On May 19, 1981, Pittsburgh Pirates starter Jim Bibby narrowly misses pitching his second career no-hitter when he fires a one-hitter against the Atlanta Braves. The massive right-hander allows a leadoff single to Terry Harper before retiring the next 27 batters in a row. Bibby helps himself by hitting two doubles with one run and…
Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Fernando Valenzuela finally loses a game, 4 – 0, to the Philadelphia Phillies. He is now 8-1 and his earned run average increases to 0.90.
1981 – Craig Reynolds ties a major-league mark with three triples during a 6-1 victory over Chicago. It is part of a four-hit night with four RBIs. His first triple sails to the gap in right-center. His other two hug the right field line. Nolan Ryan and Joe Sambito team up to tame the Cubs.
May 14, 1981: With a 3-2 win over Montreal in front of the largest Dodger Stadium crowd in seven years, rookie sensation Fernando Valenzuela improves his record to 8-0. The 20 year-old southpaw, who has started the season with five shutouts and a minuscule ERA of 0.50, gets the victory when right fielder Pedro Guerrero hits…
5/15/1981: Graig Nettles homered off Seattle’s Brian Allard in Yankee Stadium. It came in the first inning with two on and one out and was rained out in the third inning.
The Indians’ Len Barker pitches the 9th perfect game in 20th century major league history, 3 – 0 over the Blue Jays before just 7,290 fans on a rainy night at Cleveland Stadium. Last year’s American League strikeoutleader, Barker fans 11. It is the 11th time in major league history the feat has been accomplished, and the first time in 13 years since it’s been done, by Catfish Hunter in 1968.
On May 15, 1981, Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitches a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Barker wins a 3-0 decision in hurling the first perfect game since Jim “Catfish” Hunter’s masterpiece in 1968. Only 7,290 attended the game at Municipal Stadium.
1981 – Don Sutton twirls a five-hit shutout to blank St. Louis, 3-0. Art Howe adds a two-run homer. Off the field, Mike Ivie is hospitalized for mental exhaustion less than a month after he was traded to Houston for Jeff Leonard and Dave Bergman. Expected to be the cleanup hitter, Ivie bats .237 with no homers in 19 games. He will miss the rest of the season.
On May 10, 1981, Montreal Expos right-hander Charlie Lea pitches the first no-hitter in the history of Olympic Stadium. Lea, the first French-born pitcher to hurl a no-hitter, strikes out eight batters and walks four in the second game of a doubleheader, as the Expos beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-0. In 2010 Lea…
Tom Paciorek hits his second game-winning, bottom-of-the-9th home run in as many games, a three-run blow giving the Mariners a 6 – 5 win over the Yankees. The previous night, Paciorek led off the 9th with a solo homer to give Seattle a 3 – 2 win over the Yankees.
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