Locked On Mariners - Daily Podcast On the Seattle Mariners - The Hitless List

Episode Date: May 3, 2020

Once again on location, this time in Post Falls, Idaho, D.C. Lundberg wraps up the week looking at the greatest moments in franchise history by talking about the six no-hitters the M's have tossed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Here's your host, D.C. Lundberg. Thank you, J.M. I am D.C. Lundberg, the Locked-on Podcast Network's king of the road, as it were. The party in the panhandle continues. Today coming at you on location from Post Falls, Idaho. This is Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast network. Please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to Locked-on Mariner. Mariners on Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you personally care to use.

Ask your smart device to play Locked-on Mariner's podcast or locked on team name here podcast. Follow the show on Twitter at L-O-U-U-U-N-R-R-G, if you are scoring at home. Today we are wrapping up the greatest moments in franchise history by taking a look. at the six games in which the opposing team never recorded a hit. The Mariners do indeed have six no-hitters in its history, including one perfect game. The first of these almost happened on April 20, 1990 in the Oakland Coliseum. With the Mariners enjoying a six-nothing lead, Brian Holman was perfect through eight and two-thirds innings.

Ken Phelps stepped to the plate, pinch-hitting for Mike Gallego, and the rest, as they say, is history. The former mariner took Holman deep over the right. field wall, spoiling the perfecto, the no-hitter, and the shutout. Holman struck out Ricky Henderson and wound up with a one-hit, one-run, complete game, a 104-pitch victory. So close, yet so far. But still, an amazing pitching performance for the tall right-hander. Later in the season, the Mariners finally did pitch their first-ever no-hitter.

And who else but the big unit would do the honors? Facing the Detroit Tigers on June 2nd, 1990 at the Kingdom, Johnson was his usual wild self. He walked six, and according to Johnson, quote, was constantly pitching with runners on base, end quote. It was not the typical clean no-hitter, and his offense was not exactly giving him much to work with either. They did jump out to a one-nothing lead in the first

on a Jeffrey Leonard RBI groundout, but picked up one more run only in the fourth on a Harold Reynolds sack fly. Johnson struck out eight tigers, though, including Mike Heath to end the game. Heath was not particularly happy about this. After the game, he remodeled the visitor's clubhouse, so to speak, with a baseball bat, including destroying a television set. The M's would not have to wait all that much longer for their next no-hitter.

Chris Basio faced the Boston Red Sox on April 22nd, 1993, at the Kingdom. And the game started off not so great. He walked the first two Red Sox hitters. Ernest Riles and Carlos Kentana. After that, however, he got Mike Greenwell to ground into a double play, then struck out future Hall of Famer Andre Dawson to escape unscathed. And it was smooth cruising from there, as those were the only two base runners he would allow.

And the Mariners' offense helped him out as well, jumping on Red Sox starter Joe Hesketh for five runs in three innings, including a Brett Boone home run. The Ms would score two more against reliever Paul Quantrell. The final play of the ball game was very impressive, and I've already mentioned it a couple times on the show before. Ernest Riles grounded a ball back up the middle, which under normal circumstances would have been a base hit. But the Mariners shortstop was the incredible Omar Visckel, who ranged far to his left to snag the ball with his bare hand, and then throw on to first base to retire Riles and give Basio his no-hitter.

The next M's no-no would not come for another nine years, although in the interim they'd be no-hit by D. Dwight Gooden in 1996 in Yankee Stadium, and Philip Umber would toss a perfect game in Safeco Field in front of a national television audience early in the 2012 season. During that same 2012 season, the Ms would spin not one, but two no-hitters, both of them rather unique, and both at home. The first came on June 8th against the Los Angeles Dodgers in an interleague game. Kevin Milwood started for the Mariners, already the author of a no-hitter, which occurred in 2003. He pitched the first six innings and looked good, walking only one while striking out six.

