Angels Nolan Ryan Pitches His Second No Hitter of the Year
By David Hill
There is no questioning the impressive resume that Nolan Ryan put together during his time in the Majors. He helped pad that stellar list by pitching his second no hitter of 1973 on this date, victimizing the Detroit Tigers.
Seemingly every time Nolan Ryan went to the mound, there was the chance he could make history. The author of a record seven no hitters, Ryan was capable of dominating every time out. It was on this date in 1973 that he put together what may have been the most dominant performance of his career, as the California Angels pitcher shut down the Detroit Tigers for his second career no hitter.
Even though Ryan walked four batters, he was in complete command on the mound. He set the record for the most strikeouts in a nine inning no hitter, setting down 17 Tigers batters, a mark that would later be tied by Max Scherzer. In fact, he even had a chance to be the first pitcher with 20 strikeouts until his arm stiffened while the Angels scored five runs in the top of the eighth. Because of that, he only struck out one batter in the final two innings.
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That performance was not only one of the more impressive games of Ryan’s career, but it spawned one of the more entertaining moments in the history of the game. With the Tigers one out away from being no hit, Norm Cash stepped to the plate with a piano leg. As he had struck out in his previous three at bats, it was understandable that he would consider such a measure as his best chance of getting a hit.
In fact, when umpire Ron Luciano told Cash that he could not use the piano leg, he infamously replied “Why, I won’t hit him anyway!” However, Luciano won out, and after Cash returned with a regular bat, he popped out to end the game. Ryan got his second career no hitter, and the second of the year, while Cash managed to avoid striking out for a fourth time.
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Nolan Ryan had the chance to dominate every time out, and he did just that on this day in 1973, as the Angels pitcher fired his second career no hitter.