"Kids are always chasing rainbows, but
baseball is a world where you can catch them."
Johnny Vander Meer
Cincinnati Reds, Pitcher
THE FISHING HOLE was peaceful and quiet. A
quick shower had just sprinkled a welcomed relief from the
hot summer sun. Young Johnny Vander Meer watched his
bobber, hopeful that a fish would bite. He took his eye
off his line for a moment and gazed up at the clouds in
the sky.
"Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?" asked his best friend and
teammate Dick Jeffer. He cast his line into the deeper
water nearby. Dick and Johnny wore the same red baseball
cap. The place where they fished was their secret spot.
"I think I see a rainbow forming," said Johnny, "but…
that's not what I'm thinking about."
"Bet you're thinking about the same thing I am," said
Dick. "Baseball."
Johnny let out a breath. "I… I want to do something really
big in baseball someday," he said.
Suddenly, Dick's line tugged real hard. "Whoa! I think I
have something big, pal! And it's on the end of my line!
You know, I may even be a better fisherman than I am a
ballplayer!"
Johnny laughed. A smile grew on his face as he watched
Dick play his fish. He glanced up at the sky again. The
rainbow is beautiful, he thought. I wonder if I could
throw my line up and catch it?
Six years later, Johnny Vander Meer, 23-year-old southpaw
pitcher, accomplished a record in the great American game
of baseball that will most likely never be broken.
Vandy, as his friends' called him, threw lightning fast
pitches, some strikes and some balls, but no batter could
get a hit off his dazzling delivery.
That's called pitching a "No Hitter."
Pitching one No Hitter is considered great.
But Johnny Vander Meer pitched two of them, back-to-back.
No hits. No runs. Two times in a row. Incredible!
No pitcher in baseball history had ever done that before –
and no pitcher has done it since—and no pitcher will
probably ever do it again.
Now, that's special. One of the great stories of baseball.
It all began on June 11, 1938. The 23-year old Vander Meer,
a rookie in his first year in the Big Leagues, pitched his
team, the Cincinnati Reds, to a three to nothing victory
over the Boston Bees, at Crosley Field in Cincinnati,
Ohio. No Boston batters got a hit that game. The sports
page headlines read:
"JOHNNY VANDER MEER HURLS NO-HIT, NO-RUN GAME FOR REDS."
The Cincinnati Reds hadn't seen a No Hitter in 18 years,
but their wait for another one would be just four days
away, in a movie-like setting.
The place: Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York.
The opponent: the Dodgers, a rough, tough and scrappy
team, playing their very first night game under the lights
just installed in their stadium.
With their light-bulb-shaped tickets clutched in their
hands, the excited fans entered Ebbets Field. They stadium
practically burst at the seams. There were so many people
that the fire marshals allowed spectators to sit on the
stairs.
The Dodgers hired three bands to play for the big event.
And before the game, 500 wildly excited fans from Vandy's
New Jersey hometown came to Brooklyn to present him with a
gold watch during a special pre-game ceremony to honor his
first no hitter. Vandy's mom, dad, sister, girlfriend and
best friend Dick Jeffer watched proudly.
To top the wonder of it all, Babe Ruth, the Sultan of
Swat, one of the greatest pitchers and hitters to have
ever lived, graced Ebbets Field with his presence—and
Vandy met him in the dugout before the umpire called "Play
ball!"
The game started. Inning after inning, the tall, blonde
and handsome Vander Meer blazed fastballs and sharp curves
that sent Dodger batter after batter down without a hit.
The jam-packed crowd grew more and more nervous with every
pitch. They knew something amazing, something almost
miraculous in baseball was happening right before their
eyes. On the Reds' bench, nobody said a word to Vandy for
fear of putting the "wamie" on him.
Then, in the seventh inning, Vandy took the mound again.
With loyalty to the hometown team forgotten, the Brooklyn
Dodger fans started to cheer for "Unhittable Johnny."
Dodger fans cheering for a player on the other team? This
was indeed a magical night and the Brooklyn fans sensed
they were witnessing baseball history.
Pitch after pitch, the crowd chanted, "One, two, three,
four… strike!" with the rhythm of Johnny's stately
delivery.
The ninth inning began. The Cincinnati Reds held their 6-0
lead. After the first out, Vandy suddenly lost control of
his pitches. He walked three batters to load the bases.
Bill McKechnie, the Reds' manager, jogged to the pitcher's
mound. "Hey, kid. They're more scared of that ball than
you are." He slapped him on the back. "Pour it in there.
Pour that thing down their throats." Vandy nodded. He
gripped the ball nervously in his hand. His teammates
wondered if Vandy would get the ball over the plate.
Vandy wound up, threw the ball hard and managed to get
Ernie Koy to ground into a force play at the plate.
Only one batter stood between Johnny Vander Meer and his
second No Hitter. His name, Leo Durocher, the Dodger
player-manager, and one tough cookie.
Vandy hurled his best pitch.
"Strike one!" the umpire bellowed.
Vandy then threw a fastball that just missed the strike
strike zone for a ball. On the next pitch, Durocher swung
and missed. Moments later, Vandy blazed in another one and
Durocher smashed the ball down the right-field line. "Foul
ball!" the umpire called. He watched the ball sail into
the upper deck.
The tense crowd stood on their feet. The count: one ball
and two strikes.
Vandy's heart raced.
His catcher threw him a new ball. Vandy caught it.
Practically exhausted, he took the mound, wound up and
fired the ball as hard as he could toward home plate.
Durocher swung viciously. WHACK! The ball soared lazily
into the air to short center field.
Harry Craft darted forward. He waved his teammates away.
"I got it!" he shouted, and he camped under the descending
ball. It settled in his glove and he squeezed it tight.
The frantic fans let out a might roar and thunderous
applause. Hundreds jumped onto the playing field in
celebration of the Vander "Meeracle." They ran toward
Vandy, the brightest beam in the stadium, to congratulate
him. Some thought of tearing his Number 57 jersey off his
back. But Vandy's Cincinnati teammates guarded their tired
hero and raced him to their dugout.
"You did it, pal," said Dick Jeffer to himself. "Boy, you
did something big all right."
As Vandy vanished from the field, his name was now forever
etched into baseball history.
The wonder boy of baseball had caught his rainbow.
In the Reds' Clubhouse, wild with joy his teammates
crushed Vandy with hugs.
"You sure are making it tough for the rest of us
pitchers," said Paul Derringer, with a grin. Johnny
laughed. So did the entire team.
"Double No Hit" Johnny Vander Meer, the young Dutch
master, celebrated his amazing week early the next morning
with a fishing rod in his hand, a smile on his face and a
close friend for company. And had the reporters known
exactly where he was, it would have been the most crowded
fishing hole in the world.
THE END
Robert Skead is a Patriot who loves God, family and country. An American Revolution buff, Robert's favorite figure in U.S. history is George Washington. He is also the author of Hitting Glory – A baseball bat adventure, Safe at Home – A baseball card mystery, and Elves Can't Dunk. When he is not crafting stories, Robert can often be found at schools speaking with children and adults about creative writing and the importance of discovering one's talent for a fulfilled life. Thanks to the dedication and shed blood of our nation's past and present Patriots, Robert lives freely with his wife and family in the great state of the Revolution, New Jersey, in the United States of America – sweet land of liberty.
