Daniel Gossett throws first no-hitter in Wichita Wind Surge baseball team history
Daniel Gossett isn’t sure if he’ll ever have another chance at the majors.
More than four years after throwing his last pitch in Major League Baseball, the 29-year-old knows he very well could be fighting to extend his career with the Wichita Wind Surge at the Double-A level.
Regardless of what the future holds, Gossett made a memory of a lifetime on Friday when he toiled 120 pitches to complete the first no-hitter in Wind Surge history in a 3-0 win over the Tulsa Drillers in front of 7,709 fans at Riverfront Stadium.
“I feel like I spent a lot of my career super stressed about baseball and trying to provide for my family,” Gossett told MILB.com. “So coming (to Wichita) it was like, ‘Let’s have a good time, let’s enjoy it.’
“I love it here and this game is just the icing on the cake. It’s the thing every pitcher dreams about.”
Gossett, a 6-foot right-hander, was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft and reached the majors with the organization by 2017. From 2017-18, Gossett logged 23 starts with a 4-14 record and 5.91 earned run before suffering an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.
After being released by the A’s before the 2020 season, Gossett was picked up by the Boston Red Sox and spent last season in Triple-A. He signed with the Minnesota Twins this past offseason and began the year in Triple-A but was demoted after posting a 9.73 ERA in St. Paul.
Gossett’s stint in Wichita is the first time he has pitched at the Double-A level since 2016.
“I could kind of read the writing on the wall,” Gossett told MILB.com. “I’m an older guy, having gone to Triple-A and coming back down, I can kind of understand what’s going on. I just didn’t want to feel like I gave up. I just wanted to keep giving it my all.”
Gossett’s all was on full display on Friday, as he struck out 10 hitters, including the final out of the game, to record the first no-hitter of his professional career. Three walks -- two coming in the ninth inning -- were the only thing standing between him and a perfect game.
He told MILB.com that his pitch count was set for 100 pitches, a mark he nearly reached after finishing the eighth inning at 96 pitches. He begged Wichita manager Ramon Borrego to return in the ninth inning, a wish that his manager granted and stuck with even when Gossett walked two in the ninth inning.
Gossett ended the game with a swinging strikeout.
“They pulled some strings and gave me a shot, I’m just glad I could repay that,” Gossett said. “They put their neck out for me to allow me to throw a lot of pitches.”
The Surge have won 12 of their last 14 games and improved to a league-best 37-24 at home this season. Wichita also extended its lead in the Texas League North standings to six games in the second half of the season, as the organization inches closer to a second straight postseason appearance.
Saturday evening’s Wind Surge game against Tulsa was scheduled to be MiLB.TV’s free game of the day.
This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 12:28 PM.
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