what is a no hitter?

This year, it appears that the pitchers are doing much better at their job that hitters are doing at theirs.  The case could be made when this past week there were two no-hitters thrown.  A no-hitter is when the opposing pitcher doesn't allow a single, double, triple or home run to any opposing players.

On Tuesday, Minnesota Twins pitcher, Francisco Liriano managed to walk 6 Chicago White Sox hitters, but didn't allow a hit to record his first no-hitter.  On Saturday, Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander threw a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays.  It was Verlander's 2nd career no-hitter.

Justin Verlander throws a no-hitter on Saturday
photo courtesy of Toronto Globe and Mail

For a pitcher, a no-hitter is a tremendous accomplishment, as there have only been 271 no-hitters in the history of baseball going back to 1875.

The next best thing for a pitcher is to throw a perfect game, which is when a pitcher doesn't allow anyone on base.  This means the pitcher can't issue any walks, and no errors can be made by his teammates.  It would be a situation where the pitcher faced 27 batters, and retired all of them in order.  This has only been done 18 times in baseball history.