The Curious Case of the Padres No-Hitter

Mat Latos was dealing last night. No other way to say it.

He was dealing so much, that for a moment, brief though it may have been, a familiar thought creeped through the minds of Padres fans.

"Is tonight the night?"

It wasn't, again. No no-hitter for the Padres. But for 5 innings last night, Latos was throwing as well as any Padres pitcher has this year. He was no-hitting the Cubs (a perfect game in fact until a walk in the 5th).

Then a triple by Coleman (the opposing pitcher of all people!) and that was that. You might ask yourself, "isn't the 5th inning a little early to talk no-hitter?" And you'd be right. It is. But so it goes for a franchise and a fan base that has been deprived such a feat for their entire existence. 42 seasons, 0 no-hitters.

Since the Padres inaugural Major League season of 1969, there have been 104 no-hitters. That's 3.5 no-hitters per current Major League team (yes, I realize the math isn't perfect as their has been expansion since 1969, but the point remains the same). Yet, never once, have the stars aligned and the ball bounced right and we get to see a Padres catcher hoist a pitcher in celebration of a no-hitter.

Not that the Padres haven't been close.

Twice the Padres have been one out away, though even that stat requires an asterisk. The two:
July 18, 1972 Padres vs Phillies. Steve Arlin held the Phillies hitless with 2 outs in the 9th inning before Tom Hutton, a career .248 hitter, singled to break up not only the no-hitter but also the shutout. The Padres went on to win 5-1.

July 9, 2011 Padres vs Dodgers. Aaron Harang went 6 strong innings but was pulled after 95 pitches. The Padres bullpen of Spence, Qualls and Adams kept the Dodgers scoreless, and hitless, into the 9th inning before Gregerson gave up a double to Uribe and the game-winning single to Navarro. The problem here? The Padres were shutout through 9. Which created the nearly untenable possibility for those of us desperate for a no-hitter of having the Padres pitch 9 hitless innings, and then have it blown in extras due to a lack of offense.

It seems impossible that the Padres could exist for as long as they have without accomplishing this feat. It's more impossible when I think of the pitchers that have pitched for San Diego (Randy Jones, Andy Benes, Andy Ashby, Jake Peavy).

But I know one day it's coming. Until then, anytime a Padres pitcher gets into the 5th without giving up a run, I'll think myself "is tonight the night?"

And one of these days, it will be.

One day. One day.

Keep the Faith: Why Frustration in the Face of Failure is a Good Thing

*The last three days have been as excruciating as any three games in Padres history. I venture to say that the last two games far outweigh the frustration of 10/3/10 or Game 163 if for no other reason than the fact that, unlike those two teams, this team provides little reason for hope. This culminated in a "no-hit" bid that really wasn't thanks to the inability of the Padres offense to, yet again, push across even 1 run. I have been searching for the words to encapsulate these feelings over the past 48 hours but have found nothing that could be considered coherent. Luckily, occasional Left Coast Bias contributor David Israel found those words.

Guest column by Left Coast Bias contributor David Israel

A little bit of background: I have been a Padres fan for as long as I have been cognizant of MLB’s existence- sadly, those began around the time of the 1993 fire sale. I was at Tony’s last game due to the September 11 schedule re-shuffle, I remember the run to the World Series in ‘98 (and still have the t-shirt that looks like a team photo to prove it), the hopeful years of the early 2000s, and still rue the momentous Game 163, otherwise known as the game where we are all still waiting for Matt Holiday to touch home plate. What is important here is that all I have ever known as a Padres fan is some level of futility, watching players leave town in their primes.

Being a fan of the Padres is like being in on an inside joke. Fans of other teams don’t quite get it, but for us, staying loyal to the Friars is something we will continue to do, and something we see as a badge of pride. Over the years, we have Believed in the Padres, Kept the Faith, and gotten chills at the sound of the ominous ringing bell.

And, all of this is why the last two games have stung as badly as any series of Padres baseball has. To fail to score in two straight games may be a hallmark of recent Padres baseball, but to do it against the Dodgers, while only allowing one run each game, is pathetic, and frustrating beyond anything this side of the aforementioned G163. What every fan knew (and expressed on twitter before and as it was occurring) was that for the no-hitter to be possible, it would take more than nine innings. We knew it before the announcers thought to mention it (although since it was Joe Buck, that’s not saying much), and that’s the worst part. We had no reason to hope.

We have seen a Padres team in transition the first half of the 2011 season. Early, it was easy to criticize, as players like Hawpe and Cantu didn’t even seem to be trying. It was easy to distance ourselves as fans; only Ryan Ludwick seemed to be taking his poor performance personally. With more and more players on Twitter, interacting with fans, it’s easier to see the effort of young guys Cameron Maybin and Anthony Rizzo; which makes it that much harder to hate the on field product.

One last note: as fans, we really shouldn’t be as frustrated as we are, but the fact that we do all feel the need to shout at the TV is good. Hear me out- the Padres came in to the season with no real expectations of being a playoff team again. We all knew they outperformed last year, and that even with Adrian, the playoffs were unlikely this year. Yet, we care about a season that we never really should have even hoped for. So we continue to Believe in our Padres, and Keep the Faith. And that’s a good thing.