Today
on the blog, we celebrate former Houston Astros hurler Don Wilson and
his 1967 no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves with this "missing" 1971
"Baseball's Greatest Moments" card:
On
June 18th of the 1967 season, the 22-year-old dominated the Braves, on
his way to what would be the first of two career no-no's with a 15
strikeout performance, even striking out Hank Aaron for the final out of
his gem at the Astrodome.
It
turned out to be the first no-hitter tossed under a roof, as well as
the first on artificial turf, unique in quite a few ways!
Two years later he'd repeat the feat, this time against the Cincinnati Reds, striking out 13 on his way to history yet again.
Wilson would go on to have arguably his best season in the Big Leagues
in 1969, finishing up with a record of 16-12 with an ERA at 4.00 with
235 strikeouts over 34 starts.
He’d match those 16 wins a couple of years later, his high-water mark for a season, with another 15 wins the following year, with ERA’s under 3.00 each time.
A bright star on the Houston Astros team, tragically, on January 5th of 1975 he passed away under mysterious circumstances in his home of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, which also took the life of his 5-year-old son who was sleeping upstairs above the garage. Wilson was only 29-years-old.
He’d match those 16 wins a couple of years later, his high-water mark for a season, with another 15 wins the following year, with ERA’s under 3.00 each time.
A bright star on the Houston Astros team, tragically, on January 5th of 1975 he passed away under mysterious circumstances in his home of carbon monoxide poisoning in his car, which also took the life of his 5-year-old son who was sleeping upstairs above the garage. Wilson was only 29-years-old.
