document_title: No-hitter

question_text: what mlb teams do not have a no hitter

question_tokens: what mlb teams do not have a no hitter

text: No-hitter

text: Major League Baseball no-hitters[edit]

text: Definition[edit]

text: A no-hitter is defined by Major League Baseball as follows: "An official no-hit game occurs when a pitcher (or pitchers) allows no hits during the entire course of a game, which consists of at least nine innings."[1] This definition was specified by MLB's Committee for Statistical Accuracy in 1991, causing previously recognized no-hitters of fewer than nine innings or where the first hit had been allowed in extra innings to be stricken from the official record books. Games lost by the visiting team in 8½ innings but without allowing any hits do not qualify as no-hitters, as the visiting team has only pitched eight innings.[2][3]

text: Frequency[edit]

text: Major League Baseball has officially recognized 299 no-hitters thrown since 1876; only 23 of those were perfect games. Two no-hitters have been thrown on the same day twice: Ted Breitenstein and Jim Hughes on April 22, 1898; and Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela on June 29, 1990.

text: Eight no-hitters were thrown by major league pitchers in the 1884 season. In the modern era (since 1901), seven no-hitters were thrown in 1990, 1991, 2012, and 2015.

text: The longest period between any two no-hitters in the modern era is 3 years, 44 days between Bobby Burke on August 8, 1931, and Paul "Daffy" Dean on September 21, 1934. There was a drought of 3 years, 11 months, without a no-hitter after the first National League no-hitter on July 15, 1876, pitched by George Bradley. The most recent year without any no-hitters is 2005.

text: The greatest span of games without a no-hitter anywhere in the Major Leagues is 6,364, between Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18, 2004, for the Arizona Diamondbacks, and Aníbal Sánchez's no-hitter on September 6, 2006, for the Florida Marlins. The previous record was a 4,015-game streak without a no-hitter from September 30, 1984, to September 19, 1986.

text: Individual[edit]

text: The pitcher who holds the record for the most no-hitters is Nolan Ryan, who threw seven in his long career. His first two came exactly two months apart, while he was with the California Angels: the first on May 15, 1973, and the second on July 15. He had two more with the Angels on September 28, 1974, and June 1, 1975. Ryan's fifth no-hitter with the Houston Astros on September 26, 1981, broke Sandy Koufax's previous record. His sixth and seventh no-hitters came with the Texas Rangers on June 1, 1990, and May 1, 1991. When he tossed number seven at age 44, he became the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter.

text: Only Ryan, Sandy Koufax (four), Cy Young (three), Bob Feller (three), and Larry Corcoran (three) have pitched more than two no-hitters.[4] Corcoran was the first pitcher to throw a second no-hitter in a career (in 1882), as well as the first to throw a third (in 1884).

text: Thirty-six pitchers have thrown more than one no-hitter, combined no-hitters not counting. Randy Johnson has the longest gap between no-hitters: he threw a no-hitter as a member of the Seattle Mariners on June 2, 1990, and a perfect game as an Arizona Diamondback on May 18, 2004.

text: The pitcher who holds the record for the shortest time between no-hitters is Johnny Vander Meer, the only pitcher in history to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts, while playing for the Cincinnati Reds in 1938.[5] Besides Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds (in 1951), Virgil Trucks (in 1952), Ryan (in 1973), and Max Scherzer (in 2015) are the only other major leaguers to throw two no-hitters in the same regular season.

text: Jim Maloney also had two no-hitters under the previous rules in the 1965 season, both of them taken into extra innings. On the first one on June 14, he gave up a home run to Johnny Lewis to open the top of the 11th inning, turning 10 innings of no-hit ball into a 1–0 loss to the New York Mets. According to the rules interpretation of the time, this was considered a no-hitter.[6] On August 19, a home run by Leo Cárdenas in the tenth inning allowed Maloney to earn a 1–0 10-inning no-hit win over the Chicago Cubs.[7]

text: Roy Halladay threw two no-hitters in 2010 – a perfect game during the regular season and a no-hitter in the 2010 National League Division Series. He is the only major leaguer to have thrown no-hitters in regular season and postseason play.

