The First No-Hitter in New York Mets History can be watched (and listened to in two languages) again and again by the five Faith and Fear readers who were first to correctly answer all 15 questions of our Monday night quiz. Congratulations to Chris D’Orso, Josh Himmelsbach, Brock Mahan, Stephen Malone and Joe Nunziata, and thanks to A+E Home Entertainment/MLB Productions for providing five copies of the Baseball’s Greatest Games DVD focusing on the events of June 1, 2012. We appreciate the participation of everybody who played and highly recommend the disc, available for purchase here.
Here are the answers:
1) The last time a Mets lefty threw a one-hitter, I played left field for the losing team. Who am I? I am current Mets outfielder Scott Hairston, a Padre in 2010 when Jon Niese one-hit us.
2) I caught the last no-hitter a St. Louis Cardinal pitcher threw. Who am I? I am 2006 Mets utilityman Eli Marrero, though in 2001 I was catching the best game Bud Smith ever pitched.
3) Johan Santana didn’t get to bat in his first major league game because of the silly rule the American League has about such things. But I batted because I was the designated hitter on Johan’s team. Who am I? I am Butch Huskey, Met third baseman, first baseman, right fielder and occasional power bat from the 1990s.
4) You know how frustrating it was to watch all those pitchers for other teams throw no-hitters but not see a Met throw one? Well, you wouldn’t have minded me throwing one in that regard because I threw the last one in the majors before the Mets existed. Who am I? I am Hall of Famer Warren Spahn, pitcher and pitching coach for the 1965 Mets and author of a 1961 no-hitter for the Milwaukee Braves.
5) I made the last out of the first inning Johan Santana pitched as a major league STARTER. Who am I? I am Carlos Beltran, in 2000 a Royal of immense promise, later a Mets superstar, even later the Cardinal batter who only the grace of Adrian Johnson prevented from preventing this quiz, this DVD and everything else.
6) The last time the Mets threw a combined one-hitter, I was the staring second baseman for the losing team. Who am I? I am Omar Quintanilla, a Rockies infielder in 2008 (when Pedro Martinez left early with an injury and four relievers finished up spotlessly for him) and the Mets shortstop behind Santana during his no-hitter.
7) I was the losing pitcher in the last no-hitter pitched by a St. Louis Cardinal. Who am I? I am Bobby Jones, the one who threw a one-hitter in the 2000 NLDS clincher for the Mets.
8) I was the only teammate of Johan Santana’s on Johan’s first professional team to later play for the Mets. Who am I? I am obscure 2005 Mets lefty reliever Tim Hamulack, obscure even then, but I was a major leaguer, which is more than can be said for most of the 1997 Gulf Coast League Astros…besides Johan and me, that is.
9) The last time a Mets pitcher didn’t give up a hit for the first seven innings of a game against the Cardinals that eventually became a one-hit victory for the Mets, I was the Cardinals’ second baseman. Who am I? I am Jose Oquendo, 19-year-old shortstop for the Mets in 1983, utilityman who played second for the Cardinals when David Cone threw the aforementioned one-hitter in 1991 and the third base coach who argued vociferously with Adrian Johnson over Beltran’s ball that might have landed on the edge of the left field line on June 1, 2012.
10) I drove in the go-ahead run that stood up as the winning run in Johan Santana’s first major league victory. Who am I? I am 2001 Mets center fielder Matt Lawton.
11) We are the only THREE Mets who played on June 1, 2012, who, as of August 6, 2012, have been on the Mets’ active 25-man roster every day of the 2012 season. Who are we? We are Ike Davis, Daniel Murphy and David Wright, your Mets first, second and third basemen, respectively; everybody else from the sacred box score has spent time on the DL, dressed as a Bison or since been sent packing.
12) I was the leadoff batter for the team that lost the last major league no-hitter thrown before the Mets existed. Who am I? I am Chuck Hiller, Mets infielder from 1965 to 1967, leadoff batter for the Giants on April 28, 1961, when Warren Spahn victimized us.
13) I made my major league debut for the losing side in the last game in which the Mets were victimized by a no-hitter. Who am I? I am, once again, Butch Huskey, who chose September 8, 1993, for my big-league welcome, and who was there to greet me and my Mets teammates but Darryl Kile, who chose to no-hit us in the Astrodome?
14) I was the losing pitcher in the game in which Johan Santana gained his first major league win. Who am I? I am 2006 Met Jose Lima.
15) I made the last out of the first inning Johan Santana pitched as a Met. Who am I? I am Recidivist Met first baseman Mike Jacobs, though at that moment in 2008 I was a Marlin.
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