Man of the Year: Ryne Sandberg

In a year when Philadelphia teams fired 3 coaches in the four major sports and the only one to survived started 3-32 it only seems appropriate to give a "Man of the Year" award to Ryne Sandberg.

Score Presaged this a quarter century ago.

1991 Score #815 1990 Score Man of the Year Ryne Sandberg

Ok Score was noting Sandberg's accomplishments as a player: A Power hitting and slick fielding second baseman.

Regardless I wish things would have worked out better in Philadelphia for Ryne Sandberg. And technically I suppose he quit rather than got fired, but I think his departure was inevitable.

Score's 1990 Man of the Year
It should be noted the 1990 Man of the Year was not just given to Ryne Sandberg for his on-field prowess. 

1991 Score #815 1990 Score Man of the Year Ryne Sandberg (b-side)

Ryne Sandberg's charitable work in Chicago during the era is noted on the back of the card. Specifically his work with the Chicago Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation is mentioned.



Sources and Links
Phungo HoF Index Ryne Sandberg
Sports-Ref
Chicago Tribune - Jacquelyn Heard

Happy 50th Birthday Craig Biggio

Just noticed on Twitter that Hall of Famer Craig Biggio is celebrating a Milestone Birthday today.

1991 Score #161 Craig Biggio

I am a fan of the early Biggio cards. Anytime I see one in a dimebox that identifies him as a catcher I will pick it up. 1991 Score captures the young Craig Biggio during his first position switch to Centerfield.

The C-CF on the card has to be an on card rarity. First you have the positions involved, how many Catchers are speedy enough to play center. Secondly you have Score differentiating the specific Outfield position - something that Topps (and others) still don't bother with a quarter century later.

1991 Score #161 Craig Biggio (b-side)

Along with several other accolades the text on the flip side mentions Biggio's unique position change. Nice guest appearance from Moneyball Manger Art Howe with the Quote.


Sources & Links
Phungo Biggio HoF Index
Baseball-ref

25TH ANNIVERSARY: George Brett Wins Batting title in 3rd different decade

Twenty-Five George Brett picked up his 3rd batting title.

1991 Topps #2 Record Breaker George Brett - Batting Titles in 3 Decades

All three titles were in different decades which had not been done prior. Topps honored the achievement with teh #2 card in the 1991 set.

1991 Topps #2 Record Breaker George Brett - Batting Titles in 3 Decades (b-side)

On the final day of the season Brett singled during a 5-2 loss to the Indians in front of a massive Municipal stadium crowd of 5,196. The hit came off of journeyman reliever Mauro Gozzo. George Brett's .329 average bested fellow Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson by four points. Rickey never won a batting title, his .325 in 1990 was a career high as was his 2nd place finish. Henderson did however lead the league in OBP (.439) in 1990 and won the AL MVP Award. Advanced analysis now also reveal that Henderson led the league in WAR (9.9)

Score

1991 Score #769 HL George Brett Batting Champion

Another card that noted Brett's Batting title was 1991 Score #769.

1991 Score #769 HL George Brett Batting Champion (b-side)

Score tells us a bit more about the course of Brett's 1990 campaign. His final .329 season average only came about because of an impressive second half where he batted .388.

I like the shot on the back of the card. Brett carries three Bats on his shoulder likely symbolizing his three titles - each of the bats carries his uniform #5 on the knob.

Sources and Links
Phungo George Brett HoF Index
Baseball-ref

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - September 2 Dave Stieb

On September 2^nd of 1990 Dave Stieb’s quest for a no-hitter finally ended.

1990 Score #707 No-Hit Club Dave Stieb  

Stieb and his Blue Jays teammates defeated the Cleveland Indians 3-0. Stieb Struck out 9 while issuing 4 bases on balls. However he pitched to 2 over the minimum thanks to his batterymate Pat Borders throwing out a a pair of runners on attempted steals.

Box Notes

1990 Score #707 No-Hit Club Dave Stieb (b-side)

Not a lot of big names in the unit that Dave Stieb recorded his milestone game against. Two parts of the Indians lineup versus Stieb arrived from San Diego in a Trade for Joe Carter (Boo!) Carlos Baerga and Chris James. The Padres originally received James in a trade that sent John Kruk to the Phillies. 

Seifeld favorite Ken Phelps makes his 3rd appearance in our Year of the No-Hitter Series. He busted up Brian Holman's perfect game on April 20th and was struck out in a pinch hitting appearance versus Nolan Ryan on June 11th. Phelps went 0 for 2 versus Stieb but did reach base via one of the four walks.

