Bruce Von Hoff No-Hits the Rocky Mount Leafs

August 10, 1966

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Rocky Mount Leafs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Durham Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 x 5 7 0

Von Hoff as he appeared in 1966
for the Durham Bulls. . . .		And as he appeared in 1968 on his
Topps # 529
by Dick Barkley, The Durham Sun Staff    
Durham's Bruce Von Hoff thrilled a sparse assemblage of spectators at Durham Athletic Park last night when he became the 47th pitcher in Carolina League history to twirl a no-hitter.
The 22-year old righthander employed a sharp rising fast ball and a sharp-breaking slider to silence the bats of the Rocky Mount Leafs. The Bulls scored all their runs in the seventh frame for a 5 - 0 decision.
Von Hoff thus became the 21st hurler in this league's 22-year history to toss a no-hit no-run gem in a nine-inning encounter. Other games have seen pitchers allow runs without surrendering hits. There have been 42 no-hit, no-run contests
since the loop was formed in 1945, and six other games have seen pitchers allow runs without surrendering hits. The masterpiece was the eighth no-hitter to be recorded in the league this season--a record for one year. Eighteen no-hitters were notched during the loops first 11 years, and 30 have been chalked up in the second 11-year period.
Other no-hitters this season have been credited to Conrad Noessel of Kinston, Dick Drago of Rocky Mount, Juan Quintana of Durham, Dick Mergler of Raleigh, Curt Sauer of Wilson, Bill Burbach of Greensboro, and Darrell Clark of Rocky Mount. Clark, incidentally, was the Leafs' losing moundsman here last night.

Rocky Mount Leafs ABRHRBI
Ron Woods, cf 3 0 0 0
Bob Christian, 3b 4 0 0 0
Wally Sherer, rf 1 0 0 0
Dave Kelly, 2b 3 0 0 0
George Kalafates, 1b 3 0 0 0
Junior Lopez, ss 3 0 0 0
Gabe Naudain, lf 3 0 0 0
Gene Lamont, c 3 0 0 0
Darrell Clark, p 2 0 0 0
Gary Taylor, p 0 0 0 0
Larry Haggitt, ph 1 0 0 0
Rocky Mount totals26 0 0 0
Durham Bulls ABRHRBI
Jim McDonald, 2b 4 0 1 0
Greg Sims, lf 4 0 0 0
Keith Lampard, 1b 4 0 0 0
Charles Murray, rf 3 1 1 0
Ivan Murrell, cf 3 1 1 0
Jim Monin, 3b 3 1 1 1
Jim Todhunter, ss 3 1 1 0
Bob Frati, c 3 1 1 3
Bruce Von Hoff, p 3 0 1 0
 
 
Durham totals30 5 7 4

E-   Sherer
DP-  Rocky Mount 1 Durham 1
LOB- Rocky Mount 2 Durham 2
2B - Von Hoff, Todhunter
HR - Frati

Rocky Mount Leafs IPHRERBBK
Darrell Clark (L, 7 - 5) 6-1/3 7 4 4 1 4
Gary Taylor 1-2/3 1 1 1 0 0

Durham Bulls IPHRERBBK
Bruce Von Hoff (W, 8 - 4) 9 0 0 0 3 9


Time - 1:52
Attendance - 316


Just One Out To Go!
  You're one out away from a no-hitter. You've just walked a batter which would have been the final out. And now you've tossed two balls wide of the plate to the next occupant of the batter's box.
  Out of the corner of your eye. . .you see your manager leap from the dugout and trot directly toward you. What do you expect the skipper to say?
   Bruce Von Hoff couldn't contain his laughter when asked this question after having set down Rocky Mount without a hit here last night.
  "He [Chuck Churn] told me two things," Von Hoff stated. "he said I should work a little harder next week, and that I should run more wind sprints on days when I'm not pitching."
  That, according to Von Hoff, was the extent of the one-sided conversation.
  "I was soaking wet, and truthfully... I was getting pretty tired," noted the blond hurler of Batvia, Ill.
  "I realized about the seventh inning that I hadn't given up a hit," the team's joker continued. "I was just hoping they would pop up or beat it down in the dirt."
  Von Hoff, called "Batman" by his playing mates, crdited catcher Bob Frati with signalling "an exceptionally fine game. I didn't shake off a single pitch that he called.
  "Also I had some good fielding support behind me," he recalled.
  "My slider was working real well. ..in fact, I guess it was the best all-round game I've ever pitched."
  None of the Rocky Mount players would have offered disagreement.

Play-by-Play Account of No-Hitter

FIRST INNING -- Ron Wood flied out to centerfield
  -- Bob Christian grounded out, short to first
  -- Wally Sherer walked
  -- Dave Kelly flied out to right field
SECOND INNING -- George Kalafates tapped a drag bunt toward first, but was outraced to the bag by Keith Lampard, who fielded the grounder.
  -- Junior Lopes and
  -- Gabe Naudain struck out.
THIRD INNING -- Gene Lamont bunted and was thrown out by Von Hoff
  -- Darrell Clark struck out
  -- Woods fanned
FOURTH INNING -- Christian popped out to short
  -- Sherer again walked
  -- Kelly struck out, and
  -- Sherer was thrown out attempting to steal second
FIFTH INNING -- Kalafates fanned
  -- Lopez flied to left
  -- Naudain struck out
SIXTH INNING -- Lamont grounded to first for an unassisted putout
  -- Clark struck out
  -- Woods flied to center
SEVENTH INNING -- Christian hit a hot smash directly at third baseman Jim Monin, whose throw to first nailed the runner by a step
  -- Sherer lined a drive to center which Ivan Murrell took easily after making a half dozen backward steps
  -- Kelly lifted a high fly down the right field line which Charles Murray hauled in near the foul stripe
EIGHTH INNING -- Kalafates struck out
  -- Lopez popped out to left center
  -- Naudain popped up to third
NINTH INNING -- Lamont chopped a grounder between first and second base,with Lampard fielding and tossing to Von Hoff covering at first
  -- Larry Haggit, a pinchhitter [for Gary Taylor], popped out to short
  -- Woods walked on a 3 - 1 count
  -- Christian, Rocky Mount's only .300 hitter, took two balls, and then rapped a grounder which Todhunter scooped up at short, and fired to Lampard for the final out

Using Bill James' Game Scores to evaluate this very well-pitched game, Von Hoff's effort grades out to a 93, which is tied for eleventh place (with Darryl Kile's no-hitter vs. the Mets, and Paul Doyle's no-hitter of June 29, 1968) on the list of all the great games collected here at Astroland.
Sources: Durham Morning News, August 11, 1966
Durham Sun, August 11, 1966

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