AngelsWin.com Today: #28 – April 11, 1990: Langston and Witt combine on no-no | Top-50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball

[AngelsWin.com]

The 1989-90 Major League baseball offseason began with a bang for the California Angels and their fans. On Dec. 1, 1989, the team signed free agent lefthander Mark Langston to a five year, $16 million contract, outbidding the Yankees and Dodgers. It briefly made Langston the highest paid player in baseball.

The signing gave the Angels a formidable rotation, with Langston joining Chuck Finley, Jim Abbott, Kirk McCaskill and Bert Blyleven – and pushed Mike Witt, at that time the franchise’s second-winningest pitcher, to the bullpen. Though he’d won 109 games in nine seasons with the Angels, Witt slumped to 9-15 with a 4.54 ERA in 1989.

As February neared, however, hopeful exuberance from fans turned to frustration as rumors of another work stoppage became reality. The players, concerned that the owners were talking about a salary cap, threatened a strike. The owners, concerned about a strike, instead locked out the players, putting spring training on indefinite hold.

After 32 days, the second longest work stoppage in MLB history, an agreement was reached on March 19 and an abbreviated spring training was begun. Opening Day was pushed back one week to April 9, but starting pitchers did not work as many innings as they would have during a normal spring. For their first regular season starts, most were placed on a strict pitch count.

Langston made his Angels debut in the season’s third game, a Wednesday night tilt at home against the Seattle Mariners, his former team.

Langston walked two Mariners in the first inning, but helped himself out by inducing a double play ball between them. He issued another walk in the third, but another double play erased that threat. The Mariners went down in order in the fourth and Langston worked around a fourth walk in the fifth to hold Seattle scoreless and, as most of the 25,632 fans in attendance were starting to realize, hitless, as well.

Mariners starter Erik Hanson, meanwhile, was pitching his own shutout against the Angels, but running up a high pitch count by working in and out of jams. After five innings, Hanson had already thrown 89 pitches and his night was done.

Langston retired the Mariners in order in both the sixth and seventh and walked off the mound locked up in a scoreless tie, already over his pitch count at 99 pitches thrown. There was as much question as to whether he’d come out for the eighth as to if he’d even win a game in which he’d thrown seven hitless innings.

The Angels offense, finally, answered one of those questions, literally pushing across one run on Dante Bichette’s bases loaded walk to score Johnny Ray. The inning ended with the Angels leading, 1-0.

Much to the disappointment of the fans at Anaheim Stadium, Langston’s night was finished. He was replaced by none other than the man he’d relegated to the bullpen, Witt, the last Angel to throw a no-hitter. (1984 perfect game against Texas.)

The big righty, who would soon be traded to the Yankees for outfielder Dave Winfield, was on his game, retiring Edgar Martinez and Greg Briley on groundouts and striking out Dave Valle. The Angels went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth and Witt, not closer Bryan Harvey, took the mound for the ninth.

The crowd, which had booed his appearance the previous inning, this time rose to its feet and cheered every strike. Pinch hitter Scott Bradley and Harold Reynolds each grounded out to second, bringing Ken Griffey Jr. to the plate as Seattle’s last chance to break up the no-hit bid. On a 2-2 pitch, Griffey swung and missed, completing the Angels eighth no-hitter and first involving more than one pitcher.

It was quite a debut for Langston (7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K), though 1990 would go on to be arguably his worst season in an Angels uniform (10-17, 4.40 ERA). And a tidy ending to a solid Angels career for Witt, who would make nine more relief appearances before heading to New York on May 11.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL199004110.shtml

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[Chuck]

Who else was at this game?

I was there with my good friend Brian Johnson that night. It was awesome!

[Rico]

[Dtwncbad]

I don't mean to be a buzz kill but I don't recognize a "combined no-hitter" any more than I would recognize a combined cycle where one guy gets a double and a Homer then leaves the game and his replacement gets a single and a triple.  Langston had a great outing but he didn't pitch a no-hitter. Witt then did what a million guys have done in relief.  You can't add them together to make something that didn't happen.

 

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, Dtwncbad said:

I don't mean to be a buzz kill but I don't recognize a "combined no-hitter" any more than I would recognize a combined cycle where one guy gets a double and a Homer then leaves the game and his replacement gets a single and a triple.  Langston had a great outing but he didn't pitch a no-hitter. Witt then did what a million guys have done in relief.  You can't add them together to make something that didn't happen.

