1967 Topps
BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher
“How could that be?”
As a kid, I was puzzled by the Ken Johnson cartoon (above) during my first year of collecting cards in 1967.
As I learned more about baseball that summer, I just figured Johnson probably had a wild streak on the mound and walked several batters – forcing in the winning run. It wasn’t until many years later that I actually looked up the circumstances of the game in question … the only time in major league history where a pitcher threw a complete, nine-inning, no-hit game AND LOST.
On April 23, 1964, the Houston Colt .45s (soon to be Astros) were host to the Cincinnati Reds at Colt Stadium. Knuckleballer Ken Johnson started on the mound that day for Houston. The right-hander was a top hurler for the Colts, having compiled a 2.65 ERA in 224 innings the previous season.
The contest was poised to be a pitching duel as Johnson faced Cincinnati southpaw Joe Nuxhall. The Reds’ pitcher posted an almost identical ERA of 2.61 while tossing 217 innings in 1963.
Indeed, it did turn out to be a great pitching battle. Heading into the top of the ninth inning, the score was 0-0 and Johnson had not given up a hit. After retiring the first batter, young Pete Rose stepped up to the plate. He bunted toward third, with Johnson fielding it. He fired the throw wildly to first and Rose ended up making it to second base on a throwing error.
The next batter grounded out, with Rose advancing to third. Johnson now had thrown 8 2/3 innings of no-hit ball, with the Colts due up in the bottom of the ninth. But he wasn’t out of the inning quite yet. Vada Pinson was next up and he hit a grounder to All-Star, Gold Glove second baseman Nellie Fox. So far, so good. But Fox made an error and Rose scored from third. Houston was now behind 1-0. Retiring the next batter, Johnson had pitched a nine-inning no-hitter (with nine strikeouts and only two walks).
The Colts could not manage to get anything going in the bottom of the ninth and the Reds won the game. Johnson had his no-hitter, but lost the game. … Sometimes forgotten in all the hoopla surrounding this contest is the fact that Nuxhall pitched a superb five-hit, complete game shutout for the win.
A Few More Details
Ken Johnson was traded to the Braves early in the 1965 season and between then and the end of 1967, went 40-25 for his new team. After that, he bounced around and retired after spending 1970 with Montreal. Johnson compiled a career 91-106 record, with a 3.46 lifetime ERA in 334 games over 13 seasons.
Joe Nuxhall played two more years and hung it up after the ’67 season — playing in 16 big league campaigns. His record on the mound was 135-117, with a 3.90 ERA. Nuxhall is still the youngest player to ever appear in a Major League game. He was just 15 when he “pitched” for the Reds in 1944. However, it was just a one-game, horrible outing as he didn’t return to the big time until eight years later.
22-year old Pete Rose was only in his second season in the majors when he scored the winning run for Cincinnati in Johnson’s no-hit game. Eventually, he went on play 24 years in the big leagues.
1964 was Hall of Fame second baseman’s Nellie Fox’s last full season of major league ball, as he retired a little over a year later. Between 1951-63, Fox was an All-Star every year, except ’62.
Johnson’s no-hitter was not the first by a Colt .45s pitcher. About year earlier, on May 17, 1963 Don Nottebart faced the Phillies at Colt Stadium, allowing one unearned run and no hits over nine innings. This time, Houston scored four runs to win the contest.
Houston played their last game at Colt Stadium in late September 1964. Six months later, they began play in the Astrodome and were renamed the Astros. Colt Stadium was notorious for being stiflingly hot and humid. Not to mention the mosquitoes. … The new indoor stadium was air-conditioned (and bug-free). … Ahhhhh.
Johnson’s unique feat was also
mentioned on three other Topps cards:
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