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- April 23 (2026)
April 23 (2026)
⚾ Ken Johnson loses no hitter
TODAY ON THE DAILY HIGHLIGHT
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April 23, 1964, At Colt Stadium Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s becomes the first major leaguer to hurl a nine-inning no-hitter and lose the game.
The knuckleballing right-hander goes down to defeat, 1-0. Johnson throws widly on Pete Rose’s bunt attempt, and Rose was allowed to take second base and after a ground out, Second baseman Nellie Fox, usually a reliable defensive player, commits a critical run-scoring error on Vada Pinson’s groundball.
Game of the Day
April 23, 1964 Houston Colt 45s vs Cincinnati Reds
Today’s line up: Click to Listen
Did you know?
April 23, 1924 — On WMAQ, Hal Totten, a Chicago Daily News play-by-play reporter, does a play-by-play radio report of the 12-1 Cubs’ victory over the Cardinals. It will be the first broadcast of every Cub and White Sox home game of the season, marking the first time a team’s games have been on the airwaves on a regular basis.
🎙️ Classic Baseball Moment of the Day! 🎙️
Don Larsen(1956), Sandy Koufax(1965), Bob Gibson (64,67 and 68), Mantle, DiMaggio, Williams (1941), Clemente 1971, Brooks 1970, Oakland Three Peat and so many others!
With Classic Baseball Broadcasts, you can relive these legendary moments through the actual radio calls that made history!
Relive baseball history, one play at a time. Dive into the archives and feel the magic of baseball’s golden era.
Trivia:
Ken Johnson is still the only pitcher to lose a 9 inning complete game no hitter.
Hint: The answer is below
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
April 23, 1939 — At Fenway Park Rookie Ted Williams goes 4 for 5, including his first major-league home run, a 2 run shot in the first inning of Bud Thomas, but the Boston Red Sox lose to the Philadelphia Athletics, 12 – 8.
April 23, 1940, flooding of the Ohio River causes cancellation of today’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals at Crosley Field. Weather forecasters predict that the flood’s waters will reach as high as eight feet at the ballpark. The next day’s game will also be postponed.
April 23, 1952 — Giant reliever Hoyt Wilhelm homers in his first major league at-bat, a fourth-inning blast off Dick Hoover in the team’s 9-5 victory over Boston at the Polo Grounds. In his second at-bat, two days later, he will hit a triple. But Wilhelm, a notoriously poor hitter, will never hit another home run or triple in a major league game spanning the next 21 years, covering a then-record 1,070 games.
April 23, 1954 — Jackie Robinson steals second and third base, then steals home on the front end of a triple steal with Gil Hodges and Sandy Amorós in the 6th inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Brooklyn Dodgers win, 6 – 5, in 13 innings, when Robinson doubles home Junior Gilliam with the winning run.
April 23, 1954, In his seventh major league game at Busch Stadium, Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hits the first of his 755 home runs in a 7-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Aaron’s milestone home run-a solo blast-comes against Cardinals right-hander Vic Raschi in the 6th inning. Ironically, his first hit came 8 days earlier also vs Raschi.
April 23, 1956 – manager Walt Alston (left) enjoys a victory smile with 19-year-old rookie pitcher Don Drysdale after the young right-hander won his first major league game as starting hurler against the Phillies, The Dodgers dumped the Phillies, 6-1. Drysdale pitched a complete game striking out 9, including the side in the first inning. Alston said, “Drysdale pitched with the poise of a seasoned hurler.”
April 23, 1966 -- Two days after putting on a Chicago Cubs uniform, Ferguson Jenkins hits his first major league home run, off Don Sutton, drives in a second run, and shuts out the Dodgers to win, 2 - 0. For rookie Sutton, it is the first of 13 straight losses the Cubs will hand him.
April 23, 1978, in the 2nd inning at Candlestick Park, Cincinnati Reds Pitcher, Fred Norman has Jack Clark picked off of first base, Clark runs full steam towards second base and as Dan Driessen throws towards Secondbase Joe Morgan mishandles the throw and makes an error at second base, bringing his major league record of 91 consecutive errorless games to an end. The error did not lead to a run for San Francisco.
April 23, 1999 -- Fernando Tatis of the St. Louis Cardinals becomes the first player in major league history to hit two grand slams in one inning. Tatis connects both times in the 11-run 3rd inning against pitcher Chan Ho Park to lead the Cardinals to a 12 - 5 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. He simultaneously sets a record with eight RBI in one inning. Park becomes the first pitcher in the 20th century, and only the second ever, to surrender two slams in a single frame, joining Bill Phillips of the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys.
Quote of the day:
“It’s a heady feeling to know that you have a niche in history,” Ken Johnson said. “So I made history tonight,” grinning as he said it. “Heck of a way to get into the books, isn’t it?”
MILESTONES
Birthday Boys
Highlights: Warren Spahn and Jim Bottomley
Debuts
Notable: Bill Short and Jim Busby
Final Games
Stu Miller & Steve Carlton
Passings
Earl Wilson & Dave Nelson
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Trivia Answer:
Matt Young, Red Sox -- April 12, 1992, at ClevelandYoung went eight innings in this one, not allowing a hit in the entire game, but not needing to pitch the ninth inning because the Indians, playing at home, were already leading 2-1. How’d the game get to that point? Well, Young’s full line wasn’t just eight innings and zero hits, he also walked seven batters -- and allowed two earned runs.
Andy Hawkins, Yankees -- July 1, 1990, at White SoxThrough 7 2/3 innings, Hawkins appeared to be putting together a normal no-hit bid. He’d issued three walks, but had not allowed a run, 3 errors and two walks later Hawkins was down 4-0 and lose without giving up a hit.
