PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The last Pirates pitcher to throw a solo no-hitter threw out the first pitch before the final game of the brief homestand against the Mets on the 50th anniversary of his accomplishment Sunday.
On Monday August 9, 1976 at home, John Candelaria faced a loaded Los Angeles Dodgers lineup limiting them to one walk retiring all 29 batters without allowing a hit in a 2-0 Pirates win.
There were seven players who were all-stars in their career, another who was NL Rookie of the Year and a World Series MVP filling out that Dodgers nine. There was no score in the game until the fifth inning when Bill Robinson’s two-run double gave the Bucs a 2-0 lead.
“It was a close game, the other guy actually pitched a two-hitter, Doug Rau,” Candelaria said on the Pirates Insider Show with Jason Mackey on 93.7 The Fan. “The only thing I was thinking about was I can’t let them score. The game was that close we could lose if I gave up a couple of runs. All I my thought was, I know I have a no-hitter, but I got to keep the team in the game. That was my thought, keep on going.”
Every pitch the lefty threw to close it in the ninth inning was a strike. He got Davey Lopes to groundout, Ted Sizemore to hit a foul pop-up and Bill Russell on a flyout to Al Oliver for the final out.
“Any pitcher that tells you that he doesn’t realize he’s got a no-hitter going on, and I didn’t realize I had one until the fifth inning, they are full of it,” Candelaria said on the Pirates Insider Show. “You are a pitcher. You know when you’ve given up your first hit because the guy is on first base.”
The then 22-year-old would finish that season 16-7 with a 3.15 ERA and 11 complete games. He would become a 20-game winner the next season finishing 20-5 with an NL leading 2.34 ERA finishing fifth in Cy Young Award voting behind Steve Carlton, Tommy John, future Pirate Rick Reutschel and Tom Seaver. He would win a World Series two years later with the Pirates.
One other note about that night at Three Rivers Stadium, it was Candy Night for the man nicknamed ‘The Candy Man’
“The first 10,000 people and I think only 8,000-some showed up,” Candelaria told Mackey on the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan. “Being who I am, you know what, I just pitched a no-hitter on Clark Bar candy night. I went over to the Clark Bar the next day to talk to the vice president of the company and said ‘I pitched a no-hitter on Clark Bar candy night, can we do something?’”
“The guy goes, ‘kid that’s a great idea, get out of here’.”
It was Candy Night at 3 Rivers, what he told Pirates Insider Jason Mackey
It was Candy Night at 3 Rivers, what he told Pirates Insider Jason Mackey
