Bob Watkins No-Hits the Memphis Blues. . .
Then Next Game, Luis Penalver Does the Same

First. . .    

 

 

 

Bob Watkins as he appeared on the Topps 1970 # 227 (Rookie Stars)
May 24, 1968

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Sp) -- Bob Watkins tossed the first no-hit, no-run game by a Dallas pitcher in 21 years here Friday night as Dallas-Fort Worth blanked Memphis 2 -0. It was Watkins' third victory of the year, against two losses, and all his successes have been shutouts. He blanked Memphis by an identical score earlier at [Dallas'] Turnpike Stadium.
Not since Bobby Hogue turned the trick as a member of the 1947 Rebels [defeating Beaumont 4 - 0] had a Dallas pitcher reached the magic no-hit circle.
Relying almost completely on his fastball, Watkins had only four base runners: he walked three and hit one, leaving two stranded. He fanned 12, just as he did when he recorded his last shutout two weeks ago. [The back of the Topps # 227 claims Watkins struck out fifteen in his May 11 effort.]
The only hard blow against the slender, 20-year old righthander was Glen Ezell's fly to deep center in the fifth.
Watkins turned in his masterful chore on a muggy night before 2,944 fans who cheered him when he came to bat for the last time leading off the ninth. . . .

Dallas Fort-Worth Spurs ABRHRBI
Gene Etter, cf 5 0 0 0
Jim Monin, 2b 5 0 0 0
Glen Clark, lf 3 0 2 0
Danny Walton, rf 4 0 1 0
Larry Howard, c 4 1 2 1
Fred Stanley, ss 4 1 2 0
Rafael Batista, 1b 4 0 1 0
Rick Lynn, 3b 4 0 2 1
Bob Watkins, p 4 0 0 0
 
 
Dallas Fort Worth totals37 2 10 2
Memphis Blues ABRHRBI
Rod Gaspar, cf 2 0 0 0
Dave Smith, 2b 3 0 0 0
Roy Foster, lf 3 0 0 0
Arsenio Diaz, rf 3 0 0 0
Curtis Brown, Jr., 3b 3 0 0 0
Mike Jorgensen, 1b 3 0 0 0
Glenn Ezell, c 3 0 0 0
Tony Canzano, ss 3 0 0 0
Ron Paul, p 1 0 0 0
Roger Stevens, ph 1 0 0 0
Joe Moock, ph 0 0 0 0
Memphis totals25 0 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Dallas-Fort Worth 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 0
Memphis Blues 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0   0 1

E- Canzano
DP- Dallas Fort Worth 1, Memphis 1
LOB- Dallas-Fort Worth 9, Memphis 2
HR - Howard
SB - Walton, Stanley

Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs IPHRERBBK
Bob Watkins (W, 3 - 2) 9 0 0 0 3 12
Memphis Blues IPHRERBBK
Ron Paul (L, 1 - 2) 6 8 2 2 1 6
Barry Raziano 3 2 0 0 0 1
HBP- Smith (by Watkins)
PB - Ezell
Time - 2:13 Attendance - 2,944

 

Source: Dallas Morning News, May 25, 1968

 

 
Then. . .    

 

 

 

May 26, 1968

MEMPHIS, Tenn (AP) - Dallas-Fort Worth and Memphis made Texas League history Sunday when the Spurs no-hit Memphis for the second straight time in the first game of a double-header, winning 3- 0. . .
Luis Penalver did not allow a hit in the seven innings of the opener to encore a similar performance by the Spurs' Bob Watkins here Friday night.
Watkins did not allow Memphis a hit over nine innings in winning 2- 0.
Penalver's no-hitter was the third of the season in the Texas League. Dick Armstrong of Albuquerque [in the Texas League?] pitched one over Dallas-Fort Worth April 22.
Back-to-back no-hitters by one team have never been recorded previously in the Texas League.
Memphis ended 18 straight scoreless innings without a hit in the second game when Chico Diaz slammed a pitch by George Gerberman 360 feet over the left-field fence in the second inning. The Blues had gone 26 innings without scoring. . .
Manager Roy Sievers of Memphis siad he believed "Gerberman threw harder in the second game than Penalver did in the first game but when you're not hitting, you make any pitcher look like Dizzy Dean. In two games, we had only two pitches that were hard hit."
In the first game, Penalver got all the runs he needed in the third inning when Rick Lynn homered. Two more runs came in the fifth when Rafael Batista and Lynn singled to left field.
Penalver was safe on a fielder's choice and Batista scored when he kicked the ball out of catcher Glen Ezell's hands.[!] Lynn scored on a squeeze bunt by Gene Etter.
Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs ABRHRBI
Gene Etter, cf 3 0 1 1
Jim Monin, 2b 4 0 0 0
Glen Clark, lf 3 0 0 0
Danny Walton, rf 3 0 0 0
Larry Howard, c 3 0 0 0
Fred Stanley, ss 2 0 0 0
Rafael Batista, 1b 3 1 1 0
Rick Lynn, 3b 3 2 2 1
Luis Penalver, p 2 0 0 1
 
 
Dallas-Fort Worth totals26 3 4 3
Memphis Blues ABRHRBI
Rod Gaspar, cf 3 0 0 0
Roger Stevens, rf 3 0 0 0
Dave Smith, 2b 3 0 0 0
Mike Jorgensen, 1b 3 0 0 0
Roy Foster, lf 2 0 0 0
Curtis Brown, Jr., 3b 2 0 0 0
Glenn Ezell, c 2 0 0 0
Tony Canzano, ss 2 0 0 0
Steve Renko, p 1 0 0 0
Joe Moock, ph 1 0 0 0
Bill Hepler, p 0 0 0 0
Memphis totals22 0 0 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 4 1
Memphis Blues 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

E- Brown 3, Ezell, Hepler, Stanley
DP- Memphis 1
LOB- Dallas-Fort Worth 5, Memphis 2
HR - Lynn
S - Etter

Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs IPHRERBBK
Luis Penalver (W, 3 - 3) 7 0 0 0 1 3

Memphis Blues IPHRERBBK
Steve Renko (L, 4 - 3) 6 4 3 2 1 3
Bill Hepler 1 0 0 0 1 0


WP- Renko 2
Time - 1:40 Attendance - 2,287

Using Bill James' Game Scores to evaluate these very well-pitched games, Watkin's effort grades out a little higher than Penalver's. When using James' system. Watkins' game, at 96, actually figures as the seventh most dominant pitching performance of all the great games collected here at Astroland. Penalver, because his game was only seven innings, and had a low strikeout total, is much lower on the list, with 79 points. But of course, James does not give extra credit for completing the back-to-back aspect, something that may have made Penalver's game more difficult to pitch than teammate Watkins'.

Source: Dallas Morning News, May 27, 1968

The Spurs were not a good team--they finished 21-1/2 behind the Arkansas Travelers in the East--but incredibly enough, they weren't done with no-hitters after the Watkins-Penavler quiniella. Click here to read the story of Paul Doyle and how he no-hit the league champion El Paso Sun Kings.

 

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