Baltimore Orioles: Reflecting on the Rarity of the No-Hitter

Today marks the day of a true rarity in the history of the MLB and the Baltimore Orioles: the no-hitter.

According to the number crunching from the experts at MLB.com, April 27 is one of four days that has the most no-hitters. And, one of those was accomplished by a Baltimore Orioles pitcher.

That April 27 no-hitter was pitched by Tom Phoebus in 1968. Ironically, that year was known as the “Year of the Pitcher” as pitchers saw incredible success. Detroit Tigers Denny McLain winning the MVP and Cy Young Award for the AL and St. Louis Cardinals Bob Gibson did the same in the NL. Mickey Lolich of the Tigers had three complete games in the World Series (good luck seeing that ever again).

Interestingly, 1968 also happens to the be year that Mike Mussina was born.

But, back to the Orioles no-hitters. Since the Orioles as we know them debuted in 1954, only three pitchers have pitched no-hitters. Two games have had pitchers combine for no-hitters. Two of the no-hitters have been against the Oakland Athletics, one at home and one away. The other combined no-hitter was against the Detroit Tigers. The first Orioles no-hitter was in 1958 against the Yankees. And, the April 27, 1968 no-hitter was against the Boston Red Sox.

Along with Phoebus, the other two pitchers who had their own no-hitters include Jim Palmer (1969) and Hoyt Wilhelm (1958). The most recent combined no-hitter was against the Athletics in 1991. It’s been a few years. But the 28-year drought isn’t the longest in baseball. The San Diego Padres have yet to have a no-hitter – and they’ve been around since 1969.

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The 1991 no-hitter came at the hands of four pitchers: Bob Milacki pitched six innings, and Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson each had one inning.

In recent MLB history, 2019 saw several no-hitters and all four were in the AL-West. Justin Verlander and Mike Fiers had their own. The two combined were the Los Angeles Angels Taylor Cole and Felix Pena and the Houston Astros Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini, and Chris Devenski.

Despite the O’s drought of no-hitters, there have been a few one-hitter games in recent history. In 2019, Asher Wojciechowski had a one-hitter against the Red Sox on July 21, 2019. Rafael Devers spoiled it when he hit a line drive in the seventh.

In 2018, the Orioles had a combined one-hitter against the Houston Astros on September 30. Jimmy Yacabonis pitched four innings, Paul Fry got win in his three innings, and Mychal Givens closed the game with two innings. Jose Altuve had the only hit against the O’s that day; it was in the fourth off of Yacabonis.