August 27, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Cooperstowners in Canada
Forty-seven years ago today, Phil Huffman pitched the game of his life for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Heading into his start against the Oakland A’s at Exhibition Stadium that afternoon, the 21-year-old rookie owned a 5-14 record and a 5.70 ERA in 24 starts. And it’s safe to say that no one was expecting brilliance from him on the mound.
But the young right-hander took the ball and proceeded to toss a one-hit shutout to lead the Blue Jays to a 7-0 victory over the A’s and their young leadoff hitter, Rickey Henderson (who went 0-for-4).
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound Huffman struck out three batters and needed only 98 pitches to dispose of the A’s, in a game that took just two hours.
The only hit Huffman surrendered was a leadoff single to A’s catcher Jim Essian in the sixth inning.
“He [Huffman] had much better command of his pitches than he has ever had,” Blue Jays manager Roy Hartsfield told the Toronto Star after the game. “He may never pitch a better game, but if he does, it will have to be a no-hitter, and not walk anybody and that’s a perfect game.”
Huffman walked two batters and baffled the A’s primarily with curveballs and changeups in what was the second one-hitter ever thrown by a Blue Jays’ pitcher. Dave Lemanczyk tossed the first against the Texas Rangers on April 24, 1979.
“The first couple of innings I had trouble getting my curveball over,” Huffman told the Toronto Star, “but once I could throw it for strikes, it made things a whole lot easier.”
Huffman admitted he was disappointed when he lost his no-hitter in the sixth.
“That first hit did kind of make me mad but only for a moment,” Huffman told the Toronto Sun. “We still had some runs and they didn’t have any, so the main thing was to just keep them from scoring. I’m very happy to have the shutout.”
And that shutout would be the first – and only – one of Huffman’s big league career. It also marked his first home victory as a Jay and, sadly, the last win of his major league career. That’s an outcome neither Huffman, nor the Blue Jays, could’ve predicted at the time. The Freeport, Texas native was the youngest pitcher on the staff and he was thought to have a bright future with the club.
So, in hindsight, Huffman was fortunate that he took the time to savor the applause he received from the 12,047 fans at Exhibition Stadium and that he got the last out ball from first baseman John Mayberry after the game.
“They [the fans] were behind me all the way. When I went out for the ninth inning, they were clapping and cheering and that was great,” Huffman told the Toronto Star.
Huffman was also appreciative of the offence provided by Blue Jays third baseman Roy Howell, who went 4-for-4 and belted a grand slam in the sixth inning.
Unfortunately, Huffman was never able to duplicate that pitching performance. He lost his final four starts to finish the campaign with an American League-leading 18 losses.
After that season, Huffman never returned to the big leagues with the Blue Jays. He toed the rubber in triple-A Syracuse in 1980 and 1981 before being dealt to the Kansas City Royals for Rance Mulliniks on March 25, 1982.
Over the next four seasons, he pitched in the Royals, Mets and Orioles organizations, prior to resurfacing for two big league games with the O’s in 1985.
Huffman spent the majority of his final three seasons with the O’s triple-A Rochester Red Wings and he settled in Rochester after hanging up his playing spikes.
In 1997, he was hired to work on the demolition crew for Silver Stadium, the longtime home of the Red Wings.
And according to a Toronto Sun report, he was working as a manager at Jackson Welding Supply, a Rochester company that distributed high pressured liquid oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and flammable gas in 2002.
As of 2021, Huffman, who is 68 now, still had a Rochester address.
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