Borders, Mookie Wilson and Fred "Crime Dog" McGriff are the Notables that backed up Dave Stieb in his outing. The Center Fielder for Toronto was future White Sox GM Ken Williams who we previously saw on the wrong side of a no-hitter pitched by Randy Johnson (June 2)

Tomorrow I'll be Perfect 
Notice above I state Stieb’s quest “Finally Ended” well I have no real way of knowing if this was really a quest for the Blue Jays Ace. But I do know that he came awful close to tossing no-hitters several times.

September 24^th 1988 - with 2 outs in the 9th inning also against the Indians Stieb gave up a bad hop single to Julio Franco

September 30^th 1988 - Versus the Orioles Pinch Hitter Jim Traber singled

August 4^th 1989 – Stieb was perfect for 8 2/3 innings versus the Yankees prior to giving up a double to Roberto Kelly 

Dave Stieb’s autobiography titled “Tomorrow I’ll be Perfect” was released in 1986, two years prior to his No-Hitter string. The reference to Tossing a Perfect Game, which never happened but hopefully the No-Hitter he got on September 2 1990 was close enough.

Like Dave Stieb finally getting his No-Hitter, we have finally finished are year of the No-Hitter series. I enjoyed writing the series and find it fitting that it occurred in another heavy no-hitter year. While our coverage of the 1990 No-Hitters has ended, I see the series continuing by checking in on a smattering of the remaining 280+ No-Hitters and related trading cards

SABR Games
The SABR Games summary of this game was authored by Adrian Fung and can be found  here.
 
Sources and Links

Year of the No-Hitter Index
LA Times
Amazon 

baseball-ref

SABR Games (added 2015 1104)

ANNIVERSARY: August 31 1990 Griffey & Griffey Jr Join same lineup

25 Years ago on August 31 1990 Major League Baseball saw the first Father Son Game as Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr were both in the same lineup for the first time.

1991 Score #841 the Griffeys

Baseball is often called the game of Fathers and Sons. The above black n white Score card captures that sentiment well - the two legends are a portrait of happiness. 

1991 Score #841 the Griffeys (b-side)

The back of the card has what appears to be a sketch and text mentioning the game on August 31st which was a 5-2 victory by the Mariners over the Royals.  The card goes on to mention a game two weeks later when the Griffey's hit back to back Home Runs off Angels Pitcher Kirk McCaskill in Anaheim. Despite giving up the Homers The Angels prevailed in the latter game 7-5.

Box Notes 
The Mariners Starting pitcher for the first Griffey/Griffey game was 2015 HoF Inductee Randy Johnson and boderline HoF Edgar Martinez was in the lineup PLAYING THIRD BASE. The Away Royals featured former Phillie Steve Jeltz and Future 1993 NL Champion Phillie Jim Eisenreich. The starting Center Fielder for the Royals that day was Brian McRae, son of Hal McRae.

The latter game once again featured Edgar at 3rd for the Ms. The Angels had a number of interesting names in their lineup none bigger than Dave Winfield. Others are Dick Schofield, another second generation player who shares a name with his father. Dick the elder his the Grandfather of Jayson Werth, while the younger is Werth's uncle. Bryan Harvey got the Save for the Angels and will likely be the father of a major leaguer some day, his Son Hunter is in the Orioles system.  Phils connected players in the Angels lineup include Catcher Lance Parrish and First Baseman Rick Schu. The Winning Pitcher for the Angels that day was current Phillies Pitching coach Bob McClure

Sources and Links
Baltimore Sun
Baseball-ref

ANNIVERSARY 1990 08 26 Bo Jackson Hits last of 4 Consecutive Home Runs

It took over a month to do it but on August 26th Bo Jackson tied the Major League Record for Home Runs on consecutive At Bats.

1991 Score #420 Highlight Four Straight Homers

On July 17th Bo Jackson Hit Home Runs in each of his first Three At Bats off of Yankees starting pitcher Andy Hawkins. The third Homer came in the fifth inning and it appeared the crowd at Yankee Stadium woud have an opportunity to see an historic night.

But in the bottom of the 6th inning that chance evaporated.

Bo Jackson was not the only 2 sport Center Fielder in the game, The Yankees Leadoff hitter that night was Deion Sanders. In his fourth At Bat Sanders hit a ball to right center that Bo Jackson dove for and missed. The play led to an In-the-Park Home Run for Sanders and also resulted in an injured shoulder for Jackson.

