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The NY Mets rookie who almost pitched a no-hitter then disappeared after the season

A near no-no in his one and only MLB season.
ByTim Boyle|
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Sep 27, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; A cap and glove sits in the New York Mets dugout during a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Mets won 8-1. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sport
Sep 27, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; A cap and glove sits in the New York Mets dugout during a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. The Mets won 8-1. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sport | David Kohl-Imagn Images

When you’re bored and fall down a baseball rabbit hole, you might find some names or stats you never knew existed. You’re looking at something about Yogi Berra one day and end up on the Baseball-Reference Page of the 1975 New York Mets. About as mediocre as it gets despite Dave Kingman popping lots of home runs and Tom Seaver winning a Cy Young, the roster featured a 22-year-old starting pitcher who’d make 23 starts and a few more relief appearances then disappear into the baseball ether.

Randy Tate was an Alabama-born righty who pitched the fourth-most innings of anyone on that year’s Mets team behind only Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Jon Matlack. A 5-13 record and 4.45 ERA, it wasn’t one extreme or the other.

For those who know Tate’s Mets year, one specific game stood out most.

The near-Randy Tate no-hitter in 1975 for the Mets

Against the Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium on August 4, 1975, Tate took the mound for a 8:19pm start time in front of 10K+ fans in attendance. He retired the side in the first, striking out Gary Carter for the second of 13 strikeouts he’d have on the night.

Mike Jorgensen, an ex and future Mets player, walked to lead off the second inning. There would be no challenge for a perfect game. A no-hitter, on the other hand, remained alive.

With 4 walks sprinkled in, Tate made it into the 8th inning with a no-hitter intact. A struck out the first hitter then allowed pinch hitter Jim Lyttle onboard via base-hit. The next batter walked. Tate followed that up with a strikeout.

Two on and two out with the Mets up 3-0, Tate’s next challenge was to get through Gary Carter. A single spoiled the shutout. Then to the plate came Mike Jorgensen who broke up the perfect game early. He hit a home run. And just like that, the Expos took a 4-3 lead in what moments earlier was nearing the first no-hitter in Mets history.

The score would hold and the near-no-hitter became a Mets loss.

Tate would start and make relief appearances in the final weeks of the year. Unfortunately, a 6.20 ERA in Triple-A the following year buried him on the farm. He’d head down to Single-A in 1977 and pitched the 1978 season in the minors for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

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