David Michael Morehead (born September 5, 1942) is a former
Major League Baseball pitcher. A right-hander, Morehead pitched for the
Boston Red Sox (1963–68) and
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
(1969–70).
As a rookie in Morehead broke into the Red Sox starting rotation and posted a 10–13 record with a 3.81
earned run average. He
shut out the
Washington Senators in his Major League debut on April 13. On May 12 of that same year, he pitched a one-hitter against the same Senators, the lone hit coming on a
Chuck Hinton home run.
In Morehead went 8–15 and his ERA ballooned to 4.97. In he tied for the
American League lead with 18 losses, against 10 victories, for a Red Sox team that finished next-to-last, with 100 losses. On September 16 of the latter year, the same day the Red Sox fired
Pinky Higgins as general manager, Morehead
no-hit the
Cleveland Indians 2–0 before only 1,247 fans in a day game at
Fenway Park, the lone baserunner coming on
Rocky Colavito
Rocco Domenico "Rocky" Colavito Jr. (born August 10, 1933) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1955 to 1968, most prominently as a me ...
's second-inning walk. Not until
Hideo Nomo in would another Red Sox pitch a no-hitter, and the next no-hitter at Fenway Park wouldn't come until (
Derek Lowe
Derek Christopher Lowe (born June 1, 1973) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. During his career, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Cleveland I ...
), It was the fourth no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher in a ten-year period, with
Mel Parnell pitching one in and
Earl Wilson and
Bill Monbouquette both pitching one in . Parnell's and Wilson's no-hitters, like Morehead's, had also been pitched at Fenway Park—one of Major League Baseball's most notorious hitter-friendly stadiums. It would be another 37 years before a Red Sox pitcher threw a no-hitter at Fenway.
Over the next three years, Morehead would be beset by arm ailments that limited him to 33 games pitched—one fewer than in 1965. He was a member of the
Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski ( ; nicknamed "Yaz"; born August 22, 1939) is an American former Major League Baseball player. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year Major League career with the Bost ...
-led Red Sox team that won the American League pennant and pitched two games in
relief in the
World Series, which the Red Sox lost to the
St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. Morehead was selected in the
expansion draft by the Kansas City Royals and pitched in 21 games in , 19 in relief. In he pitched in 28 games and posted a 3.62 ERA, the lowest of his career. In
spring training
Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...
of , the Royals released him; he had pitched his final game at 28 years of age, the arm ailments having ended his career prematurely.
In his career, Morehead won 40 games against 64 losses with a 4.15 ERA and 627 strikeouts in 819
innings pitched
In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...
. He also exhibited periods of wildness,
walking 463 batters during his career. In each of his first three seasons, Morehead was second in the American League in walks with 99, 112 and 113 respectively.
See also
*
List of Major League Baseball no-hitters
Below is a list of Major League Baseball no-hitters, enumerating every no-hitter pitched in Major League Baseball history. In addition, all no-hitters that were broken up in extra innings or were in shortened games are listed, although they are no ...
External links
Boxscore of Morehead's no hitter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morehead, Dave
Boston Red Sox players
Kansas City Royals players
Baseball players from San Diego
Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players
Seattle Rainiers players
Johnstown Red Sox players
Louisville Colonels (minor league) players
1942 births
Living people
Arizona Instructional League Royals players
Florida Instructional League Red Sox players