Jaskson's three Homers and 7 RBIs were key in the Royals 10-7 victory over the Yankees. 

Flip

1991 Score #420 Highlight Four Straight Homers (b-side)

It would take Bo Jackson nearly six weeks to return, but when he did on August 26th, the Home Run streak was still in tact.

That day in the second inning of a Royals home game versus the Seattle Marines Bo Jackson Homered off of Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. The Streak ended an inning later as the Big Unit retired Jackson on a fly out. Jackson went 3-4 in the game as the Royals won 8-2.

Year of the No-Hitter 
All four of the Home Runs were hit off of pitchers we have covered during our Year of the No-Hitter series. The first three were off of Andy Hawkins while the final one was off of Randy Johnson.

For another 4 Consecutive Homer notable over multiple games check out our recent Birthday Profile of Detroit Tiger and Temple Alum Bobby Higginson.

Sources and Links
New York Times
Baseball-ref

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - August 15 Terry Mulholland

Terry Mulholland made year of the No-Hitter official by pitching the seasons eighth no-no en route to a 6-0 Phillies victory over his former club, the San Francisco Giants

1991 Score #706 No-Hit Club Terry Mulholland

Only one hitter reached base in Terry Mulholland's No-Hitter, Rick Parker on an Error by Phils Third Baseman Charlie Hayes. Hayes made up for his error when he speared a line drive off the bat of future Hall of Famer Gary Carter for the final out of the game.

1991 Score #706 No-Hit Club Terry Mulholland (b-side)

Terry Mulholland's pitched to the minimum in the no-hitter as Parker was erased on a double play two pitches after he reached. Notable players in the Giants lineup included Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, and Matt Williams.

Darren Daulton caught Mulholland's No-Hitter and also hit a Home Run.

No-Hit Cards
Earlier in our no-hit series we dedicated several posting to Nolan Ryan due to his record setting prowess in pitching gems. Similarly we will be putting together a miniseries for Terry Mulholland since he is a member of the local 9. Just posting the Cards here, will have an addendum on each of these cards over the next day or two.

1991 Fleer Box Bottom #8 Terry Mulholland

1991 Donruss #BC14 Terry Mulholland



Mulholland No-Hitter Index
1991 Donruss #BC14
1991 Fleer Box Bottom #8

Sources and Links
Year of the No-Hitter Index
Baseball-ref
NY Times
Chicago Tribune
Philadelphia Inquirer

ANNIVERSARY: Nolan Ryan 300 Wins

25 years ago Nolan Ryan won his 300th game, a 11-3 decision over the Milwaukee Brewers. Ryan went 7 2/3 innings in the victory giving up all 3 runs (1 earned) while recording 8 Ks. The 1 and 2 hitters for the Brewcrew that day were future Hall of Famers Paul Molitor and Robin Yount.

1991 Score #417 Nolan Ryan HL 300 Career Victories

Score honored the accomplishment with a card in their Highlights subset. The Front Shot shows Ryan acknowledging the fans.

1991 Score #417 Nolan Ryan HL 300 Career Victories (b-side)

The flip of the card contains an action shot and game summary. Note the 146 pitches thrown by Ryan in the victory. The 55,097 attendance was the 3rd largest Brewers crowd of the 1990 season, and the #1 draw for a weeknight game.

This is not a no-hitter card, but Ryan is obviously the most prominent member of the Year of Clan and we will be adding this card to the extras in our 1990YotNH index. 

Sources and Links
Nolan Ryan HoF Index
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
baseball-ref

Year ot the No-Hitter: Scott Garrelts near-hitter

On July 29th 1990 Scott Garrelts could have pitched the record setting 8th no-hitter of the Major League season but he missed it by one out. He and the San Francisco Giants had to settle for a one-hit 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds as Paul O'Neill singled to center with 2 outs in the 9th. Garrelts subsequently retired Eric Davis to complete the shutout.

1991 Score #541 Scott Garrelts

Garrelts pitched 10 years in the Major, his entire career was spent with the Giants. The one-hitter was the last Shutout and Complete Game of his career.

1991 Score #541 Scott Garrelts (b-side)

The text on the back of Garrelts card mentions the Near-Hitter towards the bottom. It also goes on to mention his 1989 campaign when Garrelts led the NL in ERA, WHIP and W/L percentage. good enough for 6th in the Cy Young voting.