text: Two pitchers missing their non-pitching hand have thrown no-hitters; Hugh Daily, of the Cleveland Blues, defeated the Philadelphia Quakers 1–0 on September 13, 1883, and Jim Abbott, of the New York Yankees, defeated the Cleveland Indians 4–0 on September 4, 1993. Daily lost his left hand in a gun accident as a child, and Abbott was born without a right hand.

text: The record for most no-hitters caught by a catcher is four, a record shared by Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek and Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz. Varitek caught no-hitters for Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, Clay Buchholz, and Jon Lester.[8] Varitek also caught a rain-shortened, five-inning unofficial no-hitter for Devern Hansack on October 1, 2006.[9] Ruiz caught two no-hitters for Roy Halladay, including a perfect game, as well as one for Cole Hamels, and a combined no-hitter for Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles, and Jonathan Papelbon.[10] Before MLB redefined "no-hitter", Ray Schalk had long held the record of catching four no-hitters, but his first nine-inning no-hitter had ended with a hit in the tenth inning.[9][11]

text: Five pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in both the American League and the National League: Cy Young, Ryan, Jim Bunning, Nomo, and Randy Johnson. Only five catchers have caught a no-hitter in each league: Gus Triandos, Jeff Torborg, Darrell Porter, Ron Hassey, and most recently, Drew Butera.[12] Triandos caught Hoyt Wilhelm's 1958 no-hitter and Jim Bunning's perfect game, Torborg caught Koufax's perfect game and Ryan's first no-hitter, Porter caught Jim Colborn's 1977 no-hitter and Bob Forsch's second no-hitter in 1983, and Hassey caught Len Barker's and Dennis Martínez's perfect games. Butera caught a 2011 no-hitter by Francisco Liriano and a 2014 no-hitter by Josh Beckett.[12]

text: Team[edit]

text: No team has thrown no-hitters in consecutive games, although it has happened once on consecutive days: On May 5, 1917, Ernie Koob of the St. Louis Browns no-hit the Chicago White Sox, and teammate Bob Groom repeated the feat in the second game of a doubleheader the following day.

text: On two occasions, there have been back-to-back no-hitters thrown by each team in a series. On September 17, 1968, Gaylord Perry of the San Francisco Giants no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Cardinals' Ray Washburn no-hit the Giants the following day. On April 30, 1969, Jim Maloney of the Cincinnati Reds no-hit the Houston Astros, and the Astros' Don Wilson no-hit the Reds the following day. Surprisingly, it was both Maloney's and Wilson's 2nd no-hitter in their careers.

text: Teams have thrown two straight no-hitters, with no other teams pitching one in the interim, 19 times; most recently by the Los Angeles Dodgers (Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw in 2014). The only team to throw three straight no-hitters was the Milwaukee Braves, with Lew Burdette, followed by consecutive no-no's by Warren Spahn, in 1960 and 1961. Individual pitchers have thrown two straight no-hitters seven times: Addie Joss 1908 and 1910; Vander Meer in 1938; Allie Reynolds in 1951; Warren Spahn in 1960 and 1961; Ryan twice, first in 1973, then in 1974 and 1975; and Bailey. All seven instances were with the same team.

text: The Tampa Bay Rays are the only MLB team to fail to get a hit in three games in a span of 12 months or fewer. No-hit by Arizona's Edwin Jackson on June 25, 2010, the Rays were also the victims of two perfect games: the first by White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle on July 23, 2009, the second by Oakland's Dallas Braden on May 9, 2010. On August 15, 2012, the Rays were once again on the losing end of a perfect game, this time at the helm of Félix Hernández and the Seattle Mariners.[13]

text: Combined no-hitters[edit]

text: The vast majority of no-hit games are finished by the starting pitcher, but twelve MLB no-hitters have been thrown by a combination of the starting and relief pitchers. The first such combined no-hitter occurred on June 23, 1917, when Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox relieved starter Babe Ruth, who had been ejected for arguing with the umpire after walking the first batter of the game. The runner was subsequently caught stealing and Shore retired the next 26 batters without allowing any baserunners. This game was long considered a perfect game for Shore, since he recorded 27 outs in succession; current rules classify it only as a combined no-hitter. Another major league combined no-hitter did not occur until April 30, 1967, when Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles recorded the final out in relief of Steve Barber in a 2–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

text: The only combined extra inning no-hitter to date occurred on July 12, 1997. Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers Francisco Córdova (9 innings) and Ricardo Rincón (1 inning) combined to no-hit the Houston Astros, 3–0. Victory was secured with a three-run walk-off home run by pinch hitter Mark Smith in the bottom of the tenth inning.

