May 12, 1955: The 1st Black Pitcher to Throw a Major League No-Hitter

May 12, 1955, 70 years ago: The Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sam Jones of the Cubs pitched a no-hitter. This made him the 1st black pitcher to do so in the previously all-white major leagues.

It was far from a perfect game: He walked 7 batters. But he was also lucky. He walked Dale Long in the 2nd inning, but he was thrown out trying to steal 2nd base. He walked Toby Atwell to lead off the 3rd, but stranded him. He walked Long again to lead off the 5th, but got George Freese to ground into a double play.

The opposing pitcher, Vernon Law, nearly hit a home run to straightaway center field, but Eddie Miksis, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI on the day, caught it. He walked Long a 3rd time, leading off the 8th, and gave up another long fly to center, to Freese, by Miksis caught this one, too. Then Jones got Toby Atwell to ground into a double play.

In addition to Miksis' heroics, shortstop Ernie Banks went 3-for-5 with an RBI, and right fielder Ted Tappe went 2-for-5, with a home run and 2 RBIs. Despite being a Cub and having an unusual surname, Ted was no relation to Elvin "El" Tappe, a teammate, and later part of the Cubbies' dumb "College of Coaches" experiment. El did have a brother, Melvin -- El and Mel -- who pitched professionally.

Then came the 9th. Jones walked Freese, and threw a wild pitch that got him to 2nd base. That ended up not mattering, because he walked Preston Ward. Then he walked Tom Saffell. Bases loaded, nobody out, and the next 3 batters were Dick Groat, a rookie named Roberto Clemente, and Frank Thomas. (Not the later Chicago White Sox "Big Hurt," but a powerful slugger in his own right.) Suddenly, not just the no-hitter, but the game was in doubt: Thomas represented the tying run.

Jones buckled down, struck Groat out looking, struck Clemente out swinging, and struck Thomas out looking. It was a brilliant comeback, and he had his no-hitter.

Jones was born in 1925 in Stewartsville, Ohio, near Steubenville, and also near Wheeling, West Virginia. Because of the earlier star Yankee pitcher with the same name, he, too, was nicknamed "Sad Sam." He was also known as "Toothpick Sam": Like 1970s stars Dusty Baker and U L Washington, he was frequently seen chewing on a toothpick.

Having gotten his start in the Negro Leagues, in 1952, he pitched for the Cleveland Indians, and his catcher was a former Cleveland Buckeyes teammate, Quincy Trouppe. This made them the 1st all-black "battery" in the American League, 3 years after Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella had been the 1st in the modern major leagues, and 75 years after George Stovey had pitched to Moses "Fleet" Walker.

Jones was named to the All-Star Game in 1955 and 1959. He led the National League in strikeouts in 1955 and 1956. In 1959, with the San Francisco Giants, he led it in strikeouts, wins and earned-run average, the Triple Crown of Pitching. Had the Cy Young Award then been given out to the best pitcher in each League, he would have won it for the NL. But it was given to the best pitcher in both Leagues from its 1956 inception until 1966, and in 1959, he finished 2nd in the voting to Early Wynn of the Chicago White Sox.

He pitched for mostly struggling teams, resulting in a career record of 103-104. And his timing was bad. He pitched for the Indians in 1951 and 1952, missing their 1948 and 1954 Pennants. He pitched for the Giants from 1959 to 1961, missing their 1962 Pennant. He pitched for the Detroit Tigers in 1962, a year after their best performance since 1945, although it's hard to imagine him making an 8-game difference. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1963, missing their 1964 World Series win. And his last major league season was 1964, finishing just 2 games behind the Yankees for the Baltimore Orioles, 2 years before their 1966 World Series win.

He pitched beyond 1962 despite having been diagnosed with cancer in his neck. He fought it bravely until it took his life in 1971, when he was only 45 years old.

In 2007, pitcher-turned-broadcaster Jim "Mudcat" Grant included Jones in his book Black Aces, about the 13 black pitchers, including himself, who had won 20 or more games in a major league season. Newcombe was the only one to accomplish the feat before Jones. Since the book was published, 2 more have done it: CC Sabathia, the only Yankee on the list, in 2010; and David Price, with the 2012 Tigers.