The first no-hitter was a 2-0 mess

On July 15, 1876, George Washington Bradley threw what Major League Baseball recognizes as the first no-hitter in major-league history. His St. Louis Brown Stockings beat the Hartford Dark Blues 2-0 at Grand Avenue Park, only a few months after the National League had been organized. 1 2

The strange part is how little the game resembled a defensive masterpiece. Bradley allowed two walks. St. Louis committed eight errors. Hartford still finished without a hit, and the earliest entry in the modern no-hitter ledger was secured by a pitcher working behind a defense that kept handing the game fresh ways to go wrong. 3 4

St. Louis did not build its lead with a barrage of clean hits. In the first inning, catcher John Clapp singled, then moved to third when Hartford pitcher Tommy Bond made a throwing error. Mike McGeary's fly ball brought him home. 1

The second run arrived in the second. Joe Blong singled and advanced when Hartford left fielder Tom York was slow handling the ball. Bradley then hit a grounder that first baseman Everett Mills failed to secure, allowing Blong to score. The eventual first no-hitter in National League history was therefore a 2-0 game in which both runs were tied to defensive misplays. 1

Hartford did find trouble for Bradley. In the eighth inning, York walked, moved to second on a sacrifice, and reached third on a wild pitch. He never scored. In the ninth, another St. Louis error put a Hartford runner on base, but Dick Higham hit into a double play to end the threat. The no-hitter survived not because the afternoon was tidy, but because every opening eventually closed. 1

Bradley was not a novelty act who happened to catch one lucky afternoon. In 1876 he carried almost the entire St. Louis pitching workload, throwing 573 innings and recording 16 shutouts. His nickname was "Grin," a reference to the smile he wore while pitching. 3

But the achievement did not receive the instant reverence a no-hitter gets today. SABR's account notes that contemporary coverage often treated Hartford's batting as the story and did not consistently emphasize that Bradley had kept the club hitless. The game became a milestone more clearly in retrospect, as later record books placed Bradley at the front of the list. 3

Bradley nearly produced another one three days later against Cincinnati. A two-out double in the ninth ended that attempt, but his scoreless run had reached 37 innings before it stopped. The first no-hitter, then, was not a pristine display of baseball order. It was a low-scoring escape, built by a pitcher who kept throwing strikes around the chaos and a defense that somehow made history while making eight mistakes. 1