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Wednesday 16 March 2016
Review: ‘Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders’ is fascinating book
JEFF AYERS den might have success- mando Galarraga was one This book cover image released by Unbridled Books shows,
Associated Press fully accomplished this feat out away from throwing a “Baseball’s No-Hit Wonders: More Than a Century of Pitching’s
Spring is almost official, and a year earlier, but records perfect game against the Greatest Feats,” by Dirk Lammers.
that means the other sea- are hard to decipher due Cleveland Indians. The next
son about to start is base- to the way statistics were batter hit a ground ball Associated Press
ball season. Author Dirk kept at the time. Plus he and Galarraga ran over to
Lammers examines the his- also played under the alias cover first base. He caught
tory of a pitcher’s dream to Joseph E. Josephs, since he the ball thrown from the
throw a no-hitter in “Base- didn’t want his parents to first baseman and touched
ball’s No-Hit Wonders: know he was playing base- the bag a full step ahead
More Than a Century of ball. Some of the stories are of the runner. The umpire
Pitching’s Greatest Feats.” sad due to the pitcher suc- at first base called the run-
A perfect game, when no cessfully throwing a no-hit- ner safe. Replays clearly
players reach base for the ter, yet it still ends up a loss showed the third out, and
full nine innings, is even rar- due to the base-on-balls Galarraga had pitched
er, and he looks at those as somehow crossing home a perfect game. Unfortu-
well. The end result is a fas- plate. A game between nately, due to the umpire
cinating book that will ap- the Chicago Cubs and the making the safe call, the
peal to both the historian Cincinnati Reds on May 2, perfect game was up in
and the die-hard fan. 1917, ended after nine in- smoke. Later, umpire Jim
Lammers, an Associated nings with both pitchers Joyce publicly apologized
Press journalist, goes all the having thrown a no-hitter. for blowing the call. While
way back to the beginning Unfortunately, the 10th in- the governor of Michi-
to find the first pitcher to ning broke the stalemate gan declared Galarraga
throw a no-hitter, who of- for one of the men. pitched a perfect game,
ficially was George Wash- A more recent example, Major League Baseball
ington Bradley of the St. and memorable for the said no. Both Joyce and
Louis Brown Stockings, who wrong reasons, occurred Galarraga later wrote a
achieved that distinction on June 2, 2010, when book together about the
on July 15, 1876. Joe Bor- Detroit Tigers pitcher Ar- experience.q
