What catcher has caught the most no-hitters?
Ray Schalk
Jason Varitek
If you go to Cooperstown and read Schalk’s plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame, that’s what you’d come away believing. Here’s what the plaque says:
"Caught four no-hit games including perfect game in 1922.''
So why is everyone, including the Globe, reporting that Varitek on Monday night became the first catcher to catch four no-hitters?
Because on Sept. 4, 1991, baseball’s committee on statistical accuracy, chaired by Fay Vincent, changed its definition of what a no-hitter was. The committee voted 8-0 to define a no-hitter as a game of nine innings or more that ended with no hits.
The definition eliminated 38 shortened no-hitters and 12 games in which a pitcher threw nine no-hit innings, then gave up a hit in extra innings.
That’s what happened with one of Schalk’s no-hitters. In 1914, Jim Scott of the White Sox had a no-hitter through nine innings, but gave up two hits in the 10th. After '91, that no longer counted as a no-no.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2008/05/did_ray_schalk.html