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Homer Bailey joins idol Nolan Ryan in making no-hitter history

Reds pitcher Homer Bailey is swarmed by teammates after completing a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night in Cincinnati.
(Joe Robbins / Getty Images)
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Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds became the first pitcher to match Nolan Ryan’s no-hitter feat in Major League Baseball more than 35 years ago.

Bailey and Ryan, who are both from Texas, each were the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter one season and the first to duplicate the feat the next. Bailey defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0, on Sept. 28 last year before throwing the second no-hitter of his career Wednesday in a 3-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Ryan also threw a no-hitter on Sept. 28, against the Twins in 1974, and then threw the first no-hitter of the 1975 season in a victory over the Baltimore Orioles on June 1.

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“To do it once is extra special. To do it twice — I don’t really have the words for it right now,” said Bailey, who wears No. 34 in tribute to Ryan, who holds the MLB record with seven no-hitters.

Well, amazing would be a good one.

The first pitcher in the majors to have thrown two consecutive no-hitters was Addie Joss of the Cleveland Bronchos (also known as the Naps) when he beat the Reds on Oct. 2, 1908, and the White Sox on April 20, 1910.

Twenty-eight years later, Cincinnati’s Johnny Vander Meer became the only pitcher to record no-hitters in back-to-back starts with victories over the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers on June 11 and 15, 1938.

Also recording consecutive no-hitters were Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees (July 12, 1951, against the Cleveland Indians and Sept. 28, 1951, against the Boston Red Sox); Warren Spahn of the Milwaukee Braves (Sept. 16, 1960, against the Phillies and April 28, 1961, against the Giants) and Ryan with the Angels (May 15, 1973, against the Kansas City Royals and July 15, 1973, against the Detroit Tigers).

Which brings us back to Bailey, who is only 27 and with a third no-hitter would join this elite list of pitchers with three or more: Ryan (7), Sandy Koufax (4), Larry Corcoran (3), Bob Feller (3) and Cy Young (3).

“Going into the eighth and ninth [innings] I just said, ‘Why the hell not? Here we go again,’” Bailey said after his feat.

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