text: On June 11, 2003, the Houston Astros set a record with six pitchers involved in a combined no-hitter. On that day, Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel, and Billy Wagner combined to hold the New York Yankees hitless. Oswalt was removed after one inning due to injury. Munro pitched the most innings, 2⅔. He also allowed five of the six baserunners, giving up three walks, hitting a batter and seeing another reach on an error by third baseman Geoff Blum. The only other baserunner was allowed by Dotel, who threw a third-strike wild pitch to Alfonso Soriano with one out in the eighth; Dotel went on to record the forty-fifth four-strikeout inning in regular-season play.[14] Lidge, who retired all six hitters he faced over the sixth and seventh innings, earned the victory. On June 8, 2012, the Seattle Mariners tied this record when Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, and Tom Wilhelmsen combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers. Millwood pitched 6 innings before he was taken out due to a groin injury.

text: Only one pitcher has thrown a no-hitter as a starter and contributed to a combined no-hitter as a reliever. On September 30, 1984, Mike Witt threw a 1–0 perfect game for the California Angels against the Texas Rangers. On April 11, 1990, pitching the eighth and ninth innings in relief of Mark Langston, Witt earned a save in another 1–0 no-hit victory for the Angels over the Seattle Mariners.

text: Vida Blue, Kent Mercker, Kevin Millwood, and Cole Hamels are the only pitchers to start both a complete game no-hitter and a combined no-hitter. Vida Blue no-hit the Minnesota Twins on September 21, 1970, while pitching for the Oakland Athletics. He combined with Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers to no-hit the California Angels on September 28, 1975. While with the Atlanta Braves in 1991, Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Peña no-hit the San Diego Padres in the National League's first combined no-hitter. Mercker threw a complete game no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 1994. In addition to the game above in which Millwood and the Seattle Mariners tied the record by using six pitchers in a no-hitter, Millwood previously threw a complete game no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on April 27, 2003, while with the Philadelphia Phillies.  Both Mercker and Blue were All-Stars in the seasons of their combined no-hitters, and Blue also won the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player Award during his career.

text: Combined no-hitters are considered unofficial by Nippon Professional Baseball.

text: Earliest, latest, title-clinching, and postseason no-hitters[edit]

text: Hideo Nomo threw the earliest no-hitter based on calendar date: April 4, 2001, the second game of the season for the Boston Red Sox, against the Baltimore Orioles. The Cleveland Indians' Bob Feller left the Chicago White Sox hitless in the 1940 season opener on April 16, the only official Opening Day no-hitter.

text: There have been five no-hitters thrown on the final day of the regular season. Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds ended the season by no-hitting the Pittsburgh Pirates on October 15, 1892; this is also the latest calendar date for a no-hit game thus far. On September 28, 1975, four Oakland A's pitchers (Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, Rollie Fingers) combined for a season-ending no-hitter against the California Angels. Mike Witt of the California Angels threw a perfect game against the Texas Rangers on September 30, 1984. Henderson Álvarez of the Miami Marlins no-hit the Detroit Tigers on September 29, 2013, to close the regular season. Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals no-hit the Miami Marlins on the last day of the 2014 season, September 28.

text: The latest regular-season no-hitter by calendar date in the modern era is October 3, achieved by Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals in 2015.

text: The Houston Astros' Mike Scott no-hit the San Francisco Giants on September 25, 1986, a victory that also clinched the National League West title for the Astros; this is the only such occurrence in Major League history to date. In the first game of a doubleheader on September 28, 1951, Allie Reynolds of the New York Yankees pitched a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox which clinched a tie for the American League pennant (the pennant was clinched outright in the doubleheader's second game).

