San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey joined an elite group this week as he was behind the plate for Chris Heston‘s no-hitter.
On June 9, 2015, Posey became the 17th player in big league history to catch three no-hitters. Posey’s other no-hitters were with Giants teammates Matt Cain (2012), who tossed a perfect game, and Tim Lincecum (2103).
Posey was a first round draft pick of the Giants in 2008 and one year later he made his major league debut in September appearing in seven games with a .118 batting average.
The next season would be different for Posey as he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, after hitting .305 with 18 homers and 67 RBI. The Giants won their first of three World Series titles in 2010 with the others coming in 2012 and 2014.
After missing most of 2011, Posey was named the NL Most Valuable Player in 2012. He won the batting title with a .336 average, while hitting 24 homers with 103 RBI. He is a two-time all-star with a pair of Silver Sluggers.
Jason Varitek of the Boston Red Sox holds the MLB mark having caught four no-hitters in his career from Hideo Nomo (2001), Derek Lowe (2002), Clay Buchholz (2007) and Jon Lester (2008).
The others who have caught three no-hitters are Alan Ashby, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Bill Carrigan, Del Crandall, Lou Criger, Silver Flint, Jim Hegan, Charles Johnson, Ed McFarland, Val Picinich, Carlos Ruiz, Ray Schalk, Luke Sewell and Jeff Torborg.
Berra, Campanella and Schalk are all members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Berra was behind the plate for the New York Yankees in the only perfect game in World Series play as Don Larsen tossed his gem against the Brooklyn Dodgers on Oct. 8, 1956.
Here are some unique items from a few of the players on the list:
Boston’s Criger caught two of Cy Young‘s no-hitters in 1904 and 1908.
While with the Cleveland Indians, Hegan caught the no-hitters for National Baseball Hall of Fame hurlers Bob Lemon in 1948 and Bob Feller in 1951.
Torborg was also behind the plate for a pair of legends. With the Los Angeles Dodgers, he caught Sandy Koufax‘s fourth and final no-hitter, which was a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 9, 1965. On May 15, 1973, Torborg worked with Nolan Ryan of the California Angels to beat the Kansas City Royals during the righthander’s first of a MLB record seven no-hitters.
Perhaps the most unusual combination of three no-hitters is on the resume of Philadelphia’s Ruiz. In 2010, he caught a perfect game from Roy Halladay during the regular season at Florida. The duo hooked up again at home against Cincinnati during the National League Division Series.
The most recent no-hitter for Ruiz in 2014 featured the combination of Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon on the mound.