Trivia Answers Thursday

I watched part of the rebroadcast of John Candelaria’s no-hitter on Tuesday. Not the whole thing, because A) I knew how it ended and B) these days I go to bed earlier than I did in the second grade, but I did see the farcical top of the third inning. No-hitters are always way more luck than skill, and that the Pirates made back-to-back errors after a walk and still managed to keep the Dodgers from scoring ... yeah, that was luck.

Let’s see how good your Bucs no-no knowledge was this week.

How many no-hitters have there been in Pirates history?

A. Ten B. Seven C. Nine D. Thirteen

Answer: B

Eight Bucs pitchers (two in a joint effort) have thrown no-nos over the decades.

Who was the lone baserunner in John Candelaria’s no-hitter?

A. Steve Garvey B. Davey Lopes C. Steve Yeager D. Dusty Baker

Answer: C

Candelaria walked the Dodgers’ catcher in the top of the aforementioned farcical third inning. Probably no one thought anything of it until around the fifth inning or so.

Who pitched the first Pirates no-no?

A. Babe Adams B. King Brady C. Mike Lynch D. Nick Maddox

Answer: D

20-year-old Maddox threw the first Bucs no-hitter on September twentieth, 1907 against the Brooklyn Superbas, who would eventually evolve into the Dodgers.

What has been the longest stretch between Pirates no-hit games?

A. 43 years B. 23 years C. 31 years D. 17 years

Answer: A

After Maddox’s no-hitter, the next one wasn’t until May sixth, 1951, when Cliff Chambers got one against the Boston Braves in the second game of the day’s doubleheader.

Dock Ellis may be the only pitcher to toss a no-hitter on acid, but he was one of five pitchers to do this:

A. Give up a run in a no-hitter B. Give up eight walks in a no-hitter C. No-hit the San Diego Padres D. Scored a run in a no-hitter

Answer: B

Interestingly, Chambers also gave up eight walks in his no-no. The others are Nolan Ryan, Johnny Vander Meer, and Edwin Jackson. And that’s not even the highest number of walks in a no-hitter—Jim Maloney, then with the Reds, gave up a whopping ten walks to the Cubs in his August nineteenth, 1965 no-hitter. AJ Burnett, then with the Marlins, delivered nine walks in his no-hitter against the Padres on May twelfth, 2001.

I may be in the mood for a Pirates deep dive next week. You’ve been warned.