The first of two for Johnny Vander Meer

Johnny Vander Meer, the Cincinnati Reds' sporadically brilliant left-hander, throws the first of his record back-to-back no-hitters 86 years ago today in beating the Boston Bees 3-0.

The Saturday afternoon game attracts a crowd of only 5,814 fans at Cincinnati's Crosley Field.

The closest Boston comes to getting a hit comes with two outs in the fourth inning when Vince DiMaggio – yep, Joe’s older brother – lines a ball off Vander Meer’s glove toward Reds third baseman Lew Riggs, who throws out DiMaggio to end the inning.

“He’s a real pitcher,” Boston manager Casey Stengel later says. “You watch him from now on. They’ll have trouble beating him.”

Stengel is right, at least in the short term.

No-hitting the Dodgers in Brooklyn

Four days later, Vander Meer no-hits the Brooklyn Dodgers 6-0 before a crowd of 38,748 that initially shows up for first night game in the history of Ebbets Field and gets the bonus of seeing Vander Meer add to his own history in 1938.

The rest of his career does not go as well – really, how could it? – as Vander Meer ends up with an overall record of 119-121 and 3.44 earned-run average during his 13 seasons in the majors.

While Vander Meer strikes out 1,294 batters over 2,105 innings in his career, he also walks 1,132 batters.

Historians note that Vander Meer’s attempt for three straight no-hitters lasts until the fourth inning of his June 19, 1938 start at Boston, where Vander Meer beats the Braves 14-1 but not before Debs Garms singles to center with one out in the fourth.

And that is just fine with Vander Meer.

“The pressure had become too much and I was glad to get out from under it. Enough was enough,” Vander Meer later tells author David Keller.

“I think if I’d have had a $10 bill in my baseball pants I’d have gone over to first base and handed it to Garms.”