sons! Call your daughters! Call your friends! Call your neighbors! Mark Buehrle has a perfect game going into the ninth!" Buehrle retired the side in the ninth to complete the perfect game.

When Jim Bunning was pitching his perfect game in 1964, he deliberately violated this superstition, talking to his teammates about the perfect game's progress in order to dispel the tension in the dugout.

See also
Lists of no-hitters

References

External links
 Chronological list of no-hitters at Retrosheet
 American League no-hitters 
 National League no-hitters
 No-hitters alphabetically by umpire
 List at MLB.com. Does not include defunct leagues.

Baseball pitching
Baseball terminology
Sports accomplishments Nicholas Maddox (November 9, 1886 – November 27, 1954) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1907 through 1910. Maddox is one of the few pitchers to throw a no-hitter in his rookie season.

Maddox was born in Govanstown, Maryland. He defeated the Brooklyn Superbas 2–1 at Pittsburgh's Exposition Park on September 20, , one week after pitching a 4–0 shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals in his major league debut.

Not until Cliff Chambers in  would another Pirate pitch a no-hitter, and the next no-hitter in Pittsburgh would not come until , when Bob Gibson of the Cardinals no-hit the Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium, nor would another Pirate pitch a no-hitter in Pittsburgh until John Candelaria did so in . The Pirates' home stadium in between, Forbes Field, had not witnessed a no-hitter in its 61-year (mid-–mid-) history. Through 2013, Maddox is still the youngest pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the majors.

Maddox was also the last Pirate to win his first 4 career starts (in 1907) until the feat was matched by Gerrit Cole in 2013. William F. Kirk of the New York American in 1908 called Maddox a "a well formed youth with a face like a dried apple."
After his rookie season, Maddox spent two more years with the Pirates as a starting pitcher and finished his career in 1910 as a relief pitcher. In his career, he had 43 wins, 20 losses, and a 2.29 earned run average.

Maddox died on November 27, 1954, at the age of 68 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

See also
 List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

References

External links

Major League Baseball pitchers
Baseball players from Baltimore
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Wheeling Stogies players
Kansas City Blues (baseball) players
Louisville Colonels (minor league) players
Wichita Witches players
1886 births
1954 deaths