How Many No Hitters Has Baseball Seen?

baseball has seen a lot of no-hitters over the years. But how many have there been? We take a look at the numbers.

Introduction

In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which one team prevents the other from getting a hit. Thoughractions occur during a no-hitter, they are usually limited to errors, walks and hit batsmen, and do not involve any hits. No-hitters are rare feats in baseball; as of July 2019, there have been just 302 in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB), an average of about two per year.

Despite their rarity, no-hitters have been thrown since the early days of MLB. The first recorded no-hitter was thrown by George Bradley of the St. Louis Browns against the Hartford Dark Blues on July 15, 1876. The most recent no-hitter was thrown by Mike Fiers of the Oakland Athletics against the Cincinnati Reds on May 7, 2019.

The longest interval between no-hitters is 8 years and 10 days, which occurred between Joe Bosman’s perfect game for the Milwaukee Brewers on July 20, 1988 and Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter for the New York Yankees on July 10, 1996. There have been three instances of teams throwing back-to-back no-hitters; the most recent occurrence was in 2018, when Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics and Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers both threw no-hitters in consecutive starts.

No-hitters have been thrown more often in recent years than in the past; MLB saw an average of just 1.3 per year from 1900–1909, but has seen an average of 3.2 per year from 2010–2019. This increase can at least partially be attributed to improvements in pitching efficiency and stamina over time.

A Brief History of the No Hitter

In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a single hit. To date, there have been 298 no-hitters in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). Of these, 23 have been perfect games, in which no batters reached base at all.

The first recorded no-hitter was pitched by George Bradley of the St. Louis Brown Stockings on July 15, 1876. The most recent major league no-hitter was thrown by Mike Fiers of the Oakland Athletics on May 7, 2019. A total of 22 pitchers have thrown more than one no-hitter in their careers. The longest interval between no-hitters was just over 3 years, between WarrenSpahn’s first and second (May 26, 1960 and April 28, 1963).

The feat has been accomplished 18 times since the start of the modern era (1900) by 15 different pitchers. In terms of time between pitching a player’s first and second no-hitters, Johnny Vander Meer once again holds the record: 4 years, 2 months and 8 days passed between his consecutive no-hit games in 1938. Cy Young threw his first professional no hitter on September 18, 1890 and his last on October 10 1908 for a grand total of 3 days shy of 18 years!

Why Have There Been So Few No Hitters Recently?

In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to get any hits off of the opposing team’s pitcher. This can be extremely difficult to do, as there are nine innings in a game and 27 outs that a team has to get. Thus, it is considered quite an accomplishment when a team is able to pull off a no-hitter.

Baseball fans often wonder why there have been so few no-hitters recently. After all, there were 7 no-hitters in 2015, but only one in 2016. There are several reasons for this decrease. First of all, hitters are simply getting better at their craft. They are using more advanced technologies to study pitchers and figure out their weak points. In addition, they are now training year-round instead of just during the season, so they are in better shape and have more stamina.

Another reason for the decrease in no-hitters is that pitchers are throwing fewer fastballs. In the past, pitchers would often try to blow hitters away with high-speed pitches, but now they realize that hitters can adjust to this and will often just hit the ball out of the park. Instead, pitchers are now trying to throw more curves and changeups, which can be harder for hitters to predict.

Finally, teams are using relief pitchers more often now than they did in the past. In the past, starting pitchers would often stay in the game until they got tired or gave up too many runs. Nowadays, managers will take out a pitcher when he starts to get into trouble and bring in a fresh arm from the bullpen. This means that starters don’t have to worry about trying to pitch an entire game and can just focus on throwing well for a few innings.

So why have there been so few no-hitters recently? There are several reasons: hitters are getting better, pitchers are throwing fewer fastballs and teams are using relief pitchers more often.

How Does Pitching Have an Advantage Over Hitting?

The game of baseball is often considered a pitcher’s game. After all, the pitcher has the ball in his hand and can control where it goes. The batter, on the other hand, can only react to what the pitcher throws.

One way that pitching has an advantage over hitting is that a pitcher can throw a variety of pitches, while a batter can only hit the ball. A pitcher can throw a fastball, curveball, slider, etc., while a batter can only swing at the ball. This gives the pitcher a big advantage, as he can try to fool the batter with different pitches.

Another way that pitching has an advantage is that pitchers can pitch from different angles. They can throw sidearm or overhand, which makes it harder for batters to hit the ball. Batters usually have an easier time hitting balls that are thrown straight over the plate.

Lastly, pitchers can control the speed of their pitches much more than batters can control the speed of their swings. A fastball will always be faster than a swing, and this makes it very hard for batters to hit pitches that are thrown hard.

All of these factors combine to make pitching a very difficult task for hitters. Even the best hitters in the world only get hits about 30% of the time they come to bat. So don’t feel too bad if you strike out occasionally when you’re at the plate!

Conclusion

In conclusion, baseball has seen a total of 303 no hitters, with the San Francisco Giants leading the way with 12. The most recent no hitter was thrown by Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics on April 21, 2018.