However, he was forced to leave the game because of an injury, and he was replaced by Charlie Furbush. This was not the first time Charlie had pitched in Safeco Field, so you could say that when he came into pitch, that the mound had been refurbished, or perhaps not. In any case, the left-handed Furbush retired two hitters before giving way to Stephen Pryor. Pryor retired one. Pryor retired one hitter but walked the other two men he faced. He was relieved in favor of Lucas Letge in the 8th, who retired the only batter that he faced. Brandon League then came in and also retired the two men he faced. In the 9th, the M's called upon the bartender, Tom Wilhelmson, to close up shop for the

night, and he did just that, retiring the Dodgers 1, 2, 3 in the 9th to preserve the M's first combined no-hitter and the only one in franchise history as of this recording. One of my best friends was at this game, and I will talk a little bit about his experience in the second half of today's show. Just a couple months later, on Wednesday, August 15th, King Felix turned in what was perhaps the signature pitching performance for the Seattle Mariners. Facing the Tampa Bay raise, simply put, he was dominant. No walks, no hits, 12 strikeouts, and only 113 pitches. He went to a three-ball count only six times in the game. In addition, the offense never gave him much cushion to work with,

as they only managed five hits and a mere one run of their own. Felix's final foe was third baseman Sean Rodriguez, who watched a tailing fastball graze the inside corner for a called third strike. Felix raised his hands and looked at the sky as his teammates all gathered around him to congratulate him. The television call from Dave Sims was absolutely perfect. 34 years, 119 games. It's finally happened. A perfect game by a Seattle Mariner.

It was done by the King. I realize there are a lot of you out there who aren't exactly big fans of Sims. I'm not one of them. I like him. And he absolutely nailed this call. This is also the most recent perfect game to date in Major League Baseball. And I also know a few people who were at this game. I used to work for a school district that provided before and after school care for its elementary students,

as well as summer child care for these same kids. And they happen to be on a field trip to Safeco Field this day. I was not working there yet, but some of the teachers who were at this game I later worked with, and you know who you are if you're listening. But I will also take this opportunity to say hi to everyone at what is now the Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center It was the Shoreland Children's Center when I was working there. I hope you guys are listening. Let me know if you are.

I would love to hear from you. We are going to pose today's Mariners trivia question at this point, and it reads thusly. All six Mariner no-hitters were caught by different catchers. Name them. The answer coming up in a moment, but first, the following. The answer to today's Mariners trivia question, the six catchers that caught the different no-hitters. Randy Johnson's no-hitter was caught by Scott Bradley. Chris Basios was caught by Dave Valley.

The combined no-hitter was caught by the dreaded Jesus Montero, King of the Ice Cream sandwich. Felix's perfecto was caught by John Jaso. Awakabas' no-hitter was caught by Jesus Su-Kray, and James Paxton's no-hitter was caught by Mike Zanino. More locked-on mariners from Post Falls, Idaho, after a word from postmates. If you are the type who starts thinking about what to eat for dinner,

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Anything you need, anytime you need it, Postmate it. Now time for the second half of Locked-on Mariners. Once again, your host, D.C. Lunberg. Yes, indeed, as J.M. just told you, this is the second half of Locked-on Mariners recorded live to tape in beautiful Post Falls, Idaho. Today we are talking about the no-hitters that the M's have tossed in its history. We last spoke about King Felix's perfecto in 2012. I am still very jealous of my former colleagues who got to attend this game, but I digress. The next Mariners No-No was also a Wednesday day game, as was the perfect game.

On August 15, 2015, Hissashi-Wakama faced the Baltimore Orioles, who were not very good, but not nearly as horrible as they've been in recent years. They were a 500 team that year. Anyways, Awakamut was perfect in his first trip to the batting order. But he walked two in the fourth. Aside from that blip, though, he was in cruise control. He walked one more in the eighth, who was later erased on a double play. Something of a recurring theme during these no-hitter's offense was marginally better than the Orioles

as they scored twice in the third and once in the fourth, but that's it. With that three-run lead in the ninth, Oahuamut retired the Orioles one, two, three on nine pitches. to send them back to the clubhouse hitless, becoming only the second Japanese-born player to throw a major league no-hitter. The Dodgers Hideo Nomo had been the first in 1996 in Cores Field against the powerful Rockies, no less. Oakama walked three and struck out seven, needing 116 pitches to put away the Orioles. And those three walks were the only three times all game he went to a three-ball count.