text: There have been two postseason no-hitters in MLB history, one by a pitcher from each league. For the AL, on October 8, 1956, Don Larsen of the New York Yankees threw a perfect game in Game 5 of that year's World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The feat had nearly been accomplished nine years earlier by the Yankees' Bill Bevens, who came within one out of a no-hitter (though not a perfect game) against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 4 of the 1947 World Series, only to lose the game on a pinch-hit double by Cookie Lavagetto. There have been other one-hitters in the World Series, with the lone hit coming earlier in the game than in Bevens' effort. For the NL, on October 6, 2010, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies, in the first postseason appearance of his career, threw the second no-hitter in postseason history, in Game 1 of the Phillies' NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds.

text: Rookie no-hitters[edit]

text: Twenty-two MLB rookies have pitched a no-hitter since 1901. Three pitchers have thrown a no-hitter in their first major league starts; two others have done it in their second major league starts.[15]

text: Bumpus Jones of the Cincinnati Reds threw a no-hitter on October 15, 1892 in his first major league game. Jones pitched only eight games in the big leagues, finishing with a career win/loss record of 2–4 and a career earned run average of 7.99.

text: Ted Breitenstein pitched a no-hitter in his first Major League start on October 4, 1891, however, it was not his first Major League game.[16] He later threw a second no-hitter on April 22, 1898.

text: On May 6, 1953, Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter for the St. Louis Browns in his first major league start (also not his first major league game). This game would prove to be one of only three major league wins that Holloman achieved, against seven losses, all in 1953. Bill Veeck, then-owner of the Browns, in his autobiography described the 27 outs of Holloman's no-hitter as consisting of hard-hit ground balls, screaming line drives, and deep fly balls. At the other end of the spectrum, there are nine 300-game winners—Grover Cleveland Alexander, Kid Nichols, Lefty Grove, Early Wynn, Steve Carlton, Don Sutton, Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens and Tom Glavine—who failed to pitch a no-hitter.

text: On August 11, 1991, Wilson Álvarez of the Chicago White Sox pitched a no-hitter in his second career major league start. During Alvarez's first career start, he had allowed three runs on a pair of home runs and did not retire a single batter. Unlike Jones and Holloman, Alvarez went on to win 102 games over a 16-year career.

text: Clay Buchholz pitched a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox in his second major league start on September 1, 2007 at Fenway Park. The game ended in a 10–0 victory for the Red Sox over the Baltimore Orioles.

text: Nine-inning no-hitters in a losing effort[edit]

text: Unlike a perfect game, in which no batters reach base, in regular no-hitters batters can reach base in other ways, such as a walk, an error, or a hit batsman, thus it is possible for the team pitching the no-hitter to lose. On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten, 1–0, by Cincinnati. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.[17]

text: On April 30, 1967, Steve Barber and Stu Miller of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a combined no-hitter, but lost 2–1 to the Detroit Tigers.[18]

text: On July 1, 1990, Andy Hawkins of the Yankees pitched an eight-inning no-hitter (the Yankees were the away team) against the Chicago White Sox and lost the game 4–0 after an eighth inning which saw three errors.[19] The four runs that the White Sox scored are the most by any team in a game in which they had no hits.[20] Because Hawkins only threw eight innings, this game is not recognized as an official no-hitter by Major League Baseball; however, it was considered a no-hitter at the time it was pitched. Years after the game, the rules regarding no-hitters, (and rules regarding other statistics), were changed and applied retroactively in order to "clean up the record book". The Hawkins "no-hitter" failed on at least two provisions of the new standards. To be classified a valid no-hitter, the pitcher must face opposing batters in at least nine innings.

text: Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Angels also combined for eight innings of no-hit baseball in a 1–0 road loss to the Dodgers June 28, 2008, where Matt Kemp reached on an error, stole second, advanced to third on another error, and scored on a sacrifice fly. However, since the Angels only pitched eight innings, this game is not recognized as an official no-hitter.

