A no-hitter is a simple concept in baseball that is very difficult to execute. A no-hitter involves preventing the opposing team from getting a hit for nine innings. This is different from a perfect game in baseball because a perfect game requires the pitcher (or pitchers) to make 27 straight outs (a pitcher can walk batters and still throw a no-hitter, but not a perfect game).
From the thousands of major league games each year over the hundreds of years in the history of Major League Baseball, slightly more than 250 no-hitters have ever been thrown. Only 16 of those 250 were perfect games.
Nolan Ryan was the undisputed king of no-hitters, throwing a Major League Baseball record seven in his long career. His first two came within exactly two months of each other with the California Angels: one on May 15, 1973 and the other on July 15. He won two more with the Angels: September 28, 1974 and June 1, 1975. He threw his fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26, 1981, which broke Sandy Koufax's record. Finally, his sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 11, 1990 and May 1, 1991.
There have been nine combined no-hitters, that is, when multiple pitchers collectively throw a no-hitter during a game. The first was on June 23, 1917 and was begun by Babe Ruth. Ruth was ejected from the game for arguing with an umpire in the first inning. Ernie Shore came in in relief and retired the next 26 batters.
There have been 12 no-hitters where the pitcher ended up losing the game. A no-hitter is official through nine innings, so a pitcher can give up a run in extra innings.
On October 9, 1958, Don Larsen became the only person in Major League history to throw a no-hitter during a World Series game, a feat that has not been repeated.
