| Johnny Vander Meer | |
|---|---|
 Vander Meer in 1948 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born:(1914-11-02)November 2, 1914 Prospect Park, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| Died: October 6, 1997(1997-10-06) (aged 82) Tampa, Florida, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 22, 1937, for the Cincinnati Reds | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| May 7, 1951, for the Cleveland Indians | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 119–121 |
| Earned run average | 3.44 |
| Strikeouts | 1,294 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
John Samuel Vander Meer (November 2, 1914 – October 6, 1997) was an American professionalbaseball player.[1] He played inMajor League Baseball as a left-handedpitcher, most prominently as a member of theCincinnati Reds, where he became the only pitcher in Major League Baseball history to throw two consecutiveno-hitters, an accomplishment which has long considered to beimpossible to replicate. He was a member of the1940 World Series winning team.[1][2] After the impressive start to his major league career, he experienced problems controlling the accuracy of his pitching, and his later career was marked by inconsistent performances.[3] During his career he was nicknamed "The Dutch Master" and "Double No-Hit".[4]
Born inProspect Park, New Jersey, he moved with his family toMidland Park, New Jersey in 1918.[5] He had an inauspicious start to hisprofessional baseball career. He was signed by theBrooklyn Dodgers as an amateurfree agent in 1933 and assigned to theDayton Ducks.[6] Dayton then sold his contract to aBoston Bees minor league affiliate, theScranton Miners of theNew York–Pennsylvania League.[6] The Miners found his playing ability to be lacking and sent him to the Cincinnati Reds affiliate, theNashville Volunteers, in a trade forTiny Chaplin.[6] From Nashville, he was sent to theDurham Bulls, where the Bulls manager and catcher,Johnny Gooch, was credited with helping control the wildness of Vander Meer's pitching.[6] In 1936, he posted a record of 19 wins against six losses for Durham.[7]
Vander Meer made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds on April 22,1937, at the age of 22.[1] He went 3–4 before being sent back to theminor leagues with theSyracuse Chiefs for most of the season when the Reds recalled him in September.[7] The following year on June 11,1938, Vander Meer pitched a no-hitter against theBoston Bees.[8] Four days later against the Brooklyn Dodgers in what was the first night game ever held atEbbets Field, he threw another no-hitter, becoming the first (and, as of 2025, the only) player in major league history to throw two straight no-hitters.[9][10] He was nicknamed "The Dutch Master" due to his Dutch heritage, and after the no-hitters was also nicknamed "Two No-Hit".[4]
Vander Meer's performance earned him the role as the starting pitcher for theNational League team in the1938 All-Star game held at Cincinnati'sCrosley Field.[11] TheAmerican League team – having won four of the previous five All-Star games – was favored to win the game, but Vander Meer pitched three scoreless innings and allowed only one hit, as the National League went on to win 4–1.[11][12] He ended the season with a 15–10 record and a 3.12earned run average for the fourth-place Reds. He might have won more games, but spent nearly a month in the hospital being treated for boils late in the season.[13] Following the season,The Sporting News named Vander Meertheir MLB Player of the Year for 1938.
After his impressive rookie season, Vander Meer had a disappointing1939 season, when he fell ill duringspring training, and then suffered an injury when he slipped on a wetpitching mound in Pittsburgh.[13][14] He posted a 5–9 record and an earned run average of 4.67. Early in the1940 season, he began to experience problems controlling the accuracy of his pitches. In June, the Reds released him back to the minor leagues where he played for theIndianapolis Indians and went 6–4.[7][15] He returned to the major leagues in September and posted a 3–1 record, including a win for pitching 12 innings against Philadelphia on September 18, a win that clinched the National League pennant for the Reds.[13][16] Leading off the 13th inning, Vander Meer hit adouble, advanced to third on a sacrificebunt, stayed at third on an infield hit, then scored the winning run on asacrifice fly. [Note: theSacrifice Fly was not an official statistic in 1940, so the At Bat by Ival Goodman counted, as did his RBI].[17] In the1940 World Series against theDetroit Tigers, Vander Meer made only one appearance when he entered Game 5 in the fifth inning with the Reds trailing 7–0. He pitched three scoreless innings as the Reds lost 8–0.[18] The Reds went on to win the series in seven games.[19] It would be the only post-season appearance of Vander Meer's career.[20]
In1941, Vander Meer's performance improved somewhat with a 16–12 record and sixshutouts while leading the league with 202strikeouts. On June 6, 1941, in a game against Philadelphia, he allowed only one hit.[21] Vander Meer later recalled that the only hit in the game could have been ruled anerror, as shortstopEddie Joost fielded theground ball, then dropped it before throwing to first base.[22] He earned his third All-Star selection in the1942 All-Star Game, and once again threw three scoreless innings in a 3–1 loss to the American League.[23] He finished the1942 season with a career-high 18 wins against 12 losses and once again led the league in strikeouts. He posted a 15–16 record in1943 for the second place Reds and led the league in strikeouts for a third consecutive year. On March 3, 1944, Vander Meer joined theUnited States Navy and was stationed atSampson Naval Training Station in New York where he would play for the Navy baseball team.[24] He was discharged from the Navy in December 1945, having lost two years of his major league career to his military service,[25] but Vander Meer claimed that his extensive military play made him less wild as a pitcher, which his record partially supports.[26]
The 31-year-old pitcher returned to play for the Reds in1946 although he was not able to recapture his previous form. Vander Meer was an incidental witness when his Cincinnati teammateEwell Blackwell almost duplicated his consecutive no-hit feat in1947, by pitching a no-hitter against the Braves, then in his next appearance held the Dodgers without a hit until the ninth inning when he gave up two hits.[22] He produced one more notable season in1948 when he went 17–14, before his contract was sold to theChicago Cubs in February1950.[27] After an ineffective year with the Cubs, he was released in March1951 and was signed as a free agent by theCleveland Indians.[1] He appeared in only one game for the Indians on May 7, 1951, before being released on June 30, 1951, at the age of 36.[1]
Vander Meer returned to the minor leagues where he played for five more seasons until the age of 40.[7] In 1952, 14 years after his consecutive no-hitters, Vander Meer pitched a no-hitter for theTulsa Oilers against theBeaumont Roughnecks in theTexas League.[28]
A four-timeAll-Star, Vander Meer compiled a 119–121 record with 1,294strikeouts and a 3.44ERA in2,104+2⁄3innings over a 13-year Major League career.[1] He had 29 careershutouts, ranking third on the Reds franchise list. His 1,251 strikeouts with the Reds were the team record at the time of his retirement in 1951.[1] Along withDizzy Dean (1932–1935),Warren Spahn (1949–1952),Randy Johnson (1999–2002),Tim Lincecum (2008–2010), andMax Scherzer (2016–2018), Vander Meer is one of only six NL pitchers since 1930 to lead the league in strikeouts in three straight seasons (1941–1943).[29]
After retiring as a player at the age of 40, Vander Meer became a minor leaguemanager in the Cincinnati Reds organization for ten seasons before retiring in 1962.[30] After his retirement from baseball, he worked for a brewing company.[13] He was inducted as part of the inaugural class into theCincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.[3] He died of an abdominal aneurysm at his home inTampa, Florida, on October 6, 1997, at the age of 82.[31]
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | No-hitter pitcher June 11, 1938 June 15, 1938 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