Sources and Links
Year of the No-Hitter Index
New York Times
baseball-ref

2015 Hall of Fame Inductee Craig Biggio

Baseball Hall of Fame weekend is here and it is a lot more joyful to have four players going in than a year like 2013 when the BBWAA failed to find a consensus on any players.

The top vote getter in 2013 was Craig Biggio, who despite racking up 3000 hits is viewed as a borderline Hall of Famer.  Borderline or not, the Career Astro is now a member of the Hall.

1991 Score the Franchise #802 Craig Biggio

Craig Biggio will go into the hall as a second baseman, but he debuted at the Major League Level as a catcher. Anytime I see a Biggio Catcher card in a dime box, I add it to the Phungo Collection.

This one is one of my favorites. It is clear Biggio is wearing the tools of Ignorance and I like that the catcher helmet identifies him with the #7 that the Astros have now retired in his honor.

1991 Score the Franchise #802 Craig Biggio (b-side)

The text on back of this 1991 card captures Biggio at the moment he is transferring away from the catcher position. He would moved to the Outfield before settling in at second base for the bulk of his career although he would do time back in center in 2003.

1991 Score
The Franchise is a 26 card subset with one star card to represent each of the Major Leagues then 26 teams. The Phillies Rep in the set is Lenny Dykstra. 

Craig Biggio Hall of Fame Index
1989 Donruss #561 (2013 HoF Ballot Resume)
1991 Score #161 (50th Birthday Posting)
2009 Phungo BFI (vs Cole Hamels)

Sources and Links
Baseball-ref
Cardboard Connection

ANNIVERSARY: 1990 07 17 Bo Jackson 4 Consecutive Home Runs

25 Years ago Bo Jackson began a Home Run Streak that lasted over a month.

1991 Score #420 Bo Jackson - Highlight Four Consecutive Homers 

Of course Bo spent that entire month on the DL. During a Royals 10-7 Victory over the Yankees Jackson hit 3 Home Runs in his first 3 At Bats. But prior to getting a chance at recording a fourth he  was injured diving for a Deion Sanders line drive. Sanders ended up with an Inside-The-Park Home Run.

Bo Jackson ended up with an injured shoulder which sidelined him for 40 days.
 

1991 Score #420 Bo Jackson - Highlight Four Consecutive Homers (b-side)

The day he came back Jackson picked up right where he left off. In his first AB after coming off the DL He homered off of Future Hall of Famer and Year of the No-Hitter subject Randy Johnson.  For the Day Jackson was 3 for 4 and came a triple shy of the cycle as the Royals won 8-2.

Curiously the first 3 Homers were hit off of another Year of the No-Hitter pitcher, Andy Hawkins. This makes this our 3rd posting this month with an Andy Hawkins connection, The Hawkins non-hitter, The Melido Perez non-hitter and now Bo Jackson's 4 consecutive Homers.

Sources and Links
MLB
Baseball-ref

1990 Year of the No-Hitter: Andy Hawkins

On July 1st 1990 Andy Hawkins tossed the rare eight inning no-hitter

1991 Score #704 No-Hit Club Andy Hawkins

 Team Phungo just got back from vacation so we are a bit busy with returning to work and recovering from the SABR conference in Chicago.

Perhaps at some future time I will return to the rather interesting "no-hitter" tossed by Andy Hawkins.

1991 Score #704 No-Hit Club Andy Hawkins (b-side)

As noted in the box score, Hawkins had five walks in the game. A pair of those Walks, coupled with a bunch of Yankees errors led to the White Sox 4 run eighth inning

Following the 1991 Season an MLB Stats committee adopted a rule requiring a game to have at least 9 innings pitched to be considered a no-hitter. So Andy Hawkins No-Hitter in a loss, is now no longer considered a no-hitter. This is not the only 1990 Year of the No-Hitter game that the new ruling effected. In a few weeks we will get to the other 1990 game that has been rescinded.

The White Sox are not the only team to score in a no-hitter. Baseball-Ref has a list here.

Sources and Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
South Side Sox
Baseball-ref

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - June 29th Fernadomania!

If 1990 was the year of the No-Hitter, June 29th of that year was the Day of the No-Hitter.

After Dave Stewart's East Coast No-Hitter, Fernando Valenzuela followed up with one for the fans in the Pacific Time Zone. He turned the trick in a 6-0 victory over the St Louis Cardinals.

