Managers Now, They Became Part of History Then : Baseball: Torborg was the catcher in Ryan’s first no-hitter in 1973, and Piniella was a member of opposing Royals.

Jeff Torborg, the Chicago White Sox manager, was crouched in his team’s dugout in Seattle Monday night, hanging on every pitch. Not only those in the Kingdome, where his team was trying to hold off the Mariners. But those in the Oakland Coliseum, as well.

In Seattle, the Mariners, trailing in the bottom of the ninth inning, 3-0, had loaded the bases against Chicago in a game they would eventually lose, 3-1.

In Oakland, Texas’ Nolan Ryan was attempting to complete a record sixth no-hitter.

“They were showing Ryan’s game on the big scoreboard,” Torborg said. “I was trying to focus on our game, but I kept looking up. It was hard to concentrate.”

Was he rooting for Ryan--who got his no-hitter as he beat the A’s, 5-0?

“Oh boy,” Torborg said, “I think everybody was.”

But Torborg has a special interest in the Rangers’ right-hander. Seventeen years ago, Torborg played a big part in the birth of a legend when he was the catcher in Ryan’s first no-hitter, a 3-0 Angel victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Torborg wasn’t the only future manager on the field that night. Bobby Valentine of the Rangers and Frank Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles both played for the Angels, Lou Piniella for the Royals.

Asked if he remembered that first Ryan no-hitter, Torborg rattled off the details without a pause.

“May 15, 1973,” Torborg said, “second game in a new ballpark for the Royals.”

Torborg remembers his first impression of Ryan that night, and thoughts of a no-hitter hardly came to mind.

“There were times I’d seen him sharper,” Torborg said. “Having caught Sandy Koufax, I knew that these two guys had a chance at a no-hitter every time out with the stuff they had. But I thought he (Ryan) did a heck of a job pitching a no-hitter that night because, as I said, I’d seen him sharper. But he got stronger as the game went on.”

That’s not the way it looked from the other side. Piniella, now manager of the Cincinnati Reds, thought Ryan looked pretty sharp all night.

“He was overpowering,” Piniella recalled. “He threw the ball hard. And he had a great breaking ball that day. I don’t think there was a ball hit hard on him in the first seven innings. There was nothing that resembled a hit.

“I remember I lined out to right-center my last time up. I don’t remember the other two at-bats, but you have to mix in a strikeout there for sure.”

Ryan struck out 12, allowing only three baserunners, all on walks.

Baseball superstition precludes players in the dugout from mentioning a no-hitter in progress, but Torborg broke the traditional silence in the later innings to go over strategy with Ryan. A no-hitter may have been uncharted waters for the Angel pitcher, but it was familiar territory for ex-Dodger Torborg, who had caught Koufax’s perfect game in 1965 and a Bill Singer no-hitter in 1970.

“Having been through it,” Torborg said, “I had a feeling on how I would like to go. We talked about what we wanted to do. He (Ryan) was very calm, even then.”

“Since it was 3-0, I wasn’t as worried about the outcome of the game. I was thinking no-hitter. I was thinking for him. In the Koufax game, since it was 1-0, I was thinking both ways. Here, we were talking about maybe throwing the breaking ball a little more in those last innings to fool the hitters.”

Kansas City was, according to Piniella, a tough club to fool.

“We had a lot of people on that team who could hit the ball,” Piniella said. “There was not a lot of power, but everybody could put the ball in play. We had a difficult team to pitch to, especially in that ballpark. There was the AstroTurf, and it’s a big ballpark where a lot of line drives fall in. It was real tough.

“We tried to break up the no-hitter, but some days, you just have to tip your hat to the pitcher and say, you beat us that day.”

The toughest fielding play came with two out in the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Gail Hopkins hit a popup that seemed destined for the space between backpedaling rookie shortstop Rudy Meoli and Valentine, the onrushing center fielder. But Meoli turned his back to the plate, raced out with glove outstretched and made the catch at the last possible instant.

There was one remaining moment of drama in the ninth after Fred Patek had fouled out and Steve Hovley had struck out.

That left Amos Otis. Ryan got a strike, then threw a fastball that Otis smashed to right field.

Deep.

“When it first came off the bat,” Torborg said, “I thought it was long enough to hit the wall.”

Ken Berry, who had been inserted in the Angel lineup for defensive purposes in the seventh inning, proved the wisdom of that strategy as he faded back to the warning track.

There, in front of the bullpen, he came to a halt, the ball and the no-hitter secure in his glove.

“I went straight up in the air with excitement,” Torborg said.

The crowd of 12,205 knew they’d just seen a special pitcher, but no one, not Torborg, not Piniella, not Ryan in his wildest dreams, could have imagined how special.

But Patek had some idea.

“Is this his first one?” he asked of Ryan’s no-hitter when interviewed after the game. “Well, I don’t believe it’ll be his last.”

Now, two decades and five no-hitters later, has Ryan finally thrown his last or are there still more surprises in that tireless arm?

“To pitch another no-hitter at age 43,” Piniella said, “is a heck of an accomplishment. He uses the breaking ball and changeup more now, but I’ll tell you what, when he throws that fastball, he can still come and get you. He uses his lower body so well, there’s no telling how long he can pitch. As long as he wants, I guess.

“He was always the toughest for me to hit, no-hitter or not. When he got that breaking ball over, he was unhittable.”

THE FINAL OUT

How Nolan Ryan recorded the final out in each of his six no-hitters.

Date Team Opponent, Site Score Batter May 15, 1973 Angels Royals, Kansas City 3-0 Amos Otis July 15, 1973 Angels Tigers, Detroit 6-0 Norm Cash Sept. 28, 1974 Angels Twins, Anaheim 4-0 Eric Soderholm June 1, 1975 Angels Orioles, Anaheim 1-0 Bobby Grich Sept. 26, 1981 Astros Dodgers, Houston 5-0 Dusty Baker June 11, 1990 Rangers Athletics, Oakland 5-0 Willie Randolph

Date Out May 15, 1973 Fly ball July 15, 1973 Popup Sept. 28, 1974 Strikeout June 1, 1975 Strikeout Sept. 26, 1981 Groundout June 11, 1990 Fly ball