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Although his major league no-hitters didn't come for another 11 years, Trucks rapidly became one of the league's premier pitchers. He went 148 in 1942 and 16-10 in '43, then served two years in the Navy. Remarkably, within a week of being discharged, he won Game 2 of the 1945 World Series against the Chicago Cubs, pitching all nine innings in a 4-1 victory in Detroit.

"My no-hitters were special, but without question, that was my greatest baseball thrill ever," Trucks said.

Sports writers quickly dubbed the powerful pitching staff of Dizzy Trout, Hal Newhouser and Trucks as "TNT."

In 1949, Trucks led the American League in strikeouts with 153 and in shutouts with six, and he finished with a 19-11 record. He also was selected to the All-Star Game.

But, by 1952, the Tigers had taken a mighty fall. On May 15, the team was mired in the basement when a crowd of only 2,215 showed up at Briggs Stadium to see 35-year-old Trucks face the Washington Senators.

"It seems like hundreds of people have told me they were there, but I know better because the park was nearly empty," Trucks said. "We were playing so badly that nobody wanted to see us play."

That day, though, fans were treated to one of the most dramatic no-hit games in history. Trucks was locked in a pitcher's duel with right-hander Bob Porterfield.

"Virgil was throwing absolute bullets," recalled George Kell, the Tigers' Hall of Fame third baseman. "But as a fielder, protecting a no-hitter was absolutely nerve-racking. You make up your mind that you're going to get a glove on any ball if you can. And of course, it's an unspoken word that you never talk about it."

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and no score, Tigers slugger Vic Wertz stepped up to the plate. On the first pitch, Wertz belted the ball into the far reaches of Briggs Stadium's right field upper deck to win the game.

"I immediately jumped up in that small dugout and bumped my head on the ceiling," Trucks said. "I didn't draw blood, but I sure saw some stars."

The dazed pitcher ran onto the field and was the first to greet Wertz at home plate.

"Believe me, it was a great relief to see Victor hit that one out," Kell said. "After the way Virgil pitched, you just wanted to get it over with."

Besides Wertz, Trucks was especially grateful to another teammate.

Before the game, Trucks noticed that his spikes had shrunk and were pinching his feet. Pitcher Art Houtteman told Trucks he could borrow a pair of his spikes, the same ones Houtteman wore earlier that year when he lost a no-hit bid with two out in the ninth.

"They fit perfectly for me the rest of the year," Trucks said. "Art kept trying to get 'em back, but I wouldn't do it."

Two months later, Trucks threw another magnificent game against the Senators. After yielding a single to the first batter, Eddie Yost, Trucks retired 27 in a row for another 1-0 victory.

Then came August 25 at Yankee Stadium, where Trucks once again threw a no-hitter. But unlike the dramatic game in May, this one would be controversial.

In the third inning on a bang-bang play, Phil Rizzuto was ruled safe at first after hitting a one-hopper to Tigers shortstop Johnny Pesky, who had trouble getting the ball out of his glove. Official scorer John Drebinger of the New York Times immediately ruled it an error, then changed his mind and called it a hit.

Other writers in the press box pestered Drebinger and told him it should have remained an error. Drebinger finally called Pesky in the dugout, and Pesky told him he had juggled the ball and should have made the play.

For the second time, Drebinger changed his mind, and when it was announced to the crowd in the seventh inning that the play was ruled an error, fans roared their approval.

"The thing that really bothered me about that play is that Rizzuto was really out at first," Trucks said. "We were all arguing with the first-base umpire, and I nearly got tossed from the game."

In the bottom of the ninth, after Mickey Mantle struck out and Johnny Groth made an outstanding catch in center, Trucks secured his second no-hitter when Hank Bauer hit a one-hop bullet to second baseman Al Federoff, who easily threw out Bauer.

The New York fans gave Trucks a standing ovation as he was mobbed by his teammates.

"I still think a lot of those New York fans were die-hard Giant and Dodger supporters who loved to root against the Yankees," Trucks said.

Though he always will be remembered for the no-hitters, Trucks said he probably pitched better games in his career.

"I pitched the same way every game, with mostly a 95- to 100-mile-per-hour fastball," he said. "With the same motion, I also threw an 85-mile-per-hour slider and a 75-mile-per-hour change-up. That really threw the hitters off."

But even in the year of the no-hitters, Trucks finished with a 5-19 record, due in large part to the team's anemic hitting. In his five victories, Trucks yielded only nine hits.

The Tigers finished in last place for the first time, with a 50-104 record. Their winning percentage of .325 was the lowest team record for futility until the 2003 Tigers finished with a .265 mark (43-119).

"The '52 season was bittersweet for me," Trucks said. "The sweet part was the no-hitters, but the rest of the season left a very bitter taste. We just went out there and tried to win, but we just didn't jell. If it had been a better season, we would have celebrated the no-hitters much more."

That December, while he recovered from gallbladder surgery at Henry Ford Hospital, his wife dropped a newspaper on his lap with headlines that declared he had been traded to the St. Louis Browns.

"I was very unhappy about that and the way I found out," Trucks said.

But he won 20 games in 1953 while pitching for the Browns and Chicago White Sox, and he won 19 the next season at Chicago. Before ending his 17-year career with the Yankees in 1958, Trucks also pitched for the Athletics and in 1956, the Tigers again. He later barnstormed one year out West with Satchel Paige and a team of Cuban ballplayers, coached in the early 1960s with the Pirates and worked as a scout for the Tigers until 1990.

These days, Trucks enjoys playing golf, fishing, visiting with his large extended family and following the game that is still in his blood. And despite the struggles of the Tigers, Trucks is still a big supporter.

"You know," he said, "the Tigers will always be No. 1 for me."

DID YOU KNOW ... that Virgil Trucks one only seven pitchers to lead American League in shutouts with two different teams? Trucks paced all . pitchers with the Tigers in 1949 (6) and the White Sox in 1954 (5). Others to accomplish feat are Cart Mays, Lefty Grove. Luis Tiant, Tommy John, Bert Blyleven and Roger Clemens.

Two No-Hitters in One Season

Year Pitcher, Team

1938 Johnny Vander Meer, Cincinnati Reds
 vs. Boston Braves on June 12
 vs. Brooklyn Dodgers on June 15

1951 Allie Reynolds, New York Yankees
 vs. Cleveland Indians on July 12
 vs. Boston Red Sox on September 28

1952 Virgil Trucks, Detroit Tigers
 vs. Washington Senators on May 15
 vs. New York Yankees on August 25

1973 Nolan Ryan, California Angels
 vs. Kansas City Royals on May 15
 vs. Detroit Tigers on July 15

Tiger Pitchers Who Led The League In ...

Strikeouts

Year Pitcher SO

1935 Tommy Bridges 163
1936 Tommy Bridges 175
1944 Hal Newhouser 187
1945 Hal Newhouser 212
1949 Virgil Trucks 153
1959 Jim Bunning 201
1960 Jim Bunning 201
1971 Mickey Lolich 308
1983 Jack Morris 232

Shutouts

Year Pitcher ShO

1905 Ed Killian 8
1926 Ed Wells 4
1932 Tommy Bridges 4
1935 Schoolboy Rowe 6
1943 Dizzy Trout 5
1944 Dizzy Trout 7
1945 Hal Newhouser 8
1949 Virgil Trucks 6
1950 Art Houtteman 4
1955 Billy Hoeft 7
1967 Mickey Lolich 6
1969 Denny McLain 9
1986 Jack Morris 6
2002 Jeff Weaver 3