1991 Score #703 No-Hit Club Fernando Valenzuela

Fernando Valenzuela peaked early, He won Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards as well as a World Series ring all at the age of 20 in 1981. He made every all-star team between 1981 and 1986.

In 1990 Fernando was only 29 but his best years were behind him. He was struggling through a mediocre season when he tossed his gem on June 29th.

There were a couple of close calls in the No-Hitter which is featured here. With one out in the 9th Pedro Guerrero hit a grounder back at Valenzuela which the pitcher just got the tip of his glove on. It is hard to tell in the video, The Dodgers were playing for the double play, but had Valenzuela not tipped the ball it may have sped pass the two middle infielders. As it worked out the ball glanced off Valenzuela's glove and was fielded by second baseman Juan Samuel who started the game ending double play that was completed by future Hall of Famer Eddie Murray. 

Flip

 1991 Score #703 No-Hit Club Fernando Valenzuela (b-side)

Valenzueala pitched to three over the minimum - three walks and an error, one of the walks was erased on the game ending double play mentioned above. 

The obstacles in the Cardinals lineup included Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith (batting 8th!!!), One time MVP and Batting Champ Willie McGee and the speedy Vince Coleman. McGee worked one of the three Cardinal walks, three of Valenzuela's seven strikeouts came against Coleman.

The Dodgers defense included the aforementioned Eddie Murray and Juan Samuel as well as Future Angels Manager Mike Scioscia who made up the other half of the No-Hit Battery.

One time Philies second baseman Juan Samuel hit one of two homers for the Dodgers - the other was by Hubie Brooks.  

It was the first of two no-hitters caught by Scioscia, the latter was authored by Kevin Gross who like Samuel debuted with the Phillies.  

Within the game box on the Score Card I like how they triple-apostrophe-d Mike Sharperson's name.

Fernandomania

2001 07 29 Fernando Valenzuela Bobblehead

In 2001 The Dodgers honored Fernando Valenzuela with one of the first three Bobbleheads ever given away at Dodgers Stadium.  Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost the game 3-2 to the Rockies on a 9th inning RBI single by Alex Ochoa.

The bobblehead shown above is part of the Baseball Hall of Fame's Viva Baseball exhibit which celebrates the Heritage of Latin American players. 

Sources and Links
1990: Year of the No-Hitter index
Baseball-ref
mlb
LA Times
Dodger Bobble
Baseball Hall of Fame

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - June 29th Dave Stewart

June 29th 1990 was one of the two greatest days in No-Hitter History. It started in Toronto with the Oakland A's Dave Stewart.....

1990 Score #702 No-Hit Club Dave Stewart

On May 9th 1986 the Phillies released Dave Stewart to make room for Ron Roenicke whom they purchased from the Oakland A's. A year later the Phillies released Roenicke and Dave Stewart led the AL in Wins en route to finishing 3rd in the AL Cy Young Voting.  

1990 was the fourth consecutive year that Stewart would finish in the Cy Young top four. He was coming off a World Series MVP award in 1989 and was near the top of his game.

That was not good for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Flip

1990 Score #702 No-Hit Club Dave Stewart (b-side)

Stewart was dominant, He struck out 12 and walked 3 pitching to two over the minimum - the extra runner (Junior Felix) was eliminated via caught stealing.

Looking inside the box we find the 1990 Blue Jays to be a pretty good hitting squad, Fred McGriff would hit .300 that season and the young John Olerud would eventually win a batting title.  Stewart's final three outs were Strike Outs of Manny Lee and Mookie Wilson and a Tony Fernandez Fly Out.

Dave Stewart's battery-mate for the no-hitter was Terry Steinbach who doubled and tripled in the game. In 1999 as a member of the Twins Steinbach called a second no-hitter authored by another Phillies connected pitcher - Eric Milton.

Among the folks playing defense for Stewart's no-hitter was future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson. Rickey pitched in with a Homer, Sac Fly, and a Put Out in left.

1990 06 29
We are only half way threw June 29th 1990. Tomorrow we will jet off to the West Coast to see what happens later that day...




Team USA

in 2003 Dave Stewart was pitching coach for Team USA for a look at his 2004 UD card check here
  Sources and Links
1990: Year of the No-Hitter
Baseball-ref

1990 Seattle Mariners host Guaranteed No-Hitter Night

On June 16th of 1990 the Seattle Mariners Guaranteed a No-Hitter

The idea of the Guarantee was conceived by the Mariners promotion department as the baseball public got caught up in the excitement of the the 1990 No-Hitter Frenzy - Mark Langston had pitched one on April 11th, The Mariners own Randy Johnson June 2nd, and Nolan Ryan earlier that week.

