A Look at Dominating Phillies Pitching Performances: Rick Wise No-Hits the Reds in 1971


With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Rick Wise faced the Reds’ right fielder for the final out.  Up until this point, the only blemish on Wise’s performance had been a sixth inning walk to shortstop Dave Concepcion.  In order to preserve the no-hitter, and make history, Wise would have to retire one of the most dangerous hitters, and indeed, the eventual Major League hit king, Pete Rose.

The Phillies led 4-0.  Three of those runs were driven in by Wise himself, with a two run home run in the fifth and a solo shot in the eighth.

But now Wise bore down on Rose.  With a full count, Rose hit a line shot, right at third baseman John Vukovich.  The date was June 23, 1971.  It would be another nineteen years before another Phillies pitcher would throw a no-hitter.

Despite an All-Star season, where Wise won seventeen games and posted a 2.88 ERA, he would not return to a Phillies uniform in 1972.  Instead, Rick Wise would forever be known as the answer to a trivia question for Phillies fans, namely, who did the Phillies trade in order to receive Hall of Famer Steve Carlton from the Cardinals.

And yet, being remembered only for the trade that brought the left-handed strike-out king to Philadelphia fails to do justice for a solid career. Wise made a second All-Star appearance in 1973 for the Cardinals, when he won sixteen games and struck out 144.  In 1975, Wise received votes for both the American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards, when he won nineteen games for the Red Sox.  Indeed, Wise was the pitcher of record when he came in relief in game six of the World Series, which the Red Sox won due to a Carlton Fisk home run.

After eighteen seasons, Wise ended his career with the Padres, having won 188 games and lost 181.  While Wise never posted Hall of Fame numbers, he still left an indelible mark in Phillies history having performed a most remarkable athletic feat one night in Cincinnati in 1971.
 
By:  William J. Kovatch, Jr.
 
References
 
Baseball Almanac, "Box Score of No-Hitter by Rick Wise," http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/06231971.shtml.
 
Baseball Almanac, "Cincinnati Reds vs Boston Red Sox October 21, 1975 Box Score," http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=197510210BOS.
 
Baseball-Reference.com, "June 23, 1971, Riverfront Stadium," http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN197106230.shtml.
 
Baseball-Reference.com, "Rick Wise," http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wiseri01.shtml.
 
 

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