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NY Mets history: 5 forgotten or overlooked details from Johan Santana's no-hitter

Which details did you forget or never knew about?
ByTim Boyle|
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May 31, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets former pitcher Johan Santana waves to the crowd as he walks onto the field for a ceremony celebrating the ten year anniversary of his no-hitter before a game against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
May 31, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets former pitcher Johan Santana waves to the crowd as he walks onto the field for a ceremony celebrating the ten year anniversary of his no-hitter before a game against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

June 1 hits the calendar and New York Mets fans know what it means. It’s No-Han Santana Day! Taking place annually exactly one month before Bobby Bonilla Day, this one is cause for celebration.

It was on June 1, 2012, when a franchise known for its pitching finally broke the drought and held an opponent hitless. Aside from the controversial Carlos Beltran hit down the line that was called foul and Mike Baxter’s no-hitter-saving catch, not many other details are discussed a whole lot. What parts of this game did you forget?

Forgotten details about Johan Santana’s Mets no-hitter

He was pitching against Mets nemesis Adam Wainwright

The names of some opponents matter in Mets history. Adam Wainwright is one of them. You already know Beltran was present, but did you remember it was Wainwright pitching for the Cardinals? The only thing better would have been if Yadier Molina made the final out. He was on deck when David Freese struck out to end the game.

The perfect game was over quickly

Freese made the last out of the game, but he also ended the perfect game with a walk in the second inning with one out. The chance at the first Mets perfect game was long over before fans wanted nothing to do with jinxing the outcome. Santana walked the next batter, Molina, as well.

Johan Santana had only 3 ground ball outs all game

Santana wasn’t a ground ball pitcher, but he was usually capable of getting a lot more than 3 over the course of a 9-inning game. Wainwright led off the third, Beltran’s infamous at-bat in the sixth, and the final out of seventh were the three lone worm burners of the game.

The Mets were in a playoff spot after this win

The 2012 Mets were mediocre with just 74 wins. However, after their 8-0 win over the Cardinals on this day, they were positioned as the co-owners with the Miami Marlins for a Wild Card spot. At 29-23 in a clustered NL East, the Mets gave us a tease at a summer run.

This wasn’t Johan Santana’s breaking point

The 134 pitches feeds into the lore that this was the finality of Santana pitching well. Beat up in his next two starts that combined to last 10 innings with 10 earned runs, Santana also had a 6-inning shutout performance in the middle of June and finished it with 8 innings of 3-hit ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road. They didn’t score a run either. The Dodgers start would be his final MLB win. It was his final 5 starts when things began to look ugly. Was it because he got pushed too hard on June 1? Someone call the government to investigate.

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