RetroSimba

An umpire’s ruling and an official scorer’s decision prevented the Cardinals from achieving a no-hitter against the Mets.

On Aug. 12, 1978, John Denny and Roy Thomas combined to pitch a one-hitter in a 5-1 Cardinals victory over the Mets at New York.

John Stearns had the lone hit, an infield single leading off the seventh inning.

Stearns would have been out on the play, but umpire Paul Pryor said first baseman Roger Freed took his foot off the bag too soon while catching a throw from second baseman Mike Tyson.

Pryor called Stearns safe and official scorer Red Foley of the New York Daily News credited Stearns with a single. If Stearns was safe because of Freed’s misstep, the play should have been scored an error, not a hit, the Cardinals argued.

Pitching and fielding

The game matched starting pitchers John Denny of the Cardinals against Kevin Kobel of the Mets. Denny was making his first appearance in two weeks after recovering from “a bad back, a bad left leg and a bad cold,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Kobel was a left-hander and Cardinals manager Ken Boyer decided to give his first baseman, left-handed batter Keith Hernandez, a break in the Saturday afternoon game. Backup first baseman Roger Freed started in place of Hernandez.

The Cardinals scored a run in the first and three in the second against Kobel. Denny limited the Mets to a walk in the first three innings.

In the bottom of the fourth, with one out, Denny walked Lee Mazzilli, who moved to second on a groundout by Willie Montanez. Stearns followed with a grounder to shortstop Garry Templeton, “who lobbed a throw to first,” according to the Post-Dispatch. The ball eluded Freed, Mazzilli scored from second and Templeton was charged with a two-base error.

Playing footsie

The Mets remained hitless entering the seventh against a tiring Denny. Boyer told the Post-Dispatch he planned to lift Denny after the inning, even if the no-hitter was intact. “After the fifth inning, I was losing it rapidly,” Denny said.

Stearns led off the Mets’ half of the seventh with a slow bouncer toward second. Tyson charged, grabbed the ball barehanded and, though off-balance. fired an accurate throw to Freed at first base.

As Stearns reached first, Pryor pointed toward the bag and the fielder, indicating Freed had pulled away too quickly after snaring Tyson’s toss.

“He pulled his foot off the base,” Pryor said to the Post-Dispatch. “Tyson made a hell of a play and, if he (Freed) had caught the ball with his foot on the bag, Stearns would have been out.”

Freed disagreed with the umpire and said, “He blew the play … We had him by a step and a half.”

Stearns and Mets first-base coach Denny Sommers said Pryor made the correct call.

Judgment call

As soon as Pryor declared Stearns safe, Foley scored the play a single.

Tyson disagreed, saying, “If he’s safe, then it’s got to be an error.”

Home plate umpire Ed Vargo told the Post-Dispatch, “It’s got to be an error.”

In Foley’s judgment, though, no error was made because the play was difficult and the fielders executed as best they could.

“It was a tough play for (Tyson) and he had to make a hell of a play just to make it close,” Foley said to the Post-Dispatch. “I’d like to give this guy a no-hitter, but I can’t.”

Denny got the next batter, Steve Henderson, to hit into a double play and Joel Youngblood grounded out to Templeton, ending the inning. Denny was done after yielding one unearned run, one disputed hit and three walks in seven innings.

The Cardinals scored another run in the eighth and Boyer put in Hernandez, who would win the first of 11 consecutive Gold Glove awards that year, as a defensive replacement for Freed. Thomas relieved Denny, allowed no hits and a walk in two innings, and closed out a 5-1 Cardinals victory.

Denny shrugged off any concern about missing a chance to be part of a no-hitter. “The idea is to win the game,” he said. Boxscore