On This Date in Sports June 29, 1990: No Hitter x2
In collaboration with the sportsecyclopedia.com
The stars aligned for baseball, as two no-hitters were thrown on the same day for the first time. It was 1990, the year of the no-hitter, when a record seven were thrown, including four in June. This included no-hitters by Dave Stewart of the Oakland Athletics who blanked the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 at SkyDome, while Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers thrilled the home fans with a 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
During the decade of the 1980s, no-hitters were rare as there were just 13 thrown. This included years in 1982, 1985, and 1989 when there were none. The 1990 season would make up for lost time as a record seven no-hitters were pitched. This does not include the Andy Hawkins fiasco, which was removed from the record books when no-hitters were redefined as needing to go nine full innings following the 1991 season.
The first no-hitter of the 1990 season came in the third game of the season as Mark Langston of the California Angels threw a combined no-hitter with Mike Witt against the Seattle Mariners on April 11th. On June 2nd, the Mariners tossed the first no-hitter in Mariners history on June 2nd against the Detroit Tigers. On June 11th Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers tossed the sixth no-hitter of his career against the Oakland Athletics.
As June came to an end, the Oakland Athletics were in a battle with the Chicago White Sox for the American League West. The A's were the defending World Champions, holding a record of 45-26 for manager Tony LaRussa. Dave Stewart had played a key role in Oakland's success, winning the World Series MVP in 1989. Stewart had begun his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers but struggled and was traded to the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia Phillies before finding success in Oakland. On the way to the 1989 World Series, the Athletics beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the ALCS. Toronto was in second place at 41-34 for Cito Gaston. John Cerruti started Toronto at the start of a four-game Canada Day Weekend series at SkyDome.
The game started rough for Dave Stewart as he walked the first two batters. However, Junior Felix was thrown out trying to steal, short-circuiting the Blue Jays' rally. Stewart would dominate the rest of the way, as he had just one more walk in the ninth inning. Along the way, he struck out 12 batters. The A's got on the board with a two-run homer from Dave Henderson in the third inning. In the fifth, Rickey Henderson had a two-run homer to make it 4-0 for Oakland. Rickey Henderson had a sac-fly in the seventh for the final run of the game. In the ninth, Stewart struck out Manny Lee and Mookie Wilson before issuing a walk to Felix. Tony Fernandez would be the final out with a flyout to Dave Henderson in centerfield.
The first no-hitter was shown on ESPN. It was ESPN's first year of covering baseball. They would show doubleheaders every Friday. The second game of the Friday night doubleheader was the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers were hovering just below .500 at 35-37 for Tom Lasorda, while the Cardinals were floundering in last place at 30-43 for Whitey Herzog. Herzog would step down as Cardinals' manager a week later, ending a successful decade. Fernando Valenzuela was opposed by Jose DeLeon. Both pitchers had similar numbers on the season, entering the game.
Fernando Valenzuela pitched around a dropped fly ball by Kirk Gibson in the first inning. In the bottom of the inning, Lenny Harris had a lead-off single and scored on a sac-fly by Hubie Brooks. The Dodgers got a second run in the fifth inning when Harris scored on a squeeze bunt by Stan Javier. Brooks homered in the sixth to make it 3-0. In the seventh inning, Valenzuela got a hit and scored ahead of Lenny Harris on a two-run single by Kirk Gibson. In the eighth inning, Juan Samuel homered to make it 6-0 in favor of Los Angeles. Fernando was dominant, looking like vintage Valenzuela for six innings, before issuing two walks in the seventh inning. In the ninth inning, Valenzuela started with a strikeout of Vince Coleman. It was the seventh strikeout for Valenzuela. Willie McGee was the third Cardinal to walk in the game, sending Pedro Guerrero to the plate. The former Dodger ended the game bouncing into a double play that was deflected by Valenzuela to Craig Wilson at second base to complete the no-hitter.
The two Friday night no-hitters were followed by Andy Hawkins' sloppy 4-0 loss in a no-hitter for the New York Yankees two days later. That no-hitter would not count when the records were adjusted in 1991. Terry Mulholland pitched the sixth no-hitter of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies on August 15th against the San Francisco Giants, while Dave Stieb, who had several close calls, tossed what is still the only no-hitter in Toronto Blue Jays history on September 2nd, against the Cleveland Indians. The seven no-hitters was an MLB record for a single season that has been matched in 2021.