On Tuesday night, Justin Verlander’s no-hitter was not your run-of-the-mill,  Bo Belinsky-type, fluke no-hitters.

Belinsky, baseball fans may recall, pitched his no-hitter on May 5, 1962 for the then expansion LA Angels vs Steve Barber and the Baltimore Orioles. 

Belinski was basically one and done, a flash in the pan who won his first 4 games but who finished the 1962 season with a 10-11 mark.  He spent 3 more mediocre seasons with the Angels, then bombed in 2 seasons with the Phillies and one season each with Houston, Pittsburgh and Cinncinati before concluding his career with a lifetime 28-51 record.

Verlander is 7-2 in 2007 coming off an outstanding rookie season in 2006 finishing with a 17-9 record with the AL champs.

MLB.com beat writer Jason Beck records on his blog;

I had always figured that covering a no-hitter would have a great suspsen, like this any-given-night kind of magic that evolves as the game moves on. This one had magic, but as you saw Verlander’s pitches move in the early innings and how he was able to spot them, you knew he was going to be almost impossible to hit. If he hadn’t thrown a no-hitter, it was going to be a one- or two-hitter. Once he got past the eighth on Neifi Perez’s miracle play… — he had it. This was not a game with a bunch of balls hit hard right at people. It was impressive when balls were put in play at all.

Watching the game video on MLB on Thursday, I’d have to agree. Verlander was not only masterful, awesome, he was outright dominant.  100+ mph heat, nasty curves, baffling change-ups.  Milwaukee Brewers were falling all over themselves, swinging awkwardly, desperately — repeatedly fooled by pitches seemingly out of the strike zone.

I guess that the best word to describe Verlander’s performance — impenetrable.  To my mind, as a baseball fan, if you don’t view a replay of any other game this season, this one is a MUST VIEW.

Here’s a bit of trivia on Verlander’s no-hitter.  In modern baseball history, according to Baseball library, only 2 1/2 other no-hitters took place on June 12;

1970

 Pittsburgh’s Dock Ellis no-hits San Diego 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader. Ellis walks 8 and hits one and gets all his support on a pair of Willie Stargell HRs.
 

1959

Giants Pitcher Mike McCormick does not yield a single hit in the first 5 innings of a game against the Phillies. In the top of the 6th‚ he gives up a single to Richie Ashburn‚ but the game is called because of rain. The incomplete inning is not included in the records‚ thereby giving McCormick a 3-0 shortened no-hitter.
 

1954

Jim Wilson‚ 32‚ no-hits the Phillies 2-0 before 28‚218 in Milwaukee.  Robin Roberts takes the loss‚ his first after 9 straight wins over the Braves. It is Wilson’s first start after pitching just 8 2/3 innings of relief‚ giving up 7 runs. Ironically‚ the Braves asked waivers on Wilson 2 weeks earlier‚ with no takers.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 5:52 am and is filed under Real-Time Baseball News and Commentary, All Time Pitching Highlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.