When watching a near no-hitter, there is nothing worse than seeing that one measly little groundball trickle through in the bottom of the eighth and know that had it been hit a few inches to the left or didn’t have that o tricky hop, the batter would be out and history would be achieved.
Chris Jaffe at The Hardball Times revels in these moments, collecting the the ten least likely players who prevented a no-hitter.
My personal favorite:
“3. The worst position player ever. Sept. 9, 1993: Padres’ Luis Lopez (season numbers: 5 H, 43 AB, 44 PA, .116 AVG, .114 H/PA).
Yes, it’s only a sample size of 44 PA, but it’s an impressively horrible sample size. Luis Lopez wins the award for worst batting average for a position player who got the only hit. He also has the lowest H/PA. Oh, and his OPS+ of –33 (yes, negative 33) is nearly the worst for anyone, including pitchers.
Oh, and there’s another distinctive feature for Lopez: This was his first career hit. He’s the only position player whose first career hit was the only hit for his team in the entire game. It came off Atlanta reliever Mark Wohlers in the eighth inning. The team had taken out starting pitcher Kent Mercker for a pinch hitter because the game was tied, 0-0. Atlanta won in 10 frames, 1-0.”
Oh, Luis Lopez, your greatest moment had to come at the expense of another. Lopez did manage to hang around indy ball until 2004 when, at the age of 39, he proceeded to post an appropriate .480 OPS. Can’t say he wasn’t a trooper.
Click through to read the rest of Jaffe’s piece. It’s the least you can do for all those men who came so close to glory but were cruely denied.
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section9 reblogged this from oldtimefamilybaseball and added:
Steve Trachsel almost had a no-hitter? Oh man, that must have been a rough day in the dug-out…
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oldtimefamilybaseball posted this
Daily news, recaps, and ridiculous pictures from across the baseball world. Extra focus on stirrup socks, squeeze bunts, mustaches and old baseball cards. In other words, your exact interests.
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