Amazing. The final Mariners no-hitter is of rather recent vintage, and it's the only no-hitter the M's have tossed on the road. The facility formerly known as Skydome in Toronto, and still known as Skydome to us stubborn purists, was the scene on May 8th, 2018. Pitching for the M's was James Paxton, the Big Maple, so nicknamed because of his love of pancakes and syrup. No, he's the Big Maple because he's Canadian. In any case, in his previous start, he had to be a big maple. pitched seven innings and struck out 16 in another dominating performance. However, even though he was cruising, Scott's service yanked him anyway because he does not know

how to manage a pitching staff, and the bullpen predictably wound up blowing the game. What a waste. Anyways, in a break from tradition, the Mariners put a lot of runners on base against Toronto starter, Marcus Stroman and four relievers, accumulating 12 hits and scoring five. all five runs charged to Stroman in his five innings of work. Obviously more than enough for Paxton on this day, as he was in command pretty much the whole game. Save for a rough going in the third inning during which he walked two hitters. He'd walk one more in the fourth, who was later a race on a double play.

After that, no more Blue Jays hitters reached base. The final batter was Josh Donaldson, who grounded out to third base when Kyle Seeger on Paxton's 99th pitch. After the out was recorded, the Big Maple threw his hands in the air, and I will never forget the look on his face. It was part, sweet, I just threw a no-hitter. Part, did I really just do that? And part, what the hell just happened? James Paxton is the first Canadian pitcher to throw a no-hitter on Canadian soil, a very special accomplishment for the British Columbia native.

Those six no-hitters, the M's have spun, are all great accomplishments, obviously. and each one of them is pretty different from the others. Randy Johnson was wild and walked six men. Basio's tenure with the Mariners was not long, and his defense really helped him preserve it. The combined no-hitter is unique just because it is a combined no-hitter, and it's the only one in Mariners' history. King Felix's perfect game was probably the most dominating pitching performance

in Mariners history and remains the M's only perfecto and the most recent perfect game in Major League Baseball. In addition to that, it was the second perfect game at Safeco Field that season, and the third no-hitter. Philip Umber had blanked the M's earlier on April 21st, and the combined no-hitter occurred just a couple months prior. Wachama's no-hitter was only the second ever tossed by a Japanese countryman, and Paxton's was unique for several reasons.

It's the only meritor no-hitter on the road, and the only thrown by a Canadian on Canadian soil. Getting back to the combined no-hitter, one of my best friends, Calvin No, was at this game. Calvin and I have known each other since we were in the third grade, and he is one of my baseball protégés. We took him to his first baseball game in 1996, which was trading card day at the Kingdom against the Minnesota Twins.

He was instantly hooked on the national pastime. Anyways, the combined no-hitter occurred on his birthday. His girlfriend at the time surprised him with. tickets to that game, so he got to see history. He recalled to me that he remembered the crowd being disappointed when Millwood left the game. They wanted to see him finish his own work, and by that time, anyone who knew what was going on realized that he hadn't given up a hit. He happened to say out loud that there was a no hitter going on around the fifth or six inning, and some people around him told him that he would jinx it by mentioning it. He also recalled

that it was a different kind of excitement, the latter part of the game. game when the Ms were pitching. He added that his memory may be exaggerated, but he remembered that at bats were quieter and the cheering was louder when an out was recorded. He also told me, quote, you can feel it in the air late in the game, a sense of nervousness because you don't want it to end, since odds are it usually ends, end quote. That night it did not end. The no-hitter remained intact, and he got to witness one of the rarest feats in baseball. There have been more perfect games than combined no hitters. 23 perfectos to 14 combined no hitters. I cannot imagine a better way to spend a birthday,

but I was born in January. So, hey. Anyway, that's going to do it for today's show. We will be back on Tuesday or Wednesday with, you know, honestly, I forgot what the theme is next week, but I'm sure next week's shows will be great. And by that, I mean, I hope next week's shows don't completely suck. In any case, please remember to download, rate, and subscribe to this program on Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher Radio, or whichever podcasting app that you like to use. Follow the show on Twitter at L.O. underscore Mariners, and follow me on Twitter at D.C. underscore Lundberg. Time to wrap things up here from Post Falls, Idaho. Until next time, where we come at you from a different city in Idaho. I hope you guys have a great weekend. This is Joey Martin speaking for Locked-on Mariners, part of the Locked-on podcast.

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