[lnpgaceta]

Now, Rodríguez shuffled around a few other teams (the Rebeldes—where I'm pretty sure I signed him—the Murciélagos, and the Soles) before the Petroleros picked him up, and, to their credit, they've stuck with him for ten seasons.

Or perhaps been stuck with him, because over those ten seasons, Rodríguez has posted exactly one winning record (16-14 in 1877), and since I know pitching record isn't useful even in this era, I should add that his ERA+ has never even reached league average.

Over those ten seasons, he's allowed an average of 10.8 hits and 12.6 runs per nine innings.

In other words, Fernando Rodríguez is not a good pitcher.

But on June 3rd, 1879, against the Maratonistas de Coamo, Fernando Rodríguez threw 87 pitches. That's already weird in 1879—pitchers routinely went the distance and usually threw 110-120 pitches per outing.

What's even weirder is that 53 of those 87 pitches were strikes, but he didn't strike out a single batter, even the opposing pitcher.

What's weirder than that is that he didn't walk any Maratonistas, though he hit one.

The other thing he didn't allow a single Maratonista to do was reach base safely, though his second baseman allowed one reach on error. (The next batter GIDP'd immediately thereafter, so Rodríguez still only faced the minimum.)

That's right: Fernando Rodríguez, who in 1879 went 15-21 with a 3.05 ERA (86 ERA+), threw an 87-pitch Maddux no-hitter without fanning or walking a single hitter. Of the 27 batters he faced, 16 of them lasted three pitches or fewer; four connected with the first pitch and got retired by the defense.

I had zero connection to the 1879 Petroleros, but I'm weirdly proud of these three innings: the first two for being metronomic six-pitch frames, and the latter for, after struggling to a full-count groundout on Iracheta, proceeding to get the next two batters to swing at, and get out on, the first pitch.