1994 Topps #34 Nolan Ryan

Another impetus for the M's was that they were hosting Nolan Ryan's first start after his June 11th No-Hitter.

Had Ryan actually been able to redeem the Guaranteed No-Hitter for the Mariners he would have matched a feat only otherwise done by Johnny Vander Meer - Consecutive No-Hitters.

1991 Score #126 Matt Young

For their part Seattle sent out journeyman pitcher Matt Young.

The No-Hitter didn't get very far, Matt Young retired 4 batters before giving up a hit to John Russell. Harold Reynolds got the first hit off of Ryan in the bottom of the 3rd.

Despite being the significantly less noteworthy pitcher Matt Young was the closest of the two to get a no-hitter. Young pitched the last of 5 career shutouts only allowing 3 hits (Russell, Ruben Sierra, and Rafael Palmiero) all singles.

The promotion worked for the Ms, The 37,248 fans they drew to the Kingdome may seem pedestrian now, but it was the 4th best attendance number for the 1990 Mariners. It was also the most fans that got to see a Mariners win.

Note: In a practice common in Minor League Games the Mariners Guaranteed No-Hitter Game came with the caveat that if there was not a no-hitter, fans would get a free ticked to a future game. The free ticket was a $4.50 General Admission ticket to the July 11th game versus the Angels. The Mariners won that game as well. It was a 2-1 victory by Erik Hanson over the aforementioned no-hit pitcher Mark Langston. It doesn't appear many fans took advantage of the no-hit redemption as 18,357 which was a tick below the teams 18,638 average for the season.    

1994 Topps
I like this card, it was issued the season after Ryan retired. Topps noted his career accomplishments by placing Ryan on card #34, his uniform number.

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
LA Times
Baseball-ref
baseball-almanac
baseball cardpedia
baseball card database

1990 Year of the No-Hitter: June 11 - NOLAN RYAN

As noted earlier in this series there are some great names and stories among the pitchers who were involved in the year of the No-Hitter, none of those pitchers was bigger than Nolan Ryan.

1991 Score No-Hit Club #701 Nolan Ryan

Nolan Ryan only had 7 spring training innings in prior to his Opening Day start which he had to leave despite having not given up a hit over 5 innings.

By June 11th he had nine starts under his belt including a 1-hitter versus the White Sox on April 26th.  Ryan now had built up plenty of arm strength to finish his record setting sixth career no-hitter.

Box Notes

1991 Score No-Hit Club (b-side)

First off that is a scuff on the card, that is not bird droppings on Nolan's cap!

For the second time in the series we have the Oakland A's making a guest appearance. Back in mid-April we discussed Brian Holman's near perfect game which was spoiled by a Ken Phelps Home Run.  

Ken Phelps made a 9th inning pinch hit appearance in this game as well. Nolan Ryan won this battle as he did something he did 5713 other times in his career. He Struck Out Phelps. That was the first out of the 9th which left Future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson and Willie Randolph as the last two outs Ryan needed to complete his record extending 6th no-hitter. Henderson Grounded  Out and Randolph Fouled out to right.

More Cards
There are three other Cards in the Phungo Collection dedicated to this game. We will be taking a closer look at each of the other cards tomorrow. For now we will just post the cards. 

1993 Pacific Texas Express #63 Last Pitch No-Hitter #6

1991 Donruss #BC-3 Nolan Ryan 6th No-Hitter

1991 Topps #6 Record Break Nolan Ryan

You cannot tell from the front but this card honors Nolan Ryan breaking his own record of five no-hitters.

1992 Pacific Nolan Ryan #170

Added this card to the listing in November of 2015. Found it in a card show dime box.

Nolan Ryan
The name most associated with No-Hitter is likely Nolan Ryan, to recognize this we will be dedicating several postings to this no-hitter and the Ryan Express over the next few days. Below is an Index to these No-Hitter related Postings - a couple related to the cards above.

