Volquez Makes History: Ranking The Miami Marlins No-Hitters

No-No No. 6: Burnett Blanks Padres 5/12/01

This one is easily the weirdest and worst no-hitter in Miami Marlins history.

The club had dropped four of their past five, starting with a 1-0 loss to the Dodgers that was the result of a Kevin Brown gem, and a lone Gary Sheffield home run. Funnily enough, A.J. Burnett took the loss in that one. So needless to say, I was in a bit of a mood that week. When Saturday night rolled around, I was looking to do something else. In fact, I’m pretty sure I had plans with some friends. But I do remember that my dad was channel surfing, and I asked him to check the score of the game. I can remember watching a third inning that had two walks and a wild pitch, only to hear the announcer say there were still no hits allowed. That was odd enough to flip back to in the fourth. And the fifth.

I’d apologize at this point to whichever friends I promptly bailed on at that point, but the rest was history. Really, if anyone deserves an apology, it’s the Padres. They still don’t have a no-hitter to call their own- the only team in baseball without one.

Burnett did record seven strikeouts, tying him for the second best K peformance in a Marlins no-no. However, he also posted a staggering nine walks, and needed 129 pitches to record the final out. Both are highs by a mile for a Miami no-hitter. He also hit a batter and uncorked a wild pitch. Greg Maddux level finesse this was not…but then again, Maddux never threw a no-hitter.

Burnett was the definition of effectively wild in this one, and it’s up there for most fun I’ve ever had watching a baseball game on television. It was even close, with the Fish only winning 3-0. The pressure of the walks though made it feel like the lead could slip anyway at any time. However, the club was below .500 and the Padres were not exactly elite competition.

Fun yes, but high caliber pitching? Not so much.

No-No No. 5: Leiter First For Fish 5/11/96

I’ll come clean here- part of my reasoning for putting this one in fifth place in Miami Marlins no-hitter history is that I honestly have no memory of it. And that’s pretty bad considering I was 12, even if my house wasn’t all the way there yet baseball fandom wise.

But Al Leiter‘s domination of the Colorado Rockies way back in 1996 was certainly significant, serving up a defiant piece of evidence that Marlins baseball had arrived in a big way. There have been six no-hitters in franchise history, and if that seems like a lot in just twenty-five seasons, it would be because no other team has recorded that many since 1993. Yet Leiter was the first to the hitless mountaintop, and that deserves plenty of praise.

Six strikeouts, only two walks, one hit batsman, and no errors. Pretty good stuff all around, and Cy Young worthy numbers compared to the Burnett performance discussed on the previous slide. What keeps Leiter’s night in fifth though is actually the offensive onslaught that accompanied it.

The Marlins had 11 hits in this game…one for each run.  An 11-0 victory, fueled by a six run first, robbed this game of a lot of the drama that accompanied other hitless performances. Never in doubt as to who would win, and with the first walk issued in the second inning, it was never in any real danger of being a perfect game either. One fun fact though- one of the opposing Rockies hitters was Walt Weiss, an original Marlin, and future Rockies manager.

To that point though, it was as close as the young Florida franchise had come to doing so.

No-No No 4: Alvarez Finishes Off Tigers, 2013 Season 9/29/13

Of all the Miami Marlins no-hitters, this is very likely the one that was least watched.

Which is a shame, because it has the strongest case of the bunch so far for actually being ranked No. 1 in this rundown. It’s definitely the most unique, being simultaneously the closest game and the most irrelevant of the six.

When Henderson Alvarez earned the victory in this one, it was Miami’s 62nd victory of the season. The team wasn’t good. There was no resulting hope that this game could be a turning point, something the rotation could rally around. This was it. Their opponent was resting up for the playoffs, led by former Marlins manager Jim Leyland. Miguel Cabrera didn’t even play, although Omar Infante did. Plenty of former Fish on hand to bear witness, all of them with plenty more on their minds than handling a team that was lucky not to set the record for most losses ever.

The flip side though was that this was a thrilling, 1-0 walk off victory. And the Marlins walked off on a wild pitch.

Furthermore, the opposing starter was one Justin Verlander. And while you can argue that the rest of Tigers were thinking October, the former Cy Young winner seemed fairly focused on the task at hand. Verlander was at 80 pitches after 6 IP, and had 10 Ks. A mix of manager caution and having to bow to the realities of playing in an NL ballpark resulted in his early yanking. More than any other Marlins no-hitter, this one was a duel.

Alvarez himself though? The 99 pitches needed for victory was impressive. He only issued a single walk, but did hit a batter. More manager caution there- the guy he plunked was actually Prince Fielder, and he was promptly pulled. The Marlins also had an error, so that’s three reasons this wasn’t perfect right there. There was also the low strikeout total, with the 4 K line being lowest strikeout total in a Marlins no-hitter.

The lack of flash, and the late date in a lost season, made for a fascinating for arguably forgettable classic.

