Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey throws second no-hitter since September

By Chris Olds | Beckett Baseball Editor

Homer painted his second masterpiece within a year against the Giants Tuesday night.

Although he lost a perfect game in the seventh after a walk, Reds pitcher Homer Bailey did hold on to the no-no, which was his second of his career since he blanked the Pirates on Sept. 28. He struck out nine in the 3-0 victory in Cincinnati.

With his previous gem, he became the 15th pitcher in Reds history to throw a no-no and that one had ended a drought that had lasted since 1988. This no-hitter, the first of the season, was the first in MLB since Bailey’s last gem.

Bailey appears on 603 cards valued at more than $2,700, according to Beckett.com. (Need a checklist or OPG? Click here.) At the time of his last no-hitter, his then-544 cards went for just more than $2,600.

He has 259 different certified autographs and just 13 game-used memorabilia cards — stats that have gone unchanged since September.

Bailey’s most-valuable Rookie Cards are his 2004 SP Prospects card, a signed card limited to just 400 copies that typically sold for $25 or less before the news, along with his 2004 Bowman Chrome Draft autograph. His cheapest RC is his 2004 Topps Traded, which checks in at just 75 cents.

The most-popular first-year card of the former first-rounder from LaGrange, Texas, is his 2004 Bowman Chrome Draft Gold Refractor, a certified autograph limited to just 50 serial-numbered copies that typically sold for $200 or less before this news — a figure that was up from $120 at the time of his last n0-no.

Chris Olds is the editor of Beckett Baseball magazine. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an email to him at colds@beckett.com. Follow him on Twitter by clicking here.