1993 Pacific Texas Express #63
1991 Donruss #BC-3
1991 Topps #6
1992 Pacific Nolan Ryan #170
Guaranteed No-Hitter Night

Sources and Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
Nolan Ryan HoF Index 
baseball-ref
MLB Network Willie Randolph Discusses WBC

1990 Year of the No-Hitter: Greg Harris?? Lo-Hitter - A Pat Venditte from two decades ago

Greg Harris did not join the Red Sox rotation until the teams 17th game on April 28th. He was pretty much the definition of a SwingMan, but given the opportunity to start for a very good 1990 Red Sox team, Harris made the most of his opportunities.

On June 7th Harris had his best start of the year, He and Closer Jeff Reardon combined to throw a 1-hitter as the Red Sox shutout the Yankees  3-0 .

1991 Score #109 Greg Harris

Notice this is a Lo-Hitter as opposed to a Near-Hitter. The difference being that in this Game Greg Harris gave up a fifth inning single, while in a Near-Hitter (see Brian Holman or John Smoltz) The No-Hitter stays in tact deep into the game. I would say at least into the 7th is a good yardstick of went to start Near-Hitter talk. 

Box Notes

The batter that foiled Greg Harris' meeting with infamy was Yankee outfielder Jesse Barfield - and once again we will bring up how small a world baseball is and let you know that Barfield will play a role in a future Year of the No-Hitter posting. 

Barfield was the only Yankee to reach base as Harris/Reardon pitched to one over the minimum. The final inning was uneventful although there was a Hall of Famer that batted that inning, although it was a football Hall of Famer - Deion Sanders. 

Flip

1991 Score #109 Greg Harris (b-side)

This is a GREAT Card. Notice in the box with Greg Haris' Demographic info we find that he is right handed. Now look at the action shot on the A-side. Harris is throwing Lefty. 

What is going on here? 

Check the end paragraph on the back of the card. The Ambidextrous Harris is tossing BP in the photo and he is throwing Lefty, I would assume he is a bit less dominant from that side. 

We have some fortuitous timing here as this earlier this weekend The A's called up switch-pitcher Pat Venditte. He has a special Ambidextrous glove that allows him to pitch from different sides in the same inning, can't tell from the above photo, but it appears that Harris is using a LH glove on his right hand.

Sources and Links

1990: Year of  the No-Hitter

Baseball-ref

1990: Ramon Martinez 18K Game

We have the Maritnez Brothers on back to back nights.

Before Pedro there was older brother Ramon Martinez.

Two years prior to Pedro Martinez making his Major League Debut, Ramon Was an All-Star and nearly a Cy Young Award Winnner.

And 25 years ago on June 4th 1990 Ramon Martinez had a pretty good night.

 

1991 Score #419 1990 Highlight Ramon Martinez 18 K game

Ramon limited the Atlanta Braves to 3 hits and recorded 18 strikeouts while leading the Dodgers to a 6-0 victory. At the time the 18Ks were 1 off the NL record (Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton)  and 2 short of the Major League Record (Roger Clemens) for a 9 inning game.    

1991 Score #419 1990 Highlight Ramon Martinez 18 K game (b-side)

The synopsis on the reverse talks about Ramon's 18K outing and contains a nice shot of what presumably is the post game interview. Perhaps a good Dodger fan can inform us of the name of the otherwise unknown reporter.

Last month Corey Kluber joined the 18K game club, setting a record by doing so on only 113 pitches. Ramon Martinez threw 127 pitches in his outing.  He had his 18 strikeouts in the first eight frames, had Martinez been removed after eight (as Kluber was) he would have been at 108 pitches.

I am not counting 3-hitters as Lo-Hitter games, but since this game is so unique I will be adding it to the Year of the No-Hitter index. 

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter
Score Trading Cards
@obxleatherman - David Branson
Baseball-ref
Retrosheet

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - June 2 Randy Johnson

A star is Born.

On June 2nd Randy Johnson authored the second no-hitter of the 1990 Season.

1991 Score #700 No-Hit Club Randy Johnson

Back in April Johnson's teammate Brian Holman had come within an out of a perfect game, but he lost it on a Ken Phelps Home Run.

Randy Johnson's start would end up differently. He retired the last five batters he faced, his 9th inning went Strikeout, Pop Out, Strike Out. The final batter was journeyman catcher Mike Heath who went down swinging on an 0-2 pitch.

While it was a No-Hittter, Johnson was far from perfect. He allowed six walks, and Mariners Shortstop Mike Brumley committed an error.

Box Notes

1991 Score #700 No-Hit Club Randy Johnson (b-side)

Couple of good hitters that Johnson had to sit down, including Cecil Fielder and perennial Hall of Fame snub Alan Trammell. The "Williams" in the 9 spot of the Tigers Order is Ken Williams, the current GM of the Chicago White Sox.

