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Allie Reynolds - The Two No Hitters, 1951
CLEVELAND, 1-0, July 12, 1951 - BOSTON,
8-0, September 28, 1951
Cleveland ace Bob Feller took the mound to
face Allie Reynolds on July 12. The two had been roommates on the Indians
and knew each other very well.
The game moved through five innings, a taut, tight pitching duel. Neither
team had a hit. Gene Woodling homered for the Yanks in the seventh. That
was the only run the man they called "Chief" needed.
Retiring the last seventeen batters to face him, Reynolds struck out Bobby
Avila for the final out. In the game the big right-hander faced just 29
batters. He won his 10th game, his fifth shutout of the year. More
importantly - he gave up no hits.
The second no-hitter was before 40,000 at Yankee Stadium against the Red
Sox, the hottest hitting team in the American League.
"I was very much aware of the no-hitter and the ninth inning," Reynolds
said. "All I had to get out was Ted Williams. Most times I tried to walk
the damn guy. In my opinion it was just stupid to let an outstanding
hitter like him beat you."
With two out in the ninth, Ted Williams was all that stood in the way of
the Reynolds' no-hitter and the Yankee clinching of the American League
pennant.
Reynolds got a fastball strike on Williams. The next pitch - fastball
again. Ball popped up behind home plate. Yogi Berra under it, waiting. The
ball bounced off his glove. Yogi bounced off Reynolds who was backing up
the play.
Helping Berra to his feet, a tired and anxious Reynolds was kind: "Don't
worry Yogi, we'll get him next time."
An exasperated and annoyed Williams told Berra: "You sons of bitches put
me in a hell of a spot. You blew it, and now I've got to bear down even
harder even though the game is decided and your man has a no-hitter
going."
On the next Reynolds' offering, Williams again popped up. This time Berra
squeezed the ball good. Reynolds had his second no-hitter and the Yankees
had an 8-0 triumph and their third straight American League flag.
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You can reach
Harvey Frommer at:
Email: harvey.frommer@Dartmouth.EDU
About the Author:
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th
consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and
sports journalist, the author of 40 sports books including the classics:
"New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative
history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as
well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime
Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND
NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
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