Colts' Johnson Becomes First Pitcher to Lose No-Hitter (4/23/1964)

By Patrick Mondout

On April 23, 1964, Houston Colt .45 righthander Ken Johnson pitched a nine-inning no hitter—the first in franchise history.^(BOXSCORE) He also became the first major league pitcher ever to lose a no hitter.¹

It not only took a swing by a future Hall of Famer to make it happen, but an error by another future Hall of Famer—known for his defense—as well!

The game that night featured the Cincinnati Reds and the two-year-old Houston Colt .45s and was played in the old Colt Stadium in front of a crowd (if that is the right term) of only 5426. Pitching for the Reds was Joe Nuxhall, who had famously debuted at age 15 in Cincinnati nearly 20 years to the day earlier.

The Colts countered with knuckleballer Ken Johnson, who had 30-50 lifetime record entering the season, but had won has last five decisions of '63 and was already 2-0 in 1964 with a five hitter against the Reds 10 days earlier. Johnson had been acquired for $75,000 from the Reds in the expansion draft of 1961.

Johnson mowed down the Reds over the first seven innings—giving up only walks to Vada Pinson in the first and Bob Skinner in the 5th —before realizing he still had a no hitter.

It is well known that you don't talk to a pitcher throwing a no-hitter, but what do you do if he asks for advice? If you are teammate Don Nottebart, who had thrown a no-no against the Phillies the previous year, you simply reply "just relax," which is exactly what Nottebart did when Johnson asked during the bottom of the seventh.

In the eighth, Johnson induced consecutive groundouts to Skinner and Johnny Edwards before Jose Cardenas lined out to short.

In the bottom of the eighth, Jimmy "The Toy Cannon" Wynn led off with a double to center, but was still there after Jim Beauchamp struck out and Jerry Grote fouled-out to first base. That brought up the pitcher's spot. With Rusty Staub—who would later become one of the greatest pinch hitters—sitting on the bench, manager Harry Craft allowed Johnson, who finished with a lifetime .114 average, to hit for himself.

Johnson hit a towering shot to left field which Skinner caught at the base of the wall for the third out.

Reds manager Fred Hutchinson had a similar decision to make. Nuxhall, a lifetime .198 batter, was schedule to lead off the ninth and he had Tommy Harper on the bench. But Nuxhall was pitching a one-walk, five-hit shutout and he was allowed to hit for himself.

Nuxhall grounded out to first, bringing up Pete Rose. Bunting in a no-hitter that is a blowout is frowned upon, but not so in a scoreless tie. Rose dropped one down in front of the plate and Johnson tracked it down. He threw to first but Colts first baseman Pete Runnels could not handle the low throw and Rose took second on the throw.

"I grabbed the ball with three fingers and I threw a perfect singer—low and away," said Johnson after the game.

That brought Reds third baseman Chico Ruiz to the plate. He hit a grounder Colts third baseman Bob Aspromonte, who threw to first in time to get Ruiz. Rose hustled to third on the play.

Up came hard-hitting Reds outfielder Vada Pinson. He smacked a Johnson knuckleball towards future Hall of Fame second baseman Nellie Fox. Fox uncharacteristically booted the ball, sending Rose home from third at putting Pinson on at first.

Johnson—no hitter still intact—then got Frank Robinson to fly out to end the threat.

The Houston bench was curious as to whether or not Rose would have been safe with a good throw to first. Manager Harry Craft instructed bench coach Jimmy Adair to go ask first base Umpire Stan Landes.

Landes didn't care for the question and responded, "I don't have to tell you. If the man upstairs wants to know, I'll tell him!" Presumably the umpire was referring to the official scorer and not a mythical deity. Nevertheless Adair told Landes off and was tossed.

Former Red Kasko led off the Colts half of the ninth by striking out, which gave Nellie Fox a chance to redeem himself. Fox, though, grounded out to short.

With two down, Runnels hit a grounder to Reds first baseman Deron Johnson which he through to Nuxhall covering first for the out. That should have ended the game, but home plate umpire Augie Donatelli overruled Landes and gave the Colts life.

The Reds then officially protested the outcome of the game.

Manager Craft sent in Bob Lillis to pinch run for Runnels.

With two out and the winning run at the plate, John Weekly—who was amazingly the Colts cleanup hitter despite a lifetime .370 slugging percentage—took strike three looking to end the game.

After the game, Fox sought out Johnson in the locker room. Said Nellie, "Ken, I'm sorry I had to mess it up."

"Don't feel bad about it, Nellie. I put the guy on myself. I came up throwing. A good throw would have nailed him," was Johnson's reply.

Eight pitchers had lost no-hitters after throwing no-hit ball for nine innings, but none before had both lost the game and kept the no-hitter.

"It's a hell of a way to get into the record books. I pitched the best game of my life and still lost," said Johnson before adding "but, honestly, I can't feel bad about that."

Johnson indeed pitched his best game. Both walks were on 3-2 counts and only three balls made it out of the infield.

Aftermath

The dreadful Colt .45s finished with their third straight expansion-like record in 1964 at 66-96. After the season they moved into the Astrodome and ridded themselves of the murder-weapon name and iconography and became the Houston Astros.

The Reds, on the other hand, were engaged in one of the more memorable pennant races ever. This was the year of the famous Phillies collapse; the year the Phillies led the Reds by 6½ games with 12 to play and  still lost. The Reds finished the season tied with the Phillies with 92 victories, but also full game back of the pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals.

Johnson took three more losses to the Reds during 1964 and finished with an 11-16 record. 

On May 23, 1965 Johnson was traded along with Jim Beauchamp to the Milwaukee Braves in exchange for Lee Maye. He had perhaps his best season that year finishing a combined 16-10. The Braves later sold him a month before the first Moon landing to the Yankees. The Yanks soon sold him to the Chicago Cubs for their ill-fated pennant chase of 1969.

He finished his major league career in Montreal the following season with a 91-106 record and 1042 strikeouts, but he will always be the first to gain a loss while throwing a no-hitter.

Notes: 1. Harvey Haddix famously lost his perfect game in the 13th inning and then lost the game. Ken Johnson maintained his no-hitter and lost.