50th Anniversary of Twin No-Hitters : Vander Meer’s Unmatched Pair

Fifty years ago today, a one-time back yard chicken rancher named Johnny Vander Meer rang up an achievement a lot of people think will never be surpassed in major league baseball--a second consecutive no-hit game.

If you don’t believe it, just ask Johnny Vander Meer.

“It’s possible someone may tie it someday, but no one’s ever going to break it with three,” Vander Meer, 73, said recently from his home in Tampa, Fla.

“In fact, I’ll say that there are three baseball records that will never be broken--my two straight no-hitters, Hack Wilson’s 185 RBIs in 1930 (190, actually) and Rogers Hornsby’s four .400 seasons (three, actually, and also achieved by Ty Cobb and Jesse Burkett).”

Fifty years. Johnny Vander Meer has done a lot of fishing in all that time, beginning with the day after his first no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds, June 11, 1938. On that day, he went bass fishing with the chief of police of Midland Park, N.J., his hometown.

Vander Meer goes fishing nearly every day these days. According to his wife, Lois, he gets tired of sportswriters calling him, asking him about the 50th anniversary of his twin no-hitters.

After a slight stroke left him with a numb right hand 2 1/2 years ago, he gave up golf for largemouth bass and snook.

“I’ll fish wherever there’s water and fish, but mostly I like fishing bass in the lakes around northern Florida and for snook in salt water,” he said.

Here’s what happened, 50 years ago this week:

June 11--Vander Meer pitched a no-hitter in a 3-0 win over the Boston Bees, as the Braves were called at the time, in Cincinnati’s Crosley Field.

June 15--Vander Meer allowed no hits in beating the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6-0, in the first night game played at Ebbets Field.

Fifty years later, the feat is still a stunner. In the history of the game to that point, 69 nine-inning no-hitters had been pitched, since 1901.

But two in a row? Never. And even today, it’s still slightly unbelievable.

Fifty years ago, Vander Meer himself put it in perspective, after he had pitched 3 hitless innings at Boston in his first appearance after the second no-hitter.

Then, the National League’s leading hitter, Boston’s Debs Garms, hit a 3-and-2 fastball on a line just past Vander Meer’s head and into center field for a base hit.

Said Vander Meer after the game: “I could’ve walked over to first base and handed Garms a $20 bill. That foolishness has to stop, sooner or later.”

Oddly, Vander Meer says now that his most vivid memories of the second no-hitter are of a pregame delay, and his irritation.

“It was Brooklyn’s first night game, and Larry MacPhail (Dodger general manager) was packing everybody he could into Ebbets Field,” he recalled.

“The place was overflowing. The problem was, people were sitting in the aisles, and the PA announcer kept telling everyone the game wouldn’t start until the aisles were cleared.

“I remember hearing him say that over and over, and getting up and down to warm up.

“They finally started it at about 8:45. Well, I had real good stuff, obviously. (Leo) Durocher popped out for the last out, but there’s a story behind that. Bill Stewart was the home plate umpire, and I actually got Durocher on a called Strike 3.

“But my catcher, Ernie Lombardi, came up out of his crouch too quickly--he was overanxious--and Stewart had to call it a ball. He told Lombardi he’d missed the pitch. Ernie was kind of sore, and I guess he convinced Stewart it’d been a strike.

“Anyway, I got Durocher on a pop on the next pitch, and the first guy out to greet me was Stewart. He said: ‘Johnny, I guess if you hadn’t got him, I’d have blown it for you.’ ”

Actually, Vander Meer says the conversation he remembers most from either no-hitter was a brief one with Babe Ruth, then a Dodger coach, before the second one.

“He came up to me and said something like, ‘Great game the other night, kid,’ and shook my hand. It was the only time I ever spoke to him, and it meant a lot to me.”

After all, this was a 23-year-old kid who raised chickens in New Jersey.

“I grew up in Midland Park, N.J., 18 miles from New York City,” he said. “It was tough in the Depression, but we were luckier than most. My dad was a maintenance foreman for a big silk dye and printing company for 45 years. He was never laid off in the Depression.

“I grew up playing sandlot baseball in the summers, but every Saturday morning my dad made me go out behind our house and clean up the chicken coops. What an awful job that was. We raised chickens. Had between 100 and 120 all the time.”

These days, though, Vander Meer thinks of fish, not chickens, and if he invites you to go snook or bass fishing, be prepared for a lecture on the shortcomings of modern major leaguers. He studies major league batting averages.

“I can’t understand what’s happened to the hitters,” he said.

“They say the rug has been great for the hitters, raised the averages and so forth. OK, if that’s true, then where are the .400 hitters?

“And I can’t believe the .125 hitters who get to play today.

“When I was in the majors, there was no such thing as a .125 hitter. If you hit .125, you didn’t play. Last year, for a while, there were two starting catchers in the majors (he couldn’t remember which ones) who were hitting .125.

“And look at all the strikeouts! My gosh. Do you realize the Reds have three players this year who might strike out a hundred times each?”

He referred to Eric Davis, Kal Daniels and Nick Esasky.

“The only guy who regularly struck out a hundred times in my day was Vince DiMaggio,” Vander Meer said.

“My old catcher, Lombardi, would have a field day today. The worst strikeout season he ever had was 22 (15, actually), and he hit .300 10 times. He was a lifetime .300 (.306) hitter.

“If Lombardi had been on those good 1970s Cincinnati teams, with those good hitters coming up behind him, Johnny Bench might have had to play another position. He would have driven in a ton of runs, even with Bench striking out a hundred times.”

Vander Meer never discusses his two no-hitters without crediting Lombardi, who died in 1977.

