Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Buehrle No-Hits Rangers

I just flipped on the TV to catch the start of the Mavericks' final game of the NBA season and noticed that the scoreline next to the Rangers in their ninth inning read 0 0 2 ... hmmm.

So I watched. And about 14 seconds later, master surgeon Mark Buehrle had the first no-hitter of the 2007 season in his dossier. Congratulations to the big White Sox lefty who recently told Sports Illustrated he was searching to regain his confidence.

Think that might be "mission accomplished"?

Posted by Mick Doherty on Wednesday, April 18 2007 @ 10:15 PM EDT.

Buehrle No-Hits Rangers | 15 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Mick Doherty - Wednesday, April 18 2007 @ 10:21 PM EDT (#166142) #

Here's the story on ESPN.com.

MrElbertBuffin - Wednesday, April 18 2007 @ 10:57 PM EDT (#166143) #

Hah - what a chump. He gave up a walk.

What - he picked him off? Oh.

That's as close to a perfect game as you can come without actually getting credit for it.

actionjackson - Wednesday, April 18 2007 @ 11:01 PM EDT (#166144) #

Caught the last out of the eighth and the ninth and his changeup was unbelievable. It was Bugs Bunny like, just dying at the plate and the Ranger hitters were way out front. Congrats to the only pitcher in baseball whose games are faster than Doc's.

Chuck - Wednesday, April 18 2007 @ 11:02 PM EDT (#166145) #

Think that might be "mission accomplished"?

What's with you Texans and that expression?

Dave Rutt - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 12:34 AM EDT (#166146) #

Congrats to the only pitcher in baseball whose games are faster than Doc's. The parallel dimension starter version of B.J. Ryan might have something to say about that.

slitheringslider - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 03:14 AM EDT (#166148) #

Don't mean to be immature but seriously, can the people at ESPN think of a better headline for the Buerhle no-hitter than "The White Stuff".

Mick Doherty - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 10:31 AM EDT (#166155) #

What's with you Texans and that expression?

Rest assured, sir, I am not a Texan -- I just live here. My wife, who is a Texan, informed me early on that one needs to be born in Texas to be a Texan, no exceptions. And having spent most of my life in Ohio and New York, I don't particularly wish to be designated as such.

Incidentally, George W. Bush ain't a Texan either. He was born in Connecticut. The boots and hat he wears at his Crawford ranch are about as genuine as, say, the idea that Mark Buehrle doesn't, ah, "doctor" the baseball.

Chuck - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 11:24 AM EDT (#166166) #

No offense intended to either you or legit Texans.

As Dennis Miller has said, Bush conveniently went from Yale to y'all.

Jordan - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 11:24 AM EDT (#166167) #

I find it remarkable that this is the first American League no-hitter in five years -- the last one was by Derek Lowe, when he was still with Boston, against the Devil Rays in April 2002. Moreover, it's only the sixth no-hitter in all of baseball since the end of 2001. Baseball was lousy with no-hitters in the '90s, it seemed, but they've been in short supply this decade. Maybe it's time for another run to start.

Here's the complete list. I had completely forgotten that AJ Burnett threw a no-hitter for Florida in 2001, and that Hideo Freakin' Nomo threw no-hitters in both leagues, including the only one at Coors Field.

Mike Green - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 11:34 AM EDT (#166173) #

It's a bit funny that it would occur in the AL. League batting averages have been in the high .260s-low .270s in the AL and low .260s in the NL during the aughts. Those 5-7 points of batting average make a huge difference in the likelihood of a no-hitter being thrown.

Eric Purdy - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 04:42 PM EDT (#166202) #

Goodness, A.J.'s no hitter was an ugly piece of work. 9 walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter. I figured that had to be the wildest someone's ever been picking one up but an article I came across on the Burnett no hitter points to Jim Maloney in 1965, who had 10 walks in his 10 inning no hitter. Yikes.

Mick Doherty - Thursday, April 19 2007 @ 10:14 PM EDT (#166224) #

I had to look it up to be sure I was remembering right, but I distinctly recall the wildness of Joe Cowley throwing what was then called "the worst no-hitter ever" when I was in college.

Yup -- 1986. Seven walks and NOT a shutout (that last part, hard to do when no-hitting a team!) But he won 7-1, and there have been pitchers who lost no-nos, so I doubt it was the worst ever.

Jordan - Friday, April 20 2007 @ 01:24 PM EDT (#166251) #

Cowley's no-hitter, like Cowley himself, was a sloppy and ugly piece of work. The absence of base hits was almost incidental -- it was more the fact that nothing he threw at the batters could be decently put in play. It wasn't dominance so much as raw, unfocused throwing taken to its extreme.

Contrast that with the two no-hitters I've been lucky enough to watch live -- Dave Righetti's Independence Day no-hitter against the Red Sox in 1983 and Nolan Ryan's seventh and final masterpiece against Toronto in May 1990. In each case you had no doubt, from the first inning to the last, that the pitcher was at the top of his art and that the game was utterly under his control. It is not hyperbole to describe great no-hitters like these as things of beauty.

actionjackson - Friday, April 20 2007 @ 06:38 PM EDT (#166276) #

I remember that Joe Cowley, but is he the same Joe Cowley that writes for a Chicago newspaper, regularly disses Canada, and basically calls Toronto a hole, while refusing to stand for the Canadian anthem, or would that be another Joe Cow(ard)ley?

Jordan - Friday, April 20 2007 @ 09:46 PM EDT (#166294) #

Different guy.

Buehrle No-Hits Rangers | 15 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.