The defense behind Randy Johnson included Ken Griffey Jr, Pre-DH Edgar Martinez, and MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds. The right fielder for the Mariners was Jay Buhner who was traded for the aforementioned Ken Phelps, the man who spoiled Brian Holman's no-hit bid. 

The No-Hitter was the first of two for Randy Johnson, 14 years later he threw a Perfect Game versus the Atlanta Braves as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Relics

1990 0602 Cap Worn by Randy Johnson when he pitched the No-Hitter

Team Phungo made a brief stop at the Hall of Fame recently and we spotted this item in the Randy Johnson HoF display.  Pretty cool item here with the Classic Seattle Logo, which probably most synonymous with the career of Young Ken Griffey Jr.

The HoF visit was quick but fun. While I dedicated most of the day to the Cooperstown Classic, I did manage a quick HoF tour and we will show of some items/displays over the next couple of weeks.


1990 Seattle Mariners
There Mariners were 51 games into the 1990 season and had been involved in two no-hitters Plus Brian Holman's near perfect game. The teams promotions department would attempt to capitalize on the events by sponsoring a Guaranteed No-Hitter Night. We will cover that game in a a future post, I will just let you know that one of the starting pitchers that evening was Nolan Ryan.

2015 Randy Johnson
Part of the reason I wanted to do a series on Year of the No-Hitter is with so many pitchers involved there are just tons of great stories. We have already had the Mariners involved in 2 no-hitters (one on each side) and a near perfect game. We have had Mike Witt who completed a no-hitter after years earlier pitching his own perfect game.

And now we see a future Hall of Famer just as he emerges into greatness.

I am a fan of Twitter and one of the more interesting follows has been Randy Johnson. He dedicates a lot of time to his photography, and due to his resources he has premium access for great places and events which makes for some great shots. Right now his account appears dormant but his website is still operational - @rj51photos

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index
Phungo Randy Johnson HoF Index
Baseball Hall of Fame
LA Times
baseball-ref
Chicago White Sox

1990: Year of the No-Hitter - May 27th Near-Hitter John Smoltz

Today we have another Year of the No-Hitter posting which is only a Lo-Hitter or Near-Hitter. On May 27th a then 24 Year Old John Smoltz was facing the Phillies at the Vet on Beach Towel Day and he took a No-Hitter into the 9th inning.

1991 Score #208 John Smoltz

Unfortunately for Smoltz it was not to be, One of the three remaining outs he needed was Lenny Dykstra who was batting .408 going into play that day.  With a 6-0 lead Smoltz decided to challenge the hottest hitter in baseball and Lenny doubled down the right field line.

Box Notes
The man that broke up Smoltz's No-Hitter was Lenny Dykstra, who was batting .408 going into the gaem. The Phillies staring pitcher that day was Terry Mulholland, whom we will hear from a bit later in our Year of the No-Hitter series.

Smoltz's Reaction
When asked about the Near Miss post game Smoltz referred to Dave Stieb who had lost not one but two no-hitters in the ninth inning:

 "I never knew what Dave Steib went through. Now I do - even though mine was one out earlier." 

Like the aforementioned Terry Mulholland we will here from Dave Stieb later in this series as well....

Flip

1991 Score #208 John Smoltz

The documented in the first paragraph of text on Smoltz's 1991 Score Card. I had several options of cards to post noting the near-hitter and Score's recognition of Smoltz's big day made the choice easy.

It's in the Cards
A lot of reasons are given for Topps relegation to the second tier of trading cards in the 90s - Holograms, Photography, Relics, Autos etc. One I rarely see mentioned is the difference in copy. Check the text on the back of the 1991 Topps Smoltz Card.

1991 Topps #157 John Smoltz (b-side)

One line on John Smoltz's 1988 Season at Richmond. The A-Side is fine enough though.

1991 Topps #157 John Smoltz

Nice early card of Smoltz pre-mustache. There is a lot to like about 1991 Topps, nice design lots of great shots throughout the set. I have always been fond of cards where an element of the photo pops out beyond the border a bit, On the Smoltz card his pitching hand extends just beyond the edge as if he is going to throw a fastball through the frame.

Sources & Links
1990 Year of the No-Hitter Index

John Smoltz HOF Index

Baseball-ref
Philadelphia Inquirer
LA Times