Now a couple weeks ago, I did a post on how some sports curses really are a reach (the Vancouver Canucks not winning the Stanley Cup in the two years they won the President's Cup); however, they are some curses they do seem to exist and this is one of them. Forty years ago, the New York Mets traded away a package of players for Angels shortstop Jim Fregosi. Fregosi was a perennial All-Star with the Angels, but was a disappoint for the year and a half he spent in New York before being sold to Texas. This curse deals with one of the players who was part of the package for Fregosi: Nolan Ryan.
The Mets are in their 51st year of existence (41st since trading Ryan), and are one of two franchises never to throw a no-hitter. Tonight marked their 8,000th game in team history. Nolan Ryan would go on to pitch seven no-hitters with the Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. To be fair, the other team suffering from the lack of a no-hitter, the San Diego Padres, are long overdue as well (44th season), and I can't connect any such player to them.
The thing is, the rate of no-hitters has not changed since the expansion era began in 1961. Using 1962 as a dividing point (Mets expansion season), the math shows that no-hitters occurred on average once every 9.9 seasons for each team prior to 1962. Since 1962, that average has hardly increased to once every 10.1 seasons per team.
Aside from the Mets and Padres who completely lack the accomplishment, only two other teams are averaging worse than once every twenty years. Those teams being the Milwaukee Brewers who have one no-hitter to their name in their 44 year history, and the Toronto Blue Jays who have only one in their 36 year history. On the flip side, three franchises have ten no-hitters just since 1962: Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Houston Astros who came into the league the same year as the Mets. Meanwhile, the Angels have only been in MLB for one year longer than the Mets. Merely coincidence that Nolan Ryan spent the majority of his career with the Angels and Astros after being traded by the Mets?
In fact, for all the poor luck the Mets have had, the Astros were the complete opposite picking up four no-hitters in their first eight seasons as a franchise, and two in their first three seasons. Mind you that is before Nolan Ryan came to the Astros of which he only pitched one despite spending more seasons there than anywhere else. The Astros rate has cooled over the more recent decades, but still stands among the best in the league with one every 5.1 seasons.
Rate of No-Hitters for Each Franchise (Once Every # of Seasons):
1. Florida Marlins - 5.0 seasons
2. Houston Astros - 5.1 seasons
3. Los Angeles Angels - 5.2 seasons
4. Los Angeles Dodgers - 5.3 seasons
5T. Boston Red Sox - 6.2 seasons
5T. Chicago White Sox - 6.2 seasons
7. Arizona Diamondbacks - 7.5 seasons
8T. Cleveland Indians - 8.0 seasons
8T. Oakland Athletics - 8.0 seasons
10. Cincinnati Reds - 8.9 seasons
11. Atlanta Braves - 9.8 seasons
12. San Francisco Giants - 10.0 seasons
13. New York Yankees - 10.2 seasons
14. Texas Rangers - 10.4 seasons
15. Chicago Cubs - 10.5 seasons
16T. Kansas City Royals - 11.0 seasons
16T. Washington Nationals - 11.0 seasons
18. Philadelphia Phillies - 11.8 seasons
19. St. Louis Cardinals - 12.1 seasons
20. Baltimore Orioles - 12.4 seasons
21. Tampa Bay Rays - 15.0 seasons
22T. Detroit Tigers - 16.0 seasons
22T. Minnesota Twins - 16.0 seasons
24. Seattle Mariners - 18.0 seasons
25. Colorado Rockies - 20.0 seasons
26. Pittsburgh Pirates - 21.0 seasons
27. Toronto Blue Jays - 36.0 seasons
28. Milwaukee Brewers - 44.0 seasons
29. New York Mets - never
30. San Diego Padres - never
Even if the Mets or Padres pitched a no-hitter tomorrow, they would still be at the tail end of this list. Baseball had added ten more teams since the Mets have joined, and the Padres are the only team younger than them not to throw one. A drought is one thing, but considering that the four most recently added teams (Marlins, Rockies, Rays, and Diamondbacks have combined for eight in their short histories, it seems that this half century plus of history can be called a curse.
Just to really rub salt in this old wound, there have been 18 complete game no-hitters thrown by 11 pitchers who at one point pitched for the Mets...
1. Nolan Ryan (7)
2. Hideo Nomo (2)
3. Dean Chance (1)
4. John Candelaria (1)
5. Tom Seaver (1)
6. Mike Scott (1)
7. Bret Saberhagen (1)
8. Scott Erickson (1)
9. Al Leiter (1)
10. Dwight Gooden (1)
11. Dock Ellis (1)
...in addition to three perfect games thrown by pitchers who would at one point pitch for the Mets...
12. Kenny Rogers (1)
13. David Cone (1)
14. Philip Humber (1)
...not to mention four pitchers who pitched in relief as part of a no-hitter effort...
15. Alejandro Pena (1)
16. Ricardo Rincon (1)
17. Octavio Dotel (1)
18. Billy Wagner (1)
The current twenty-eight other Major League teams have produced a grand total of 247 no-hitters in the history of baseball. The Mets have been stifled to 35 one-hitters over the course of their history. Three ttimes, Tom Seaver took no-hitters into the ninth inning (once a perfect game), but gave up hits after recording one or two outs each time. Now 8,000 games after the franchise began in 1962, this team still looks for that accomplishment.
One last bit of trivia, the longest drought without a no-hitter does not belong to the Mets, but rather than Philadelphia Phillies at 8.945 games between the 1906 and 1964 seasons. As would be expected from as a Mets fan, streak was broken in 1964 when Jim Bunning pitched his second career no-hitter and first perfect game against...the New York Mets.
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