Odds And Ends From Roy Halladay’s No-Hitter

Keith Olbermann lends a little perspective to Roy Halladay’s no-hitter. Such as: Only four pitchers in postseason history have come within four outs of a no-hitter, including the two who finished the deal.

One of those was Bill Bevens, who managed to stay in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series despite allowing 10 walks. He then lost the no-hitter and the game with two outs in the ninth on a double by Cookie Lavagetto. Two interesting factoids about that: Bevens pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 7, but then never pitched another major-league game; and he was born in Hubbard, Ore., and lived near Salem in his later years before dying in 1991.

My favorite trivia about Halladay’s no-hitter: He is the first pitcher in postseason history to have more hits than the opposing team. Not so odd that he would be the first, but it’s interesting that Halladay had a hit, considering he has a career average of .123.

As Olbermann points out, several pitchers have thrown two no-hitters in one season, but Halladay is the first to have a perfect game and another no-hitter.

Heard on the radio that the Reds had not been no-hit since 1971. Don’t have time to double-check that, so don’t take my word for it.

By my count (very, very unofficial), there have been 1,254 postseason games since 1903, when the AL first met the NL. Just in case you were wondering.