Don't Hurt Yourself Jumping On The Anibal Sanchez Bandwagon
Add this to the Curse of Mark Bellhorn. Last night, the Marlins' Anibal Sanchez became the first pitcher in almost 3 years to record a no-hitter. And he's a rookie. Of course, he was part of the deal that landed Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett in Boston, so I'm sure the Red Sox are thrilled this morning.
Still, even though Sanchez came into the season as a highly-ranked prospect, and he's been known to have potential, let's not, in the words of The Wolf, "suck each other's dicks yet." More than a few rookies have thrown no-hitters, and not all of them have gone on to sterling careers.
Here's the list of every rookie to throw a no-hitter from 1907 on:
Anibal Sanchez, Florida (2006)
Bud Smith, St. Louis (2001)
Jose Jimenez, St. Louis (1999)
Wilson Alvarez, Chicago (AL) (1991)
Mike Warren, Oakland (1983)
Jim Bibby, Texas (1973)
Steve Busby, Kansas City (1973)
Burt Hooton, Chicago (NL) (1972)
Vida Blue, Oakland (1970)
Don Wilson, Houston (1967)
Bo Belinsky, L.A. (AL) (1962)
Bobo Holloman, St. Louis (AL) (1953)
William McCahan, Phila. (AL) (1947)
Vernon Kennedy, Chicago (AL) (1935)
Paul Dean, St. Louis (NL) (1934)
Charles C. Robertson, Chicago (AL) (1922)
Charles Tesreau, New York (NL) (1912)
Nicholas Maddox, Pittsburgh (1907)
After their early brushes with fame, these pitchers went onto varied careers. Vida Blue wound up winning 209 games (though he lost 161), Holloman has a career record of 3-7, Smith went 6-5. Only 7 of the players on the list played more than 10 years, and Tesrau has the best career winning percentage, with a pedestrian .619. None of them are in the Hall of Fame.
Good luck, Anibal. But history is against you.