 

Disagree. 

When your pitching staff limits the opposition to zero hits over 9 innings or more, those involved in the decision should be recognized for the no-hitter.

[Homebrewer]

On 3/5/2017 at 9:10 AM, Chuckster70 said:

Who else was at this game?

I was there with my good friend Brian Johnson that night. It was awesome!

Me! My first game of the season, and very memorable.

 

1 hour ago, Chuckster70 said:

Disagree. 

When your pitching staff limits the opposition to zero hits over 9 innings or more, those involved in the decision should be recognized for the no-hitter.

Absolutely...look at the date. You can't allow a pitcher to throw 130 pitches in the first couple weeks of the season. Also, baseball record books do recognize combined no hitters.

[Dtwncbad]

Except nobody pitched a no hitter.  Nobody disputes that Seattle went hitless, but I cannot credit anyone with a no hitter.  The spirit of the phrase is about one pitcher accomplishing something specific.

Otherwise, if my left fielder hits .329 for half a season and I replace him with another player that hits .333 for the second half, can I combine the stats over the while season and claim they won the batting title?

Everyday in the Majors there are probably 20 guys that pitch an inning or more in a game and give up no hits.

For every additional inning you keep it up the more impressive it becomes.  Fatigue and the challenge of getting the same hitter out a second and third time after they see your pitches that day makes it very hard.  Once that pitcher comes out, it is far less impressive when a different pitcher gets that hitter out for the first time in a game compared to the original pitcher getting him out for a third time.

Is four guys each running a quarter mile as impressive as one guy running a 4 minute mile?  Would anyone really list a combo of 4 guys on the list of those individuals that ran a 4 minute mile?

No hits happened.

And nobody threw a no hitter.

[Angel Oracle]

In any case, it was a changing of the guard, of sorts.    Witt had slumped the previous year to a 4.00+ ERA in the days of lower ERAs, while Langston got big money for that time to come here.

[Mark68]

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 10:10 AM, Chuckster70 said:

Who else was at this game?

I was there with my good friend Brian Johnson that night. It was awesome!

I was there. I remember keeping score. Langston was all over the place, man. Stupid lockout season.

[Mark68]

4 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

I don't mean to be a buzz kill but I don't recognize a "combined no-hitter" any more than I would recognize a combined cycle where one guy gets a double and a Homer then leaves the game and his replacement gets a single and a triple.  Langston had a great outing but he didn't pitch a no-hitter. Witt then did what a million guys have done in relief.  You can't add them together to make something that didn't happen.

 

Dude, don't harsh our mellow.

 

MLB recognizes combined no-hitters, but not "combined cycles".

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Mark68 said:

I was there. I remember keeping score. Langston was all over the place, man. Stupid lockout season.

Yep. The Mariners must have been pulling their hair out throughout the night. 

[Homebrewer]

Box Score from that game

Baseball Almanac Box Scores Seattle Mariners 0, California Angels 1
Game played on Wednesday, April 11, 1990 at Anaheim Stadium
Seattle Mariners ab   r   h rbi Reynolds 2b 3 0 0 0 Griffey, Jr. cf 4 0 0 0 Davis dh 2 0 0 0 Leonard rf 3 0 0 0 O'Brien 1b 3 0 0 0 Martinez 3b 2 0 0 0 Cotto lf 2 0 0 0   Briley ph,lf 1 0 0 0 Valle c 3 0 0 0 Giles ss 1 0 0 0   Bradley ph 1 0 0 0 Hanson p 0 0 0 0   Eave p 0 0 0 0   Comstock p 0 0 0 0 Totals 25 0 0 0	California Angels ab   r   h rbi White cf 5 0 1 0 Ray 2b 2 1 0 0 Joyner 1b 2 0 2 0 Davis dh 3 0 0 0 Bichette lf,rf 3 0 1 1 Washington rf 2 0 0 0   Schu ph 1 0 0 0   Venable lf 0 0 0 0 Parrish c 4 0 1 0 Howell 3b 4 0 2 0 McLemore ss 4 0 0 0 Langston p 0 0 0 0   Witt p 0 0 0 0 Totals 30 1 7 1
Seattle 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 0 – 0 0 1 California 0 0 0   0 0 0   1 0 x – 1 7 1     Seattle Mariners IP H R ER BB SO Hanson   5.0 5 0 0 3 6   Eave  L (0-1) 1.1 2 1 1 3 2   Comstock   1.2 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 8.0 0 0 0 0 2     California Angels IP H R ER BB SO Langston  W (1-0) 7.0 0 0 0 4 3   Witt  SV (1) 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 9.0 0 0 0 0 2   E–E Martinez (1), Joyner (1).  DP–Seattle 1, California 2.  2B–California Howell 2 (2,off Hanson,off Eave); Joyner (1,off Eave).  Team LOB–2.  SH–Ray (1,off Hanson).  IBB–Joyner (1,by Hanson); Davis (1,by Eave).  Team–12.  SB–White (1,3rd base off Hanson/Valle).  WP–Hanson (1).  IBB–Hanson (1,Joyner); Eave (1,Davis).  U-HP–Vic Voltaggio, 1B–Mark Johnson, 2B–Jim McKean, 3B–Ken Kaiser.  T–2:37.  A–25,632.
Game played on Wednesday, April 11, 1990 at Anaheim Stadium
Baseball Almanac Box Score |

