Johnny Vander Meer Marquee

b. November 2, 1914 · Cincinnati Reds 1937–1943, 1946–1949, Chicago Cubs 1950, Cleveland Indians 1951

On June 11, 1938 he no-hit Boston at Crosley Field. Four days later, in the first night game ever played at Ebbets Field, he no-hit Brooklyn. He walked eight in the second one and loaded the bases in the ninth. No other pitcher has thrown no-hitters in consecutive starts, and eighty-eight years later nobody has come within one.

He was twenty-three, and the rest did not follow: thirteen seasons gave him 119 wins against 121 with a 3.44 earned run average, though he led the National League in strikeouts three years running from 1941 and was chosen for four All-Star teams. Two years in the Navy took the middle of it.

He pitched a no-hitter in the minor leagues at thirty-seven, in 1952, for Tulsa. Fourteen writers' ballots got him to 98 votes of 360 at the peak, in 1971, and two committees have looked at him since. He died in 1997, at eighty-two.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	4	1938, 1939, 1942, 1943
Baseball Magazine All-Star	2	1938, 1942
The Sporting News All-Star	1	1938
The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year	1	1938

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	AVG
1937	CIN	21	23	2	5	0	1	0	0	2	7	0	.217
1938	CIN	33	83	6	15	0	0	0	2	0	23	0	.181
1939	CIN	30	36	1	4	1	0	0	1	3	10	0	.111
1940	CIN	12	20	6	6	2	0	0	0	1	3	0	.300
1941	CIN	35	76	6	10	1	0	0	4	2	18	0	.132
1942	CIN	37	75	7	11	1	0	0	3	6	26	0	.147
1943	CIN	40	95	9	13	1	0	0	5	9	28	1	.137
1946	CIN	33	73	6	18	2	0	0	2	1	21	0	.247
1947	CIN	31	57	3	5	2	0	0	2	3	18	0	.088
1948	CIN	41	78	6	11	2	0	1	2	7	21	0	.141
1949	CIN	33	52	5	4	0	0	0	5	6	17	0	.077
1950	CHC	35	16	1	2	0	1	0	0	1	9	0	.125
1951	CLE	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Career	—	382	685	58	104	12	2	1	26	41	201	1	.152

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1937	CIN	3	5	19	9	0	84.1	63	36	69	52	3.84
1938	CIN	15	10	32	29	0	225.1	177	78	103	125	3.12
1939	CIN	5	9	30	21	0	129.0	128	67	95	102	4.67
1940	CIN	3	1	10	7	1	48.0	38	20	41	41	3.75
1941	CIN	16	13	33	32	0	226.1	172	71	126	202	2.82
1942	CIN	18	12	33	33	0	244.0	188	66	102	186	2.43
1943	CIN	15	16	36	36	0	289.0	228	92	162	174	2.87
1946	CIN	10	12	29	25	0	204.1	175	72	78	94	3.17
1947	CIN	9	14	30	29	0	186.0	186	91	87	79	4.40
1948	CIN	17	14	33	33	0	232.0	204	88	124	120	3.41
1949	CIN	5	10	28	24	0	159.2	172	87	85	76	4.90
1950	CHC	3	4	32	6	1	73.2	60	31	59	41	3.79
1951	CLE	0	1	1	1	0	3.0	8	6	1	2	18.00
Career	—	119	121	346	285	2	2104.2	1799	805	1132	1294	3.44

On this day & linked events

1914

Born November 2, 1914

Prospect Park, NJ, USA

1997

Died October 6, 1997

1937

Major-league debut: Johnny Vander Meer

Johnny Vander Meer made a major-league debut on April 22, 1937.

1938

Johnny Vander Meer's No-Hitter

Johnny Vander Meer threw a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds against the Boston Bees on June 11, 1938, winning 3–0.

1938

Johnny Vander Meer's No-Hitter

Johnny Vander Meer threw a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Reds against the Brooklyn Dodgers on June 15, 1938, winning 6–0.

1951

Final major-league game: Johnny Vander Meer

Johnny Vander Meer played a final major-league game on May 7, 1951.

Image: Cincinnati Reds - 1940 Team Issue, public domain