RIVERFRONT STADIUM, CINCINNATI, OHIO -- Tom Seaver had already accomplished a heck of a lot in his Major League career: three Cy Young Awards, five 20-victory seasons, nine consecutive 200-strikeout seasons, 19 strikeouts in one game, and a World Championship with the Amazins in 1969. But there was still one glaring omission from the resume of Tom Terrific that seemingly should have come to a pitcher of his caliber by now.
Starters: Denny vs. Seaver
WP: Tom Seaver LP: John Denny
That's not to say that Seaver hadn't come close to pitching a no-hitter in the past. Three times, in fact, the fireballing hurler had brought a no-no into the ninth inning, only to see them derailed by the unlikeliest of candidates. Most recently, back on September 24th of 1975, he had come within one out of joining the club before Chicago's Joe Wallis singled to end the bid. Few pitchers had come so tantalizingly close so many times, and Seaver could hardly be blamed if he felt it wasn't in the cards for him.
If that was the case, then every card the Cincinnati pitcher pulled out of his deck against St. Louis on June 16th of 1978 turned out to be an ace.
Following an opening inning where he induced three straight grounders, Seaver looked like he was heading for trouble in the second. A one-out walk to Keith Hernandez threatened to turn ugly when the Cardinals' first baseman swiped second, then went to third on catcher Don Werner's bad throw. Following a strikeout, Seaver walked another batter to put runners on the corners. Fortunately, Mike Phillips bailed him out with a grounder to end the inning.
From that point on, Seaver settled into a comfortable groove. Strangely, he was less than his usual overpowering self, as he recorded his third -- and last strikeout -- of the game in the fourth inning. Yet with the flawless play of his infield, Seaver quietly cut through the Cardinals lineup with grounder after grounder.
Ironically, St. Louis starter John Denny had matched Seaver through four with a no-hitter of his own, but doubles by Pete Rose and Joe Morgan in the fifth put an end to that and gave the Reds a 3-0 lead. Dan Driessen added an insurance run with a blast into the right field stands in the following inning, though by this point in the game, it was the Cardinals who badly needed some form of insurance.
They didn't make it entirely easy for Seaver, but this time, the luck that had been missing in all those other failed no-hit attempts finally came around. With two outs in the seventh, the hard-hitting Hernandez lined a 2-1 fastball up the middle. But the ball deflected off of Seaver's glove right to shortstop Dave Concepcion, who easily pegged Hernandez at first to end the inning.
An inning later, Jerry Morales led off with a chopper that bounced in front of home and hung up in the air for an eternity. But Ray Knight, who had come in as a defensive replacement for Rose, charged the ball and nipped Morales by a half step. Another grounder and fly ball later, and Seaver found himself in familiar territory; a zero in the hit column, and three outs to go.
The ghosts of near-misses past appeared to be flaring up when Seaver walked pinch-hitter Jerry Mumphrey on five pitches to start the inning. Then, with Lou Brock slapping foul ball after foul ball, it looked like the breaking point was finally at hand. But on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Brock flew out to George Foster in left for the first out.
Garry Templeton followed with a grounder to short, but because of his speed, a double play was impossible. The Reds conservatively took the force play at second for out number two.
Like some kind of guardian to a chamber of riches, big George Hendrick stood up at the plate now. Though Seaver had shown signs of tiring in the last few innings, his demeanor remained as calm and composed as ever, and he went right after the Cardinals' third hitter.
His first pitch was a strike at the knees. His second was lifted foul, and the stadium crowd held their collective breath as Werner made a bee-line for the stands, eventually running out of room.
The next pitch was very high, bringing the count to 1-2. Another foul ball was popped behind home. Finally, Hendrick took a defensive swing at an outside heater and tapped a grounder to first. Driessen snagged it, stepped on the bag, and hugged an exhausted Seaver, who was dutifully running to cover the bag if needed.
It had taken over 11 big league years, but Tom Seaver finally was able to cross off one of the few achievements that had eluded him in his magnificent career. And at last, the specter of what might have been turned into the sweet fulfillment of finally reeling in the big one.
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