A baseball axiom states that behind every no-hitter is a dynamite defensive play. Two if you’re lucky.
In addition to being very, very good in his no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, A’s pitcher Mike Fiers was lucky. He got a pair of certified fielding gems — in the sixth inning alone.
First, Oakland second baseman Jurickson Profar thwarted Kyle Farmer’s bid for a bloop single. Moments later, Ramon Laureano turned Joey Votto’s would-be home run into a harmless, but spectacular, F-8.
“Ramon’s catch, he’s done that once or twice,” Fiers said. “That’s a normal play for him. Profar, another amazing play.”
It was reminiscent of Matt Cain’s 2012 perfect game for the Giants in which left fielder Melky Cabrera made a fine running catch at the wall in the sixth inning, only to be topped by Gregor Blanco in the seventh inning.
And here the baseball axiom breaks down a bit. Fiers’ no-hitter Tuesday was the seventh thrown by an A’s pitcher (or pitchers) at the Oakland Coliseum. A review of the six previous no-hitters reveals a startling lack of defensive heroism.
1. Catfish Hunter, May 8, 1968: Hunter authored a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins. Left fielder Joe Rudi snagged a pair of liners, and third baseman Cap’n Sal Bando handled a ground smash. The great Ron Bergman, then the A’s beat reporter for the Oakland Tribune wrote, “Actually, there wasn’t a really tough play all night for the A’s fielders.”
2. Vida Blue, Sept. 21, 1970: In his eighth major league start and 10 days after he threw a 1-hitter, Blue no-hit the Twins who were on their way to a division championship. The closest call Blue had was a sharp ground ball to the left side in the top of the eighth. Bando, guarding the line, had to scramble to snag the bounder off the bat of George Mitterwald. He did, and pegged it to first for the out.
3. Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, Rollie Fingers, Sept. 28, 1975: It was the last day of the season, and A’s manager Alvin Dark planned to have Blue pitch a few innings as a “tune-up” for the postseason. At the end of five, Blue had a no-hitter going. Dark lifted him anyway. Three relievers polished of the combined no-hitter. Bando fielded a hot shot in the eighth inning and threw out the speedy Jerry Remy. Bergman again: “It wasn’t really that tough.”
4. Mike Warren, Sept. 29, 1983: Shades of Blue in 1970. Warren was a rookie making his ninth major league start when he no-hit the White Sox. Per United Press International: “There were no outstanding plays behind Warren.” But there was one noteworthy defensive effort. With one out to go, Warren got Carlton Fisk to hit a fly to left field. Rickey Henderson picked that moment to debut his “snatch catch,” a maneuver in which he would tear the ball out of the sky with his glove.
5. Dallas Braden, May 10, 2010: Forty-two years and two days after Hunter’s perfecto, Dallas Braden hurled one of his own. He got a pair of dazzling plays by third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff — spearing a soft liner from the first batter of the game, and a terrific catch of a pop fly as he fell into the A’s dugout.
6. Sean Manaea, April 21, 2018: Manaea got some help in his no-hitter. Not from his defense, but from the men in blue. It appeared the no-hitter was spoiled when Boston’s Andrew Benintendi beat out an infield single. But the umpiring crew conferred and agreed that Benintendi had gone out of the baseline attempting to avoid the tag, and was therefore out.
