Ranking the 8 Most Unconventional and Unusual No-Hitters in MLB History

MLB pitchers have thrown 303 no-hitters since 1876. Some were more unique than others.

With that in mind, let's rank the eight most unconventional and unusual no-hitters in MLB history. For our purposes, that doesn't mean flawless. You'll find no perfect games (or anything especially close) on this list.

Instead, we'll encounter a guy who coughed up an earned run during his no-no, another who took the loss and a hitless start supposedly twirled under the influence of a mind-altering substance. 

In every case, the opposing team finished with a goose egg in the hits column—which is all that matters.

No. 8: Chris Heston, San Francisco Giants, 2015

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On June 9, 2015, San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston squared off against imposing New York Mets right-hander Noah Syndergaard. It looked like an obvious mismatch in Syndergaard's favor. On that day, however, Heston bested Thor with an 11-strikeout, zero-walk, no-hit performance.

Plenty of relatively unknown hurlers get the better of aces in the tiny sample size of one game. What makes this one particularly unusual is the fact that Heston hit three Mets batters, including two in the span of three pitches in the fourth inning. That's the most by any pitcher in any no-hitter.

Heston led the majors with 13 hit batters that season.

No. 7: Edwin Jackson, Arizona Diamondbacks, 2010

Chris O'Meara/Associated Press

Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Edwin Jackson walked seven batters through two-plus innings in his June 25, 2010, start against the Tampa Bay Rays. He'd already thrown 63 pitches.

No one saw no-hit immortality coming for the then-26-year-old journeyman.

Yet, somehow, Jackson persevered and kept the Rays hitless through nine. He issued only one more walk but threw 149 pitches, including just 79 for strikes. He also tossed in a wild pitch and notched only three 1-2-3 innings.

"It's one of those moments where I tell him I'm not coming out until I give up a hit or a home run," Jackson told reporters after the game. "You want to skip my next start, that's fine."

No. 6: Johnny Vander Meer, Cincinnati Reds, 1938

Associated Press

On June 11, 1938, Cincinnati Reds left-hander Johnny Vander Meer threw a no-hitter against the Boston Bees. In his next start, on June 15, he did it again against the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

With that, he became the first and still only player to throw consecutive no-nos. It's a record that may never be broken.

That would be enough to warrant mention, but Vander Meer's second no-hit effort was far from a sure thing. He issued eight walks against the Dodgers and walked the bases loaded in the ninth before recording the 26th and 27th outs.

No. 5: Joe Cowley, Chicago White Sox, 1986

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How does one throw a no-hitter while allowing an earned run? Ask Joe Cowley.

On Sept. 19, 1986, the Chicago White Sox right-hander made it through five innings without allowing a hit against the California Angels. In the sixth, he walked the bases loaded with no outs.

Cowley got out of it with three outs, all in the air. The second one, off the bat of a then-40-year-old Reggie Jackson, went for a sacrifice fly.

Cowley held the Angels hitless through the next three innings. The White Sox won, 7-1. And Cowley finished with the following stat line: 9 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 8 K.

No. 4: A.J. Burnett, Florida Marlins, 2001

A.J. Burnett didn't allow a run, earned or otherwise, in his 2001 no-hitter. But he sure could have.

Burnett, then 24, walked at least one batter in each of the first four innings of his May 12 start against the San Diego Padres. His command was wobbly, to say the least.

In all, Burnett walked nine batters, hit one and threw a wild pitch. He delivered 129 pitches, and a mere 65 were strikes. The Padres stole three bases.

But here's the main reason this one ranks as high as it does on the list: All eight San Diego position players in the starting lineup reached base.

Read that again, and shake your head in disbelief.

No. 3: Ken Johnson, Houston Colt .45s, 1964

Allowing bushels of baserunners and an earned run are all well and good (or, actually, not good), but Ken Johnson took things to the next level in 1964 when he twirled a no-hitter and was hung with a loss.

On April 23, Johnson's Houston Colt .45s faced the Cincinnati Reds. Johnson was excellent, as he struck out nine with just two walks in nine innings. Two things he didn't get? A shutout or a win.

Heading into the ninth inning, the score was tied at 0. In the top of the frame, a brash young Reds hitter named Pete Rose laid down a bunt. Johnson fielded it but made an errant throw to first, and Rose wound up on second base. Two batters later, a fielding error by second baseman Nellie Fox allowed Rose to score.

Houston couldn't rally despite a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth, and Johnson and the Colt .45s lost, 1-0.

No. 2: Dock Ellis, Pittsburgh Pirates, 1970

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On June 12, 1970, Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. But that was only a piece of the enduring story.

As Ellis repeatedly recounted, he took lysergic acid diethylamide—better known as LSD—before he showed up to the ballpark, initially not realizing he had to pitch that day.

Instead, he was sent to the mound and threw a no-no with eight walks and six strikeouts. Only Ellis knows for certain how altered he was during the game or how his substance use impacted a 12-year career he finished with a 3.46 ERA and 1,136 strikeouts. He died of liver disease in 2008 at the age of 63.

As Ellis himself says in the 2014 film No No: A Dockumentary: "It was easier to pitch with the LSD because I was so used to medicating myself. That's the way I was dealing with the fear of failure."

No. 1: Jim Maloney, Cincinnati Reds, 1965

If you look at the basic stat line of any no-hitter, the only category in which you normally see double digits is strikeouts. In 1965, Reds right-hander Jim Maloney posted double-digit totals in three categories.

Let's just gaze at the line from his Aug. 19 effort against the Chicago Cubs: 10 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 10 BB, 12 K.

The 10 innings leap out, obviously. But 12 strikeouts and 10 walks? That's absurd.

Wait, though, it gets more unbelievable: On June 14 of that same season, Maloney threw 10 no-hit frames before he allowed a homer and a single against the Mets in a 1-0 loss in 11 innings. In that game, he struck out 18 and walked one.

So, to recap: A pitcher threw 10 no-hit innings twice in a single season—and earned a no-hitter for the less impressive start.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted.