It’s well documented that only the Mets, Rays, and Padres haven’t had a no-hitter in their histories. When I started searching the Internet for facts and figures on futility, I came across someone that has a Mets blog about the elusive no-hitter. The Mets are up to 7,673 games without one now. And the Mets have had 33 one-hitters over the years including the famous July 4, 1972 no-hitter that Tom Seaver lost with one out in the ninth against the Padres. You can see the complete list of one-hitters in Mets history.
Tom Seaver would go on to throw a no-hitter in 1978 for the Cincinnati Reds, the year after the Mets traded him away. Nolan Ryan had a one-hitter for the Mets in April 1970 and would go on to throw seven no-hitters in his illustrious post-Mets career including one in May 1991 at the age of 44.
If you look at the complete list of no-hitters in MLB history it’s an eclectic mix of some of the greatest names in history and some complete no-names like Bud Smith who did it in 2001 but only had 24 career starts. It definitely goes to show that you never know where a no-hitter will come from.
The lack of a no-hitter in Mets history lends itself to the belief among many of us that the team is “snake bit” or cursed in some way. Finally getting that first no-hitter will lift a monkey from the team’s and fan’s backs somehow. It’s become so strange that even the Mets-Cardinals game last month that went 20 innings was more rare in baseball history than a no-hitter. There have been 154 no-hitters (including combined) and only 64 games that have gone at least 20 innings.
Back to the original premise of this post, is this they year of the Mets first no-hitter? Based on the list of 154, there’s no way to tell from whom or when it will come. I don’t think anyone would be completely shocked if Johan Santana did it. And Mike Pelfrey really looks like he’s in the zone this season. But we shouldn’t be surprised if Oliver Perez pulls it off either based on history. Juan Nieves did it for Milwaukee in ’87 and he only had 81 starts over three seasons in his career. You just never know.
The Mets Report 