NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: BILL STONEMAN, OCTOBER 2ND, 1972

The next no-hitter in my on-going sub-set through the 1970’s celebrating all the gems thrown by pitchers is a second appearance by the Montreal Expos’ Bill Stoneman, who also threw a no-hitter in 1969:

Stoneman became of the rare breed of Major League pitchers with multiple no-hitters when he finished the 1972 season with a 7-0 no-no against the New York Mets at Jarry Park, making him the very first to throw a no-hitter outside the United States.
While he struck out nine Mets during the game, he also issued seven walks, so it wasn’t exactly a dominating performance.
Nevertheless, Stoneman got into the MLB record books with no-hitter #2 for his career, while opposing pitcher Jim McAndrew took the loss, finishing his season at 11-8.
The no-hit shutout would allow Stoneman to lower his season ERA below 3.00, finishing up at 2.98 while going 12-14 with four shutouts 13 complete games, with 171 strikeouts.
The season also saw him get his one and only All-Star nod, however sadly for him arm troubles set in the following season, in which he posted a record of 4-8 with an ERA at 6.80 over 29 appearances and 96.2 innings.
In April of 1974 the California Angels purchased him but the change of scenery didn’t help, as Stoneman would go on to post a record of 1-8 over 13 appearances, with an ERA of 6.14 over 58.2 innings pitched.
By June, the Angels released him and he was out of Big League ball for good.

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: BILL STONEMAN APRIL 17TH 1969

I’ve been meaning to begin a new sub-set thread for a while now: no-hitters in baseball between 1969 and 1978 to feature as special cards in the Topps sets between 1970 and 1979.
So today we begin with one of the earliest no-hitters in history, which also happened to be for a new franchise playing in only their ninth game ever, Bill Stoneman and his gem against the Philadelphia Phillies on April 17th, 1969:

The Expos, who were at Connie Mack Stadium sporting a record of 3-5 over their first eight games, had Stoneman starting his third game of the season, with the first two forgettable as he gave up eleven runs over nine combined innings, with six of those being unearned due to shoddy fielding behind him.
But on this day everything fell into place as he’d go on to strikeout eight batters, though walking five, picking up his first win of the year and entering the record books, giving the new franchise a quick moment in Major League history with their first no-hitter.
The Expos went on to win the game 7-0, as opposing starter Jerry Johnson gave up four runs over eight innings before relievers let the game get out of control with another three runs in the ninth inning.
Ironically, Stoneman went on to toss yet another no-hitter, this one at the END of a season, on October 2nd, 1972, joining (especially at the time) a very exclusive club of multiple-no-hit pitchers with yet ANOTHER 7-0 win, this one over the New York Mets.
Despite the heroics here, Stoneman went on to win only 54 games over his eight-year career, finishing up 54-85 with an ERA of 4.08 over 245 appearances and 1236.1 innings pitched, with the 1971 easily his finest when he went 17-16 with an ERA of 3.15 and 251 strikeouts, along with three shutouts over 39 appearances and 294.2 innings.