Mulholland’s no-hitter remembered
Another lesson was learned the hard way the past week that the years do, indeed, go by as quickly as a wink. Or, in another sense, that time has a very subtle way of sneaking up on you.
But, by whatever reasoning, it was another case of thinking to yourself, “has it really been that long?”
What started all this ‘time-ly’ opining was the required daily reading for me of a column on the sports wire called “This Day In Sports.” For somebody who loves history as much as I always have, anything of this nature is a must reading, be it in sports or just general happenings through the years.
But in the column for August 15, there was a sentence noting that “1990 – Philadelphia’s Terry Mulholland hurled the first home no-hitter in Veterans Stadium history, beating the San Francisco Giants, 6-0.”
First of all, the difficulty came in realizing that it has been 15 years since Terry threw that historic no-hitter. The old question of where has the time gone seems so inadequate here. But then the thought also arose that while the former Laurel Highlands lefty did work a double-zero, the historical reminder didn’t go deep enough.
The guy writing the column didn’t say that not only was it the first no-hitter by a Philly pitcher in the stadium’s history, there was an added double dose of baseball history accomplished.
First, it was the first time in the entire century – 90 years at the time – that a Phillies pitcher had thrown a no-hitter in Philadelphia. The Phillies had four no-hitters pitched by their staff before that, and all four had been on the road.
Secondly, it was the eighth no-hitter pitched in the majors that year, a new all-time record for one season, and the honor for the historic milestone fell to the guy who played his scholastic baseball for Tommy Landman at Laurel Highlands. The old record of seven was set way back in 1917.
Ironically, the team he no-hit, the Giants, was the team that originally signed Mulholland to a major league contract. They later traded him to the Phils.
And had it not been for an error, Mulholland’s gem would have been a perfect one. He struck out eight and didn’t walk a batter, while facing the minimum of 27 batters over the route. But in the seventh inning, San Francisco leadoff batter Rick Parker grounded to third. Charlie Hayes fielded the ball perfectly, then made a wide throw to first, and Parker was safe on the error. He was then erased on the front end of a double play.
Terry finished the no-hitter in the ninth by retiring pinch-hitter Bill Bathe and Jose Uribe on grounders, then pinch-hitter Gary Carter smashed a hard liner toward third that Hayes backhanded in fair territory, just inside the baseline, for the third and final out.
Terry was later quoted, as saying in that quiet way of his, “I’m just happy to have Charlie over there. He makes those kind of plays.”
As another note of irony to the occasion, Hayes, Parker, and Mulholland were all three involved in the trade that sent Terry to the Phils.
Going back to that historic night, while scrolling the sports wire, there was a ‘no-hit advisory’ that flashed “Terry Mulholland of the Philadelphia Phillies has a no-hitter, after seven innings, against the San Francisco Giants. The Phillies lead 6-0.”
A few minutes later came the note “Terry Mulholland of the Philadelphia Phillies has a no-hitter after eight innings, against San Francisco. The Phillies lead 6-0.”
Naturally, that got things stirring here in the sports department, and new layouts were drawn for the sports pages. My assignment was to call Terry’s family at the end of the game, no matter how it turned out.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Terry Mulholland Sr. of Uniontown, were watching the game, along with his grandparents, Charles and Helen Hagan of Hopwood.
“I felt like I had pitched the no-hitter myself,” Terry’s dad said after the game.
“He was in such command that the only time we really got nervous was in the ninth inning. We heard Terry on a post-game interview, and he said he felt a little jelly-legged in the ninth. His mother and I were hoping beyond hope that he would get the no-hitter after losing his perfect game bid in the seventh.”
Mulholland Sr. also recalled, “Terry had come close to a no-hitter before, going seven no-hit innings when he was with the Giants, and then missing out. So, we were nervous in the eighth, and then really nervous in the ninth.”
The 1990 no-hit parade started on April 11 when California’s Mark Langston and Mike Witt beat Seattle, then Randy Johnson pitched the first no-hitter in Seattle history, against Detroit on June 2.
Nolan Ryan pitched his unprecedented sixth no-hitter to beat Oakland on June 11, then Oakland’s Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela of the LA Dodgers made baseball history on June 29 when they pitched no-hitters on the same day in each league. Less than 24 hours later, Andy Hawkins of the New York Yankees no-hit the Chicago White Sox, but lost 4-0 at Comiskey Park. Melido Perez of the Chicago White Sox tied the major record on July 12 when he zeroed the Yanks in a six-inning rain-shortened game at Yankee Stadium.
Then came the big night for Terry Mulholland. The win was his seventh against six losses to that point, and he would finish the season 9-10.
On August 3, Pittsburgh’s Doug Drabek came within one out of adding to that history. He threw no-hit ball at the Phils until two out in the ninth before Syl Campusano singled. It was the fifth time that season that a pitcher had taken a no-hitter into the ninth before losing his bid.
Many nice things have happened to Terry in the majors, and the chance to pitch some baseball history was a big page in his already bulging portfolio of success. And it could never have happened to a greater, nicer guy.