Another Ex-Met Pitches a No-No
So let me get this straight. Phillip Humber pitched a perfect game? The same Phillip Humber that came up in the Mets farm system and was ultimately traded for Johan Santana? I thought Santana might be the first pitcher in Mets history to pitch a no-hitter. But instead he has had three surgeries and is now back in action after missing an entire year. But Humber becomes the 21st pitcher in Major League history to throw a perfecto. You know what? I don’t think a Mets pitcher will ever pitch a no-hitter. Never.
Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, David Cone, AJ Burnett, and Hideo Nomo were all pitchers who were with the Mets at one time or another, left the team and pitched a no-hitter for other clubs. David Cone is the only other ex-Met to throw a perfect game. He did it wearing a Yankee uniform. Dwight Gooden while also wearing Yankee duds pitched his no-hitter. It just ain’t fair I tell ya.
Nolan Ryan pitched seven no hitters, none of course with the Mets. Mike Scott ended the 1986 season as an Astro pitching a no-hitter as Houston was getting set to face the Mets in the NLCS. (Correction: Scott’s no hitter clinched the NLW for Houston on September 25, 1986, not the last game.) Burnett pitched his no-hitter for the Marlins back in 2001. Nomo pitched a no-hitter before joining the Mets then pitched another one after he left them.
Then of course there is Tom Seaver who likely produced the greatest pitching performance in Mets history on July 9, 1969 when he went 8 and a third innings before allowing a base runner. Jimmy Qualls, on a baseball train to nowhere, became a name no Mets fan will ever forget when he singled off of Seaver for the Cubs that evening. There have been a lot of one hitters in Mets history but no Met came closer to a perfect game as Seaver did that Wednesday evening over four decades ago. Seaver ultimately got his no-hitter while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. I think the baseball gods are still angry at the Mets over that awful trade.
Perhaps one day it will happen. A pitcher for the Mets will throw a no-hitter. Could it be someone on the current staff? Maybe. Or maybe it could be someone named Matt Harvey or Zach Wheeler. But didn’t we think Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher, or Jason Isringhausen might do it? Likely when it happens, if it happens, it will come from a pitcher we least expect. Wouldn’t that be something Mike?