Reds/Colt 45’s on April 23, 1964 Notes– Part 1

On April 23, 1964, Houston Colt 45’s pitcher, Ken Johnson became the first pitcher in baseball history to pitch a no hit game, only to lose the game in the regulation nine innings.

There are many interesting notes associated with that game in which the Reds prevailed (1-0), vs the Colt 45’s.

In an interesting juxtaposition, in the game the night before, Pete Rose led off the game and was thrown out by Nelson Fox.

The next night in a far more dramatic situation, the game was scoreless with the Reds batting vs Johnson, who had a no hit game going, and Rose advanced to second base on Fox’s error. (By the way Nelson Fox was a tremendous player and is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.)

That led to Cincinnati scoring the game’s only run and Johnson losing, despite pitching a no hit game. Joe Nuxhall pitched a shutout, gaining the (1-0) victory for the Cincinnati Reds.

Ken Johnson, pictured above.