Baltimore Orioles: Looking Back at a No-Hitter Fluke in 1991

Many memorable moments in MLB and Baltimore Orioles history revolve around flukes that make their way into the record books.

In 1991, the Baltimore Orioles became the second team to set their place in the no-hitter record books for an odd achievement.

The record being a combined no-hitter that involved four pitchers. The O’s set the record on July 13 against the Athletics, which made it even more unusual because the A’s were the first team to set the four-man no-hitter record.

The O’s pitching combination included Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson, and Gregg Olson.

The A’s who set the record on September 28, 1975 included Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Hall-of-Famer Rollie Fingers. Their four-man no-hitter was against the California Angels.

Since the Orioles did it on July 13, 1991, there have been a handful of other four-man no-hitters, but not many:

• On Septebmer 1, 2014, the Phillies blanked the Braves with the pitching combination of Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon.
• On May 4, 2018, the Dodgers defeated the Padres with Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia, and Adam Liberatore.
• On August 3, 2019, the Astros no-hit the Mariners with the combination of Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini, and Chris Devenski.

Disappointingly, the 1991 no-hitter was the last one the Baltimore Orioles have had. They have been the victims of four since the 2-0 win over the Athletics in 1991. As a team, the modern Orioles have had five no-hitters, and two were combined.

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On July 13, 1991, the O’s played in Oakland during a day game. Both pitching squads actually did rather well, as the A’s held the O’s to two runs on six hits. The Orioles first run came in the fifth off of Chris Hoiles who knocked in Chito Martinez with a two-out line drive to left field. Martinez reached base on a double. Hoiles went 1-4 that day, but earned his spot in history as the catcher for the no-hitter.

The second run came off of a solo home run by center fielder Mike Devereaux who sent one flying to left-center in the top of the sixth. Other than that, there wasn’t much offense in this pitching duel between Milacki and the A’s Eric Show.

Both teams used four pitchers. Show earned the loss, and Milacki had the win. Flanagan and Williamson each earned holds, while Olson had his 19th save of the season. Milacki most likely would have gone longer in the game, but in the sixth inning A’s WIllie Wilson hit a ball that came back to hit Milacki’s finger.

By the time the 1991 season ended, the Orioles finished sixth in the AL East with a 67-95 record. The A’s were fourth in the AL West with a 84-78 record. No-hitting the 1991 A’s was a feat, as they had some notable hitters that season like Rickey Henderson, Jose Canseco, Harold Baines, and Mark McGwire.