Fifteen years ago today - June 11, 2003 - six Astros pitchers combined on a no-hitter against the Yankees. They threw 151 pitches, quite possibly the most ever thrown in a no-hitter (of the no-hitters for which pitch count data exists, that's the most). Houston won 8-0.
Sweeny Murti talked to all six pitchers, as well as "a number of teammates and other key characters from that day" to compile this excellent article for The Athletic.
There was no dogpile at the mound and nobody tried lifting anyone on their shoulders. There were a few pats on the back and some high fives, but it seemed to be something in between a regular win in June and a typical no-hitter celebration.
"It was awkward is the best way to say it," [Brad] Lidge says.
And that's because even as that last out was made, some of the players on the field didn't know what just happened.
"I know Bagwell and Kent, those guys were clueless," [Billy] Wagner said. ...
[Jeff] Kent, the veteran second baseman, famously got most of the grief from his teammates for not knowing what just took place. ...
"Wow, you guys get excited about beating these Yankees," [Geoff] Blum recalls hearing Kent say.
To which Wagner replied, "You dumbass, we just threw a no-hitter." ...
[Starter Roy Oswalt:] "I don't even know, who did get the win that night?"
Great question, Roy. ...
In any ordinary game in which the starter fails to go five innings, as Oswalt did here [he pitched only one inning], the designation of "winning pitcher" becomes the decision of that game's official scorer. It is based on who he alone deems to be the most effective relief pitcher in the game. ...
In his fifth season as an official scorer for Major League Baseball games in New York, Howie Karpin began to recognize his conundrum around the sixth or seventh inning. ...
"Lidge retired all six batters that he faced," Karpin reasons. "He had the cleanest appearance really." ...
"There's no way Lidge should have gotten it," [Peter] Munro says. "Whatever, I don't care, but I think it should have been either me or [Kirk] Saarloos. Saarloos pitched the fifth and I pitched the most (2.2 innings)."
"I've got a bone to pick with (Karpin) still to this day," says Saarloos, who retired all four batters he faced.
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