text: Shortened no-hitters[edit]

text: A game that cannot continue due to weather or darkness may be considered a completed official game, as long as at least five innings have been completed. Until 1991, any such game in which a pitcher held the opposing team without hits was considered an official no-hitter; however under the current rule, a no-hitter must last for at least nine innings to count. As the rule was applied retroactively, thirty-six games in which a no-hitter was interrupted by weather or darkness, with lengths ranging from 5 to 8 innings, are no longer considered no-hitters.

text: If the home team leads after the top of the ninth, they do not bat in the bottom of the ninth, thus the visiting team only pitches 8 innings. Since it is possible to score runs without getting hits, a visiting team can complete a full game without allowing a hit but not be credited with an official no-hitter. This has happened four times in MLB history: Silver King (1890), Andy Hawkins (1990), and Matt Young (1992) pitched complete games without allowing a hit, but pitched only 8 innings as the losing pitcher from the visiting team, and thus are not credited with a no-hitter.[21][22] On June 28, 2008, Jered Weaver and José Arredondo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim threw 8 no-hit innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, but lost the game, 1–0, and are not credited with a no-hitter. This is the first near no-hitter of this kind in which more than one pitcher was involved.

text: No-hitters lost in extra innings[edit]

text: A game that is a no-hitter through nine innings may be lost in extra innings. Under current rules, such a game is not considered an official no-hitter because the pitcher did not keep the opponent hitless for the entire course of the game.

text: On May 2, 1917, a game between the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds reached the end of nine innings in a hitless scoreless tie,[23] the only time in baseball history that neither team has had a hit in regulation. Both Hippo Vaughn of the Cubs and Fred Toney of the Reds continued pitching into the tenth inning. Vaughn lost his no-hitter in the top of the tenth, as the Reds got two hits and scored the winning run. Toney retired the side in the bottom of the tenth and recorded a ten-inning no-hitter. This game was long considered a "double no-hitter", but Vaughn is no longer credited with a no-hitter under the current rules.

text: Of the thirteen potential no-hitters that have been lost in extra innings, two were perfect games until the inning when the first hit was surrendered. On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a remarkable twelve perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves before losing the perfect game on an error and then the no-hitter and the game in the thirteenth inning. On June 3, 1995, Pedro Martínez of the Montreal Expos pitched nine perfect innings against the San Diego Padres before giving up a hit in the tenth and exiting the game, which the Expos then won, 1–0.[24]

text: On August 23, 2017, in a game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill pitched nine no-hit innings, only to lose his no-hit bid (and the game) on a walk-off homer by Josh Harrison in the 10th inning.[25] This was another potential perfect game; the perfect game was broken up by a ninth-inning error, the first time this had happened in MLB history.[26]

text: No-hitter droughts[edit]

text: Only one existing franchise in Major League Baseball has not had a pitcher toss a no-hitter: the San Diego Padres, who have gone 49 years without a no-hitter since they entered Major League Baseball in 1969. Their closest bid came against the Philadelphia Phillies on July 18, 1972; Steve Arlin came within one out of a no-hitter before Denny Doyle broke up the bid with a single. On July 9, 2011, five Padres pitchers combined for 8 2⁄3 innings of no-hit pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers before Juan Uribe hit a double, which was followed by a Dioner Navarro single that won the game, which had been scoreless up to that point.

text: Of all the teams that have thrown at least one no-hit game, however, the Cleveland Indians, as of end of the 2017 MLB season, have had the longest drought; the last such game thrown by the team was by Len Barker on May 15, 1981, which was also a perfect game.

text: The New York Mets, who began play in 1962, went without a no-hitter until Johan Santana pitched one on the night of June 1, 2012, against the St. Louis Cardinals at home at Citi Field. The 8–0 victory closed out their era as the oldest franchise without a no-hitter and ended a drought that lasted 8,019 regular-season and 74 post-season games. Mets pitchers have thrown 39 one-hitters.

text: The longest no-hitter drought in Major League history was suffered by the Philadelphia Phillies between May 1, 1906, and June 21, 1964, a span that encompassed 8,945 games.

