Will RFK Stadium ever get to see a no-hitter?

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - The history of RFK Stadium as a venue for major league baseball comes to an end this year. By my count, a total of 1,045 big league contests that counted will have been played there by Sept. 23, the day it’s scheduled to close — not counting those old timer’s games of the 1980s or various preseason exhibitions. Despite all of those opportunities — that’s 2,090 starting pitchers — it’s a good bet we’ll never see a no-hitter.

For reasons known only to whatever entity is pulling the strings, and despite its reputation as being something less than a hitter’s park, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium remains an impossible place to get 27 outs without something falling in. Three times this season alone, Nats’ starters have gotten past the point of an official game — five innings — without giving up a hit, only to have fate step in and snatch glory away, and not too kindly.

Last night Jason Bergmann nearly had the right stuff. Carrying a no-hitter into the eight, only to see it slip away on a Brian McCann homer two pitches into the inning.

Saturday, April 28, against the Mets, righthander Jerome Williams goes five hitless innings. Williams, a reclamation project, comes into the game 0-4 with an ERA of 7.77 — not exactly the stuff legends are made of, but when it comes to no-hitters, precisely the type of guy to pull it off. Williams, a classically bad-hitting pitcher, comes within a few inches of homering in the bottom of the fifth, and has to settle for a long single. As a baserunner, he then slides into second to break up a double play, and in the bargain, sprains his ankle. He tries to pitch in the sixth, gives up a hit and a walk, and is taken out in a game the Nats eventually lose 6-2. Adding insult to injury, he has to go on the 15-day disabled list, and hasn’t pitched since.

Last Friday Shawn Hill, who has emerged as the staff ace, is perfect for four innings against Florida. He allows a couple of walks in the fifth but no hits, and then, after coming out to warm up in the sixth, feels discomfort in his right elbow and has to leave the game. He’s also likely headed for the DL, just as Williams is coming back. At least the Nats won that one, the beginning of a weekend sweep of the Marlins.

It doesn’t take a great pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Sure, Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan had seven of them, but Bill Stoneman, a 54-85 career pitcher, had a pair. Wilson Alvarez threw one in his first big league start, and Roger Clemens has never thrown one. There’s really no rhyme or reason.

Only a single official no-hitter has occurred within the confines of the District, and I’d be surprised if anyone is still around who saw it. Nats’ southpaw Bobby Burke no-hit Boston on Aug. 8, 1931 in front of about 3,000 fans at Griffith Stadium. The best pitched game at RFK happened Thursday, Aug. 13, 1970. The Senators sent Dick Bosman out to face Minnesota’s Jim Kaat. Bosman allowed a leadoff bunt single to Cesar Tovar and a sixth inning walk to Kaat, but faced only 28 batters in a 1-hit, 1-0 win. Bosman would go on to pitch a no-hitter in 1974 for Cleveland against Oakland.

The window of opportunity is fast closing for a no-hitter at RFK, and judging by Williams’ and Hill’s experience this year, somebody somewhere really doesn’t want it to happen.

Phil Wood appears Saturdays at 11 a.m. on MASN and weekly on Comcast SportsNet’s WPL through the World Series.

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