After nearly five decades of sports spectatorship and fandom, I still have a fairly extensive “bucket list” of things I’d like to experience and witness as a sports fan. There are some obvious ones involving championships, particularly a Houston Texans Super Bowl victory, and getting even more granular, hosting the postgame show for a Super Bowl involving the Texans. (NOTE: I currently host the postgame show for the Texans on game days.)
Beyond the obvious “bucket list” items involving championships, I have several other items on there that are a little bit more specific and under the radar. One of those items is my desire to attend, in person, a no hitter in a Major League Baseball game. I don’t care if it’s the Astros tossing a no hitter, or some other team. Hell, I don’t even care if the Astros are on the wrong end of the no hitter. I just want to see one in person.
On the heels of last week, when the Astros had three pitchers combine on a no hitter against the Rangers, it become very evident that I have one thing working in my favor, when it comes to crossing this to-do off of the ol’ bucket list — no team throws more no hitters than the Houston Astros, at least not since 1962, when the Astros became a thing.
Since 1962, the Astros’ pitchers have thrown 18 no hitters. That number includes combined no hitters (i.e. no hitters using more than one pitcher) and postseason no hitters (what up, Cristian Javier?). The next closest team is the Los Angeles Dodgers with 13 no hitters since 1962.
Even more relevant and impressive is the fact that, during this era of Astros baseball, the last eight years or so, the Astros have thrown, as a pitching staff, seven no hitters. While I was in attendance for none of them (hence, the “bucket list” item), I remember them all, to varying degrees. So, without further ado, here is my power ranking of the seven no hitters of this golden (somewhat tarnished gold, the last couple seasons) era of Astros baseball:
**7\. August 3, 2019 – AARON SANCHEZ’ Astros debut (combined with WILL HARRIS, JOE BIAGINI, CHRIS DEVENSKI)**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 9, Mariners 0**
* This one is rated at the bottom of the list, solely because of the presence of Biagini, who wins the title of “most annoying Astro of this era” in a landslide. The guy thought he was a standup comedian, and instead, he was brutally unfunny. Good job, Sanchez, though!
**6\. August 1, 2023 — FRAMBER VALDEZ, first no hitters since by a lefty in team history**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 2, Guardians 0**
* I don’t remember much about this one, except it was at home and they were in a dogfight for the division in Dusty Baker’s final season as Astros manager, but I did love this 2023 version of Framber
**5\. April 1, 2024 – RONEL BLANCO, Joe Espada’s first win as Astros manager**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 10, Blue Jays 0**
* Little did we know, Blanco would be damn near an All Star that season, with 13 wins, and a sub-2.00 ERA.
**4\. May 25, 2026 – TATSUYA IMAI outta nowhere! (combined with STEVEN OKERT and ALIMBER SANTA)**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 9, Rangers 0**
* This was the most improbable no hitter, maybe ever. Imai had an ERA of nearly 9.00 coming into this game, and was one start removed from an Injured List stint to basically repair his brain. Incredible.
**3\. September 1, 2019 – JUSTIN VERLANDER’s third career no hitter**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 2, Blue Jays 0**
* I loved this game, because Abraham Toro made a gem of a defensive play to save the no hitter, and the first thing Verlander did after the game, in the celebration, was say “Where the f—k is Toro?” so he could find him, and thank him.
**2\. June 25, 2022 – JAVIER in YANKEE STADIUM (combined with HECTOR NERIS, RYAN PRESSLY)**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 3, Yankees 0**
* This one was a nice, big summer middle finger to the Yankees, who were 52-19 coming into that game.
**1\. November 2, 2022 – JAVIER in World Series Game 4 (combined with BRYAN ABREU, RAFAEL MONTERO, RYAN PRESSLY)**
* **FINAL SCORE: Astros 5, Phillies 0**
* This game saved the World Series for the Astros, who would have gone done 3-1 in the series with a loss in Game 4. Instead, they swept the Phillies the rest of the way and never looked back.