THE BARBER'S RAZOR SHAVES CARDS
Maglie Fires Season's 1st No-Hitter
NEW YORK, May 9 (AP) - Sal Maglie tossed the first no-hitter of the major league
season, whitewashing the St. Louis Cardinals in the Giants' 2-0 win at the Polo
Grounds. Three Cardinals reached base--two on errors by New York third
baseman Hank Thompson and one on a Maglie walk. There were no phenomenal
defensive plays that kept the no-hitter intact. The closest thing to a hit
was Enos Slaughter's solidly struck line drive leading off the seventh inning
that was caught with little difficulty by Jack Maguire.
The Giants gave Maglie all the runs he would need in the very first
inning. With one out, Alvin Dark doubled to right and was brought home on
Bobby Thomson's single. New York doubled its lead when Maguire homered
halfway into the upper deck, just inside the left field foul pole, leading off
the fifth.
Maglie retired the side in order in the first, but Stan Musial reached to lead
off the second on Thompson's error. The baserunner was immediately
eliminated when Joe Garagiola grounded into a double play.
The double play grounder was the first of nine consecutive batters retired in
order by Maglie. Then, with one out in the fifth, Garagiola reached when
Thompson committed his second error of the game, pulling first baseman Monte
Irvin off the bag after fielding a routine ground ball. Maglie pitched
around the miscue by retiring Bill Howerton on a fly ball to left field and Don
Bollweg on a roller to first.
In the sixth, Maglie walked Dick Cole to open the frame on five pitches.
That was the final St. Louis batter to reach base on the day as the Giants
right-hander got Max Lanier on a fielder's choice, Solly Hemus on a grounder to
second and Don Richmond on a shallow fly to right. That was the first
quarter of a string of 12 consecutive batters retired.
In the ninth, with 13,355 attendees on their feet, Maglie retired pinch hitter
Steve Bilko on a grounder to first. Solly Hemus was grounded to Dark at
short for the second out. Maglie then quickly moved ahead of pinch hitter
Chuck Diering 0-2 and induced a foul pop that was handled by catcher Ray Noble
near the foul screen. Maglie's teammates surrounded him as he descended
the mound as the crowd gave him a long standing ovation.
Understandably lost in the fanfare surrounding the no-hitter was the St. Louis
perspective. The Cardinals have now dropped 11 consecutive games and sit
in last place in the National League. St. Louis starter Max Lanier pitched
a fine game himself, allowing just two runs on five hits and issuing no walks
while fanning four in eight innings of work.
The two teams will meet in the finale of their three-game series tomorrow.
5/9/1951, SLN51-NYN51, Polo Grounds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1951 Cardinals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1951 Giants 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 x 2 5 2 3 1 Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Giants AB R H BI AVG Hemus ss 4 0 0 0 .397 Stanky 2b 4 0 2 0 .256 Richmond 3b 3 0 0 0 .133 Dark ss 4 1 1 0 .287 Diering ph 1 0 0 0 .250 Thomson cf 3 0 1 1 .269 Slaughter rf 3 0 0 0 .149 Noble c 3 0 0 0 .182 Musial cf 3 0 0 0 .323 Irvin 1b 3 0 0 0 .307 Garagiola c 3 0 0 0 .263 Lockman lf 3 0 0 0 .216 Howerton lf 3 0 0 0 .250 Maguire rf 3 1 1 1 .462 Bollweg 1b 3 0 0 0 .000 Thompson,H 3b 2 0 0 0 .254 Cole,Di 2b 2 0 0 0 .167 Wilson,Art ph 1 0 0 0 .333 Lanier p 2 0 0 0 .143 Rigney 3b 0 0 0 0 .000 Bilko ph 1 0 0 0 .164 Maglie p 3 0 0 0 .111 28 0 0 0 29 2 5 2 Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Lanier L 0-2 8.0 5 2 2 0 4 85 59 3.74 8.0 5 2 2 0 4 85 59 Giants INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Maglie W 3-3 9.0 0 0 0 1 1 101 72 2.81 9.0 0 0 0 1 1 101 72 SLN: Bilko batted for Lanier in the 9th Diering batted for Richmond in the 9th NYN: Wilson,Art batted for Thompson,H in the 7th Rigney inserted at 3b in the 8th E-Thompson,H 2. 2B-Dark(4). HR-Maguire(1). RBI-Thomson(26), Maguire(4). SB-Stanky(1). K-Garagiola, Stanky, Irvin, Maglie 2. BB-Cole,Di. GWRBI: Thomson Temperature: 65, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 6 MPH. Attendance: 13,355 Game Time: 1:38