“He was just a great catcher, and it’s a crime they didn’t vote him into the Hall of Fame until after he’d died,” Vander Meer said. “He caught every pitch in those two no-hitters, and I never shook him off once.”

Vander Meer himself didn’t make it to the Hall of Fame, but he got inside the front door. In the Hall’s “Great Moments Room,” Vander Meer’s first contract, his uniform--No. 33--his glove and an autographed ball are on display.

And what of today’s pitchers? Vander Meer, who was one of the hardest throwers of his era, thinks maybe they think too much. If two pitches were enough to get hitters out in 1938, why do they need more today?

“I had two pitches, a fastball and a curveball,” he said. “I didn’t even throw a changeup.

“And how come today’s pitchers can’t go more than five or six innings? My gosh, they’re all 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-6, aren’t they? What’s going on?”

Vander Meer had a long career. He pitched for Cincinnati from 1937 to 1949, when he was traded to the Chicago Cubs. He finished up with Cleveland, in 1951, with a record of 119-121 and a lifetime ERA of 3.44.

In his double no-hitter year, he finished with a 15-10 mark and a 3.12 ERA. His best year was 1942, when he went 18-12 with a 2.43 ERA.

JOHNNY VANDER MEER’S CAREER STATISTICS REGULAR SEASON

Year Team IP W-L BB SO ERA 1937 Cincinnati 84 3-5 69 52 3.84 1938 Cincinnati 225 15-10 103 125 3.12 1939 Cincinnati 129 5-9 95 102 4.67 1940 Cincinnati 48 3-1 41 41 3.75 1941 Cincinnati 226 16-13 126 202 2.82 1942 Cincinnati 244 18-12 102 186 2.43 1943 Cincinnati 289 15-16 162 174 2.87 1946 Cincinnati 204 10-12 78 94 3.17 1947 Cincinnati 186 9-14 87 79 4.40 1948 Cincinnati 232 17-14 124 120 3.41 1949 Cincinnati 160 5-10 85 76 4.90 1950 Chicago (N) 74 3-4 59 41 3.79 1951 Cleveland 3 0-1 1 2 18.00 13 Years 2105 119-121 1132 1294 3.44

WORLD SERIES

Year Team IP W-L BB SO ERA 1940 Cincinnati 3 0-0 3 2 0.00 1 Year 3 0-0 3 2 0.00

BOX SCORES OF THE NO-HITTERS JUNE 11 Reds 3, Bees 0

BOSTON CINCINNATI ab r h bi ab r h bi Moore rf 1 0 0 0 Frey 2b 4 0 0 0 Fltchr 1b 1 0 0 0 Berger lf 3 2 1 0 Mullr ph 1 0 0 0 Godmn rf 3 0 0 1 Cooney 1b 3 0 0 0 McCrc 1b 4 0 1 0 DiMgo cf 3 0 0 0 Lmbrdi c 4 1 2 2 Cucnlo 2b 2 0 0 0 Craft cf 3 0 0 0 Reis lf 3 0 0 0 Riggs 3b 3 0 1 0 Engish 3b 2 0 0 0 Myers ss 3 0 0 0 Riddle c 3 0 0 0 VndrMrp 3 0 1 0 Wrtlr ss 2 0 0 0 Kahle ph 1 0 0 0 McFdn p 2 0 0 0 Mggrt ph 1 0 0 0 Total 25 0 0 0 Total 30 3 6 3

Boston 000 000 000--0 Cincinnati 000 102 00x--3 E--Cuccinello. DP--Boston 1, Cincinnati 5. LOB--Boston 1, Cincinnati 5. 3B--Berger, Riggs. HR--Lombardi (7).

IP H R ER BB SO Boston McFayden L,5-2 9 6 3 3 1 4 Cincinnati VanderMeer W,6-2 9 0 0 0 3 4

HBP--By McFayden (Goodman). U--Magerkuth, Paker, Moran. T--1:48. A--5,814.

Reds 6, Dodgers 0

CINCINNATI BROOKLYN ab r h bi ab r h bi Frey 2b 5 0 1 0 Cuyler rf 2 0 0 0 Bergr lf 5 1 3 1 Cscrrt 2b 2 0 0 0 Goodmn rf 3 2 1 0 Brack ph 1 0 0 0 McCrck 1b 5 1 1 3 Hudson 2b 1 0 0 0 Lombrdi c 3 1 0 0 Hasstt lf 4 0 0 0 Craft cf 0 5 0 3 Phelps c 3 0 0 0 Riggs 3b 4 0 1 1 Rosen ph 0 0 0 0 Myers ss 4 0 0 0 Lavgtto 3b 2 0 0 0 VndrMeer p 4 1 1 0 Camlli 1b 1 0 0 0 Koy cf 4 0 0 0 Durcher ss 4 0 0 0 Butcher p 0 0 0 0 Prssnll p 2 0 0 0 Hamlin p 0 0 0 0 English p 1 0 0 0 Tamulis p 0 0 0 0 Total 33 11 8 8 Total 27 0 0 0

Cincinnati 004 001 100--6 Brooklyn 000 000 000--0

E--Lavagetto 2. LOB--Cincinnati 9, Brooklyn 8. 2B--Berger. 3B--Berger. HR--McCormick (2). SB--Goodman.

IP H R ER BB SO Cincinnati VanderMeer W,7-2 9 0 0 0 8 7 Brooklyn Butcher L,4-3 2 5 4 4 3 1 Hamlin 1 2 1 1 1 3 Presnell 3 4 1 0 0 3 Tamulis 1 0 0 0 0 0

U--Stewart, Stark, Barr. T--2:22. A--38,748.