Classic Games: Toronto Blue Jays @ Texas Rangers – May 1st, 1991
by Scrooge McSuck
OK, so this isn’t a classic game, but I had all the information saved up before my sudden disappearance. Word of the wise… when putting together a little recap of an old game, do something where stuff actually happened. Covering no hitters basically means listing 27 outs and that’s all, so there’s not much detail to go into.
Anyway, anyone with mild knowledge of baseball history knows Nolan Ryan. A fire-throwing Texan with a serious lack of control and the all time leader for career strikeouts (totaling well over 5,000), shut outs, and awards that he shouldn’t be proud of, like the amount of walks he allowed in his career. I’m sure to younger fans, though, we all remember “The Ryan Express” for his ass-whooping of Robin Ventura in the summer of 1993, weeks before Ryan’s retirement.
With that out of the way, here are the little tidbits of information and the inning by inning summary of Ryan’s 7th and final No Hitter.
Original Broadcast Team: Don Chevrier (Play-by-Play), Tommy Hutton (Color Analyst), Fergie Olver (Color Analyst)
Toronto Starting Lineup:CF – Devon White; 2B – Robert Alomar; 3B Kelly Gruber; LF – Joe Carter; 1B – John Olerud; RF – Mark Whiten; DH – Glenallen Hill; C – Greg Myers; SS – Manuel Lee
Texas Starting Lineup:CF – Gary Pettis; LF – Jack Daugherty; 1B – Rafael Palmeiro; RF – Ruben Sierra; 2B – Julio Franco; DH – Juan Gonzalez; C – Mike Stanley; 3B – Steve Buechele; SS – Jeff Huson
Starting Pitchers:TEX: Nolan Ryan (2-2, 29.2 IP, 23 H, 10 BB, 37 K)
TOR: Jimmy Key (4-0, 1.86 ERA, 29 IP, 18 H, 8 BB, 16 K)
Nolan Ryan’s Previous No-Hitters: 5/15/73 vs. Kansas City Royals, 7/15/73 vs. Detroit Tigers, 9/28/74 vs. Minnesota Twins, 6/1/75 vs. Baltimore Orioles, 9/26/81 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, and 6/11/90 vs. Oakland Athletics
On This Date in History: May 1, 1939: After 2,130 straight games, Lou Gehrig took himself out of the NY Yankees lineup. He never played again.
May 1st No-Hitters: Johnny Lush in 1906, Bo Belinsky in 1962, Don Wilson in 1969
Father/Son Strikeout Victims of Nolan Ryan: Sandy, Roberto, Sandy Alomar Jr; Bobby & Barry Bonds, Tito & Terry Francona, Ken Griffey & Ken Griffey Jr., Dick, Dick Schofield, and Maury & Bump Wills
As of this date, Claudell Washington struck out the most at the hands of Nolan Ryan (39 Times).
The Rangers local area didn’t carry this game on their television schedule.
AL East Division Standings: Boston (11-7), Toronto (12-9), Milwaukee (10-9), Detroit (10-9), Cleveland (7-10), New York Ytankees (6-11), Baltimore (6-12)
1st Inning: R. White – Attempts to bunt leading off the game. Swinging strikeout on a 3-2 count.R. Alomar – 4-3 (0-1 Count)K. Gruber – BB (6 Pitches)**-failed pick off following wild pitch to CarterJ. Carter – F4 (1-0 Count)(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors. 1 Left on Base)
2nd Inning: J. Olerud – Swinging strikeout on a 1-2 countM. Whiten – Strikeout looking on a 1-2 countG. Hill – Strikeout looking on a 1-2 count(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors)
3rd Inning: G. Myers – F5 swinging on 1st pitchM. Lee – Strikeout swinging on three pitchesR. White – Strikeout swinging on three pitches(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors)
Texas Rangers 3rd Inning: Pettis – Singled off glove of Jimmy Key (0-2 Count)Daugherty – Struck out on a bunt attempt with two strikesPalmeiro – Singled to right, Pettis advances to 2nd- Pettis steals 3rd base and scores on throwing error by Myers (1-0 Rangers)Sierra – 2-Run Home Run on a 1-1 Count (3-0 Rangers)Franco – 5-3Gonzalez – Reached on error by 3rd basemanStanley – 6-4 Fielders Choice(3 Runs, 3 Hits, 1 Error)
4th Inning: R. Alomar – Strikeout swinging on a 2-2 CountK. Gruber – Flied to left field on the 1st pitchJ. Carter – Strikeout swinging on a 1-2 Count(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors)
5th Inning: J. Olerud – Popped out to shallow left on a 3-2 CountM. Whiten – Flied to center on a 3-1 CountG. Hill – Strikeout swinging on three pitches(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors)
6th Inning: G. Myers – Strikeout swinging on a full countM. Lee – Flied to center field (toughest out of the game) on the 1st pitchR. White – Strikeout swinging on a full count(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors)
7th Inning: R. Alomar – Strikeout swinging on a 102 count (fell down swinging on the 2nd pitch of the at-bat)K. Gruber – Strikeout swinging on three pitchesJ. Carter – Walked on a full count; 1st base runner after 18 consecutive outsJ. Olerud – Popped to 3rd on a 1-1 Count(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors, 1 Left on Base)
8th Inning: M. Whiten – Flied out to right on the 1st pitchG. Hill – Strikeout swinging on a 1-2 count; fouled ball off catcher’s mask on 4th pitch of at-bat (pointless observation)G. Myers – Strtikeout on checked swing on three pitches(No Runs, No Hits, No Errors)
9th Inning: M. Lee – grounded out to second on a 1-1 CountR. White – grounded out to second on a full countR. Alomar – Strikeout swinging on a full count
Final Score: Texas Rangers 3, Toronto Blue Jays 0
Ryan’s Final Pitching Totals:9 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 16 K, 121 Pitches Thrown
Final Thoughts: Nope, never again will I devote my time to a game like THIS. My God, not only was it boring for someone to read about 27 outs and no offense, but the game itself wasn't too impressive, especially since the OPPOSING TEAM broadcasted it, and you can tell in their voices they didn't want it to happen. There are plenty of better games out there to revisit and remember why you're a sports fan, so if you subscribe to MLB.com, don't bother watching this snoozer.Coming up next from Scrooge's vault... who knows. I have recently added classic NBA and NHL games to my collection, so this won't be an "All Baseball" type of thing.
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