[Chuck]

1 hour ago, Homebrewer said:

Box Score from that game

Baseball Almanac Box Scores Seattle Mariners 0, California Angels 1
Game played on Wednesday, April 11, 1990 at Anaheim Stadium
Seattle Mariners ab   r   h rbi Reynolds 2b 3 0 0 0 Griffey, Jr. cf 4 0 0 0 Davis dh 2 0 0 0 Leonard rf 3 0 0 0 O'Brien 1b 3 0 0 0 Martinez 3b 2 0 0 0 Cotto lf 2 0 0 0   Briley ph,lf 1 0 0 0 Valle c 3 0 0 0 Giles ss 1 0 0 0   Bradley ph 1 0 0 0 Hanson p 0 0 0 0   Eave p 0 0 0 0   Comstock p 0 0 0 0 Totals 25 0 0 0	California Angels ab   r   h rbi White cf 5 0 1 0 Ray 2b 2 1 0 0 Joyner 1b 2 0 2 0 Davis dh 3 0 0 0 Bichette lf,rf 3 0 1 1 Washington rf 2 0 0 0   Schu ph 1 0 0 0   Venable lf 0 0 0 0 Parrish c 4 0 1 0 Howell 3b 4 0 2 0 McLemore ss 4 0 0 0 Langston p 0 0 0 0   Witt p 0 0 0 0 Totals 30 1 7 1
Seattle 0 0 0   0 0 0   0 0 0 – 0 0 1 California 0 0 0   0 0 0   1 0 x – 1 7 1     Seattle Mariners IP H R ER BB SO Hanson   5.0 5 0 0 3 6   Eave  L (0-1) 1.1 2 1 1 3 2   Comstock   1.2 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 8.0 0 0 0 0 2     California Angels IP H R ER BB SO Langston  W (1-0) 7.0 0 0 0 4 3   Witt  SV (1) 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 Totals 9.0 0 0 0 0 2   E–E Martinez (1), Joyner (1).  DP–Seattle 1, California 2.  2B–California Howell 2 (2,off Hanson,off Eave); Joyner (1,off Eave).  Team LOB–2.  SH–Ray (1,off Hanson).  IBB–Joyner (1,by Hanson); Davis (1,by Eave).  Team–12.  SB–White (1,3rd base off Hanson/Valle).  WP–Hanson (1).  IBB–Hanson (1,Joyner); Eave (1,Davis).  U-HP–Vic Voltaggio, 1B–Mark Johnson, 2B–Jim McKean, 3B–Ken Kaiser.  T–2:37.  A–25,632.
Game played on Wednesday, April 11, 1990 at Anaheim Stadium
Baseball Almanac Box Score |

Nice! 

I remember going into that season we had a sick lineup on paper. Sucks that nothing came of it. 

[Homebrewer]

46 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

Nice! 

I remember going into that season we had a sick lineup on paper. Sucks that nothing came of it. 

Yeah....hopes were high, especially after getting Langston. I really wanted to see who was still with Seattle that year. The Unit, Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, who would end up playing his entire career in Seattle, were all still there. Harold Reynolds was the everyday 2b. Jeff (one flap down) Leonard..

Interesting both teams had a Davis at DH. Seattle had Alvin and the Angels had Chili. Alvin would eventually end his career in Anaheim.