No-No No 3: Volquez Vanquishes D-Backs 6/3/17 

When it comes to Miami Marlins no-hitters, I might not be giving this one enough credit.

Edinson Volquez was dominant from start to finish in this one, with the possible exception of that first play of the game. He did pretty much get owned by Reymond Fuentes at first base, despite recording the out.

Ten strikeouts, two walks, with zero errors and zero hit batsmen. Only 98 pitches, tied for fewest ever with a yet to be named pitcher. First complete game shutout for the Marlins in three years. A 3-0 victory that just stopped being a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth. Plenty to like here.

In terms of strictly dominant stuff, this should probably be one slot higher. In terms of thrilling ballgames, this should probably be one slot lower. So it’s a curious one, and where you will go on to rank Volquez’s outing probably will depend on whether you have a glass half full, or glass half empty perspective on the 2017 season.

There is this though. Volquez dedicated this game to friends Yordano Ventura and Jose Fernandez. That’s a pretty remarkable gesture, especially from someone who’s endured so much personal tragedy in the past few seasons.

Here’s to you Edinson, on a classy move and a gutsy performance.

No-No No 2: Sanchez Silences Diamondbacks 9/6/06 

This seems like a good time to clarify that beating the Diamondbacks is not a requirement to count as a Miami Marlins no-hitter. The Fish have done so twice, after all. According to ESPN, the last time this happened to Arizona prior to today was during the game we’re about to discuss.

In any event, Anibal Sanchez’s stifling of the Diamondbacks in September of 2006 holds a special place in my heart. Chiefly because I was there to see it.

My first year out of college, and working a real job, afforded me the opportunity to blow plenty of money on things like baseball and football tickets. And while the money I spent watching Daunte Culpepper “play” quarterback might as well have been thrown out the turnpike window, the 2006 Miami Marlins were a blast. Six members received an NL Rookie of the Year vote, and if Sanchez had played the whole season, he might have just beat Hanley Ramirez out for the final nod.

As a small gesture of thanks for taking me to many, many games growing up, I treated my family to tickets to a baseball game. Five of us headed out to the stadium to watch the young rookie pitch, the only pitcher I hadn’t managed to catch live to that point. Whether it pays to be nice, whether there’s such a thing as karma, or it was just a flukey coincidence, I’ll leave up to you. But I’ll cross my fingers this inspires you to do something selfless for someone, perhaps even channeling your inner Marlins Man. Because the reward was the third greatest game I ever attended.

The drama from this one stemmed mainly from the fact that this game kind of mattered. The win put the Marlins back over .500 for the season, and at a time when they were still alive for a surprise postseason berth. There was also a steady barrage of fantastic defensive plays in this one. Incredible dives by Miguel Cabrera and Josh Willingham come to mind- helping to create the feeling that this game could be special.

There was also a key error in the game, one originally called a hit on an extremely poor call. I can remember staring at the scoreboard waiting, hoping for a reversal, and the announcement being very casually made midway through. Myself and a family friend caught the significance right away, but until it was over, my dad thought it was just a shutout. Being a superstitious baseball fan, the last thing I was discussing was the no-hitter. So I got to watch it, and then break the news. Exciting stuff. Getting to share the experience live, see how so many different people reacted to and acted during those final three innings, made for great baseball theater. Fun people watching too.

Six strikeouts, four walks, that one error, and just 103 pitches in a 2-0 victory in an important game all help put Sanchez near the top of the list. Not quite the top though. That honor is reserved for our last entrant.

No-No No 1: Brown Guts Giants 6/10/1997

The top Miami Marlins no-hitter goes to the pitcher who produced the finest single season in franchise history, Kevin Brown.

Really, you can argue he produced the finest two seasons, especially if you want to award some bonus points for the Marlins second no-no. Only with the team for two seasons, he was the definition of dominance. So it’s only fitting that his entry on this list would be the most dominant of all.

If it weren’t for one lousy hit batter, this one would have been a Perfect Game. Brown’s seven strikeouts stand alone in second place, trailing only Volquez. Zero walks, zero errors, and only 98 pitches required to get the job done. And this was against a really good team, one that included Barry Bonds, and that would meet Brown and the Marlins again in the 1997 NLDS.

The one thing you can say against this one placing this high would be that it was pretty low pressure, as it was a 9-0 rout. But unlike the Leiter laugher in Colorado, this was a 1-0 game heading into the seventh inning. Until the fifth, it was scoreless, and the winning run actually scored on a balk. So plenty of excitement provided before the outcome was bobbled and clubbed out of reach, and at that point fans had something else to be amped up for.

Next: Bottom of the Barrel For Barraclough

The dreaded hit by pitch came with two outs in the eighth. Four outs from an even more amazing milestone, but still easily the best pitching performance produced by a member of the Marlins. Six no-hitters in twenty-five years is remarkable in its own right- that beats out ten MLB teams, including plenty that have been around a lot longer.

So there you have it. Should you strong disagree with any of these rankings, you are fully encouraged to castigate in the comments or tease us on Twitter.