Card #424 -- Denny Doyle, Philadelphia Phillies
On July 18, 1972, Denny Doyle broke up a no-hit bid by Steve Arlin with two out in the ninth. To date, it is the closest and San Diego Padre pitcher has ever come to pitching one. He also ended up getting the only hit in games by guys named Nolan: Gary Nolan surrendered a two-run homer in one, and Nolan Ryan ended up getting the one-hitter in 1970. He would get more chances eventually, but he was still on the Mets then, another team that hasn't had any no-nos tossed by its staff.
Ironically, Doyle is regarded as one of the proverbial good field/no-hit infielders that were more common at that time. He came up in 1970 with the Phillies, went to the Angel in 1974 and was a platoon infielder for the Red Sox beginning in that magical 1975 season. He stayed in Boston until his retirement in 1977 and hit .250 for his career.
The next year, Doyle founded a baseball camp with his brothers Brain (also an ex-major leaguer) and Blake. They still run that camp today.
Doyle and Arlin both came up through the Phillies' farm system in the late 1960s. (I thought they may have been teammates, but a quick check shows that Arlin was a year ahead of Doyle at the various levels.)
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