THIS DAY IN SPORTS: A slightly out-of-character no-hitter

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This Day In Sports…April 22, 1993:

There haven’t been many landmark days in Seattle Mariners history, but this was one of them. Chris Bosio became only the second M’s pitcher—and the last for the next 19 years—to pitch a no-hitter as he shut down the Boston Red Sox 7-0 in the Kingdome. It came down to the final out, as shortstop Omar Vizquel saved the day by bare-handing a high-chopper over the mound and throwing out Ernest Riles to end it. 

Bosio was in his first year with the M’s, having signed as a free agent after seven seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched through the 1996 season and was part of Seattle’s best team to date, the one that came the closest to the World Series in 1995. The no-hitter was the highlight of Bosio’s baseball life. He was essentially a .500 pitcher—his career record was 94-93. His lifetime ERA was a serviceable 3.96.

The first Seattle no-hitter was recorded at the Kingdomw in 1990 by the great Randy Johnson. The next one after Bosio’s didn’t come until 2012, when six Mariners hurlers (Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen) combined on a no-no in Seattle, tying the record for the most pitchers used in a no-hitter in big league history. Later that season, Felix Hernandez made history the conventional way, throwing a perfect game at Safeco Field.

There have been two Mariners no-hitters since: Hisashi Iwakuma tossed one in 2015, also at Safeco, and James Paxton recorded the last one in 2018. Paxton’s, appropriately enough, came at Rogers Centre in Toronto, making him the first Canadian-born pitcher to throw a no-hitter on Canadian soil.

(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)

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