text: The Washington Nationals achieved their first no-hitter on September 28, 2014.[27] The franchise has four previous no-hitters in its history as the Montreal Expos, including a perfect game by Dennis Martínez.

text: Six current NL teams—the Braves, Dodgers, Giants, Phillies, Cubs and Reds—all pitched their first no-hitters before the advent of the American League in 1901. Among the early National League teams still playing, the last to get their first no-hitter was the St. Louis Cardinals, when Jesse Haines pitched one on July 17, 1924. Of the original American League teams, the last team to get their first no-hitter was the New York Yankees, when George Mogridge pitched one on April 24, 1917. There are a number of short-lived Major League franchises from the nineteenth century that folded without ever recording a no-hitter.

text:
Date of No-hitter

Pitcher(s)

Franchise

Time Since No-hitter

June 25, 2010
Edwin Jackson
Arizona Diamondbacks
7003298000000000000♠8 years, 58 days

April 8, 1994
Kent Mercker
Atlanta Braves
7003890200000000000♠24 years, 136 days

July 13, 1991
Bob Milacki (6 IP)Mike Flanagan (1 IP)Mark Williamson (1 IP)Gregg Olson (1 IP)
Baltimore Orioles
7003990200000000000♠27 years, 40 days

May 19, 2008
Jon Lester
Boston Red Sox
7003374700000000000♠10 years, 95 days

April 21, 2016
Jake Arrieta
Chicago Cubs
7002853000000000000♠2 years, 123 days

April 21, 2012
Philip Humber
Chicago White Sox
7003231400000000000♠6 years, 123 days

July 2, 2013
Homer Bailey
Cincinnati Reds
7003187700000000000♠5 years, 51 days

May 15, 1981
Len Barker
Cleveland Indians
7004136130000000000♠37 years, 99 days

April 17, 2010
Ubaldo Jiménez
Colorado Rockies
7003304900000000000♠8 years, 127 days

May 7, 2011
Justin Verlander
Detroit Tigers
7003266400000000000♠7 years, 107 days

August 21, 2015
Mike Fiers
Houston Astros
7003109700000000000♠3 years, 1 day

August 26, 1991
Bret Saberhagen
Kansas City Royals
7003985800000000000♠26 years, 361 days

May 2, 2012
Jered Weaver
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
7003230300000000000♠6 years, 112 days

May 4, 2018
Walker Buehler (6 IP)Tony Cingrani (1 IP)Yimi Garcia (1 IP)Adam Liberatore (1 IP)
Los Angeles Dodgers
7002110000000000000♠110 days

June 3, 2017
Edinson Vólquez
Miami Marlins
7002445000000000000♠1 year, 80 days

April 15, 1987
Juan Nieves
Milwaukee Brewers
7004114520000000000♠31 years, 129 days

May 3, 2011
Francisco Liriano
Minnesota Twins
7003266800000000000♠7 years, 111 days

June 1, 2012
Johan Santana
New York Mets
7003227300000000000♠6 years, 82 days

July 18, 1999
David Cone
New York Yankees
7003697500000000000♠19 years, 35 days

April 21, 2018
Sean Manaea
Oakland Athletics
7002123000000000000♠123 days

July 25, 2015
Cole Hamels
Philadelphia Phillies
7003112400000000000♠3 years, 28 days

July 12, 1997
Francisco Córdova (9 IP)Ricardo Rincón (1 IP)
Pittsburgh Pirates
7003771100000000000♠21 years, 41 days

n/a
n/a
San Diego Padres
7004180340000000000♠49 years, 137 days

June 9, 2015
Chris Heston
San Francisco Giants
7003117000000000000♠3 years, 74 days

May 8, 2018
James Paxton
Seattle Mariners
7002106000000000000♠106 days

September 3, 2001
Bud Smith
St. Louis Cardinals
7003619700000000000♠16 years, 353 days

July 26, 2010
Matt Garza
Tampa Bay Rays
7003294900000000000♠8 years, 27 days

July 28, 1994
Kenny Rogers
Texas Rangers
7003879100000000000♠24 years, 25 days

September 2, 1990
Dave Stieb
Toronto Blue Jays
7004102160000000000♠27 years, 354 days

