27 MLB records that will never be broken
61. . Johnny Vander Meer. June 11 and 15, 1938. 2 Consecutive No-Hitters. 25. player
It’s really, really hard to throw a no-hitter. We saw that last week when Atlanta Braves starter Shelby Miller lost his bid with two outs in the ninth inning. In fact, there have been only 287 no-hitters in Major League Baseball history to date, and only once has a pitcher tossed back-to-back no-nos.
In 1938, a left-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds named Johnny Vander Meer did something no one had done before and has never done since: he threw no-hitters in consecutive starts.
The first came on June 11 when Vander Meer and the Reds beat the Boston Bees (later named the Braves) 3-0. The southpaw walked three batters in the nine-inning complete game, but did not allow a runner past first base. On June 15, Vander Meer held the Dodgers hitless in a 6-0 victory in Brooklyn.
Oddly enough, the 23-year old Vander Meer was in his first full big league season after appearing in 19 games the previous year. He went on to pitch 13 years in the Majors and compiled a 119-121 record and a 3.44 ERA, but never again tossed a no-hitter.
Vander Meer is one of only five pitchers to even record two no-hitters in a single season, and was the first to do so. Allie Reynolds (1951), Virgil Trucks (1952), Nolan Ryan (1973), and Roy Halladay (2010) are the only to match him. Of course, none did it in back-to-back starts, and it’s very unlikely anyone ever will.
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