Other Crap

BoSox Rookie throws a no-no in his 2nd career start

Don't start clearing out a space at Cooperstown just yet. This is no guarantee of greatness. Not by a long shot!

Bobo Hollomon threw a no-hitter in his first major league start, but his rookie year (1953) was his only year - and it only lasted two months! He went 3-7 with a 5.23 era, and a 1.82 WHIP. Hollomon not only failed to live up to his major league debut, but he failed to deliver on his minor league promise as well. In his rookie year in the sticks, he was 20-5 with a 2.33 ERA. He would spend six more frustrating years in the minors before finally getting his major league opportunity. He made the most of it - for exactly one day! He tossed his no-no in a game filled with rain delays, in front of a whopping crowd of 2000. Those loyalists not only got to see baseball's rarest feat, but also got rain checks good for a free ticket another day, as an appreciation for coming out in such inclement weather!

The St. Louis sportswriters said that Bobo was the only guy in baseball who could out-talk team owner Bill Veeck, but unfortunately was also the only guy in baseball who could not out-pitch Veeck. (Veeck lost a leg in the war.) Bobo threw the no-no in May, and was back playing with the Toronto Maple Leafs by July! And dats da name o' dat tune.

There were also two 19th century pitchers who pulled off no-hitters in their debuts: Ted Breitenstein and Bumpus Jones. (Both did so before the modern rules were adopted in 1893.) Bumpus, like Hollomon, was a one-game flash. He threw his no-no at the end of the 1892 season. It was the only game ihe would ever pitch under the old rules. The very next year the pitching distance was increased from fifty feet to sixty and ol' Bumpus never got the hang of it. He only won one other game in his career.

Breitenstein's situation was similar, but he did eventually learn to throw from 60 feet, and went on to win 160 major league games, losing 170 along the way.

In more recent days, Wilson Alvarez threw a no-no in his second start (1991) and went on to a 14-year career in which he pitched 1800 innings. He was a good pitcher for a few years, making the all-star game one year and amassing 71 wins with only 53 losses by age 27, but he struggled after that point. He made a mini-comeback with the Dodgers in 2003 as a spot starter, winning six including a shutout and losing only two, with a 2.37 ERA. (He finished 102-92)