Win–loss record 91–106 Role Baseball player Earned run average 3.46 Died November 21, 2015 | Strikeouts 1,042 Height 1.93 m Name Ken Johnson Weight 95 kg | |
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Kenneth Travis "Ken" Johnson (June 16, 1933 – November 21, 2015) was a right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who became the first pitcher to lose a complete game nine-inning no-hitter.
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Early life
Johnson was born in West Palm Beach, Florida on June 16, 1933. Although a natural left hander, Johnson became a right handed pitcher because a left handed baseball glove was the only glove his father could find for his son. Johnson played high school baseball and then served a two year enlistment in the Army. After leaving military service, Johnson attended the University of South Carolina for a year and then joined a minor league baseball affiliate of the Philadelphia Athletics.
Baseball career
He pitched for the Kansas City Athletics (1958–61), Cincinnati Reds (1961), Houston Colt .45/Astros (1962–65), Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (1965–69), New York Yankees (1969), Chicago Cubs (1969), and Montreal Expos (1970). Johnson retired after the 1970 season with a career record of 91-106 and a 3.46 ERA.
No-hit game
Pitching for the Houston Colt .45s on April 23, 1964 at Colt Stadium, Johnson gave up no hits in a 1–0 loss to his former team, the Cincinnati Reds. The game's only run was scored in the top of the ninth after Pete Rose reached second base on an error (by Johnson himself), went to third on a ground-out, and scored on a second error, this one by second baseman Nellie Fox on Vada Pinson's ground ball. Opposing pitcher Joe Nuxhall retired the side in the bottom half to make Johnson a no-hit loser. Johnson still is the only player to ever lose an official no-hitter by himself.
Post retirement
After his retirement, Johnson returned to West Palm Beach where he worked as a baseball coach at what is now Palm Beach Atlantic University. Subsequently, Johnson moved to Pineville, Louisiana where he worked as a baseball coach at Louisiana College until his retirement in 2000. Johnson also served as a deacon at the First Baptists Church and Pineville and at New Life Community Church in Alexandria, Louisiana.
Death and legacy
Johnson died at the age of 82 at his home in Pineville. He had been bed ridden with Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases for two years prior to contracting a kidney infection that led to his death. His survivors include his wife Joanna, sons Ken Johnson Jr., and Russell Johnson, and daughter Janet Lynne Johnson, all of whom reside in the Pineville area along with six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Because of the way baseball defines a "no-hitter", at the time of his death Johnson remained the only pitcher officially credited with a no-hitter that he lost. In a 2004 interview Johnson said that he regretted being the answer to a piece of baseball trivia.
"Instead of the notoriety,' he said in a 2004 interview with the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, "I'd rather have won the game."