October 3, 2015
Max Scherzer
Washington Nationals
7003105400000000000♠2 years, 323 days

text: Avoiding no-hitters[edit]

text: All modern-era MLB teams have experienced at least two no-hitters pitched against them. The record for the longest period of time without being no-hit is held by the Chicago Cubs, who succeeded in getting at least one hit in every game since Sandy Koufax's perfect game against them on September 9, 1965, until they were no-hit by Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies on July 25, 2015, a period of 49 years, 318 days (7951 games – including 31 Post Season games).  The second-longest streak without having an official no-hitter pitched against them is held by the New York Yankees, who had a gap of 44 years, 263 days between nine-inning no-hitters from September 21, 1958 to June 10, 2003. However, during this time, the Yankees team hitting streak ended in a rain-shortened official game on July 12, 1990,[28] after 31 years, 294 days. The St. Louis Cardinals have the second-longest team hitting streak in MLB history: May 12, 1919 to May 14, 1960, a period of 41 years, 3 days. Among AL teams, the Kansas City Royals have the longest team hitting streak: May 15, 1973 to May 19, 2008, a period of 35 years, 4 days.

text: The longest current streak is held by the Oakland Athletics at 25 years, 241 days (4103 games, including 44 postseason games) as of March 11, 2017. They were last held hitless on July 13, 1991, when four Baltimore Orioles pitchers combined to shut down the A's offense.

text: No-hitters and ballparks[edit]

text: Forbes Field, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from the middle of the 1909 season until the middle of the 1970 season, is the only long-term major league ballpark where a no-hitter was never thrown during its existence. There are several recently built fields where no-hitters have not yet been thrown. Six parks presently in existence for a decade or more have only seen one no-hitter each: Coors Field, the hitter-friendly home of the Colorado Rockies (Hideo Nomo on September 17, 1996); the Orioles' current home, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, known for being hitter friendly (Nomo on April 4, 2001); Miller Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers which is known for being hitter-friendly (Carlos Zambrano of the "visiting" Chicago Cubs on September 14, 2008 against the "home" Astros in a game displaced by Hurricane Ike), PNC Park, the current home of the Pirates, which like Forbes Field is known for being hitter-friendly (Homer Bailey on September 28, 2012); Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres, which initially was known as a pitcher's park but was modified with shorter fences in 2013 (Tim Lincecum on July 13, 2013); and Minute Maid Park, the home of the Houston Astros which is known for the short Crawford Boxes in left and for its deep outfield in center (Mike Fiers on August 21, 2015).

text: International competition[edit]

text: In the 2006 World Baseball Classic, Shairon Martis pitched a no-hitter for the Netherlands against Panama, however it was only seven innings due to the mercy rule.

text: Superstitions[edit]

text: One of the most common baseball superstitions is that it is bad luck to mention a no-hitter in progress, especially to the pitcher and in particular by their teammates (who sometimes even go so far as to avoid even going near the pitcher).[29] Some sportscasters observe this taboo while others have no reservations about mentioning no-hitters before completion. When Sandy Koufax pitched his no-hitter against the Mets in 1962, one of their 120 losses that season, Mets' coach Solly Hemus, apparently trying to jinx Koufax, kept heckling him through the game about pitching a no-hitter, according to a post-game interview Koufax gave after pitching his third no-hitter in 1964. An early biography of Koufax quoted him as telling his catcher, during that 1964 no-hitter, "Let's just go to the fastball and get this no-hit thing over with." Mickey Mantle, in an interview for Ken Burns' 1994 Baseball documentary series, related that Don Larsen, famed for his 1956 World Series perfect game, tried to talk about his no-hitter throughout the contest but much to his chagrin his Yankee teammates avoided his conversation and maintained the superstition.

text: When Los Angeles Angels rookie Bo Belinsky entered the final inning of his no-hitter in 1962, Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jackie Brandt passed him on the field as the teams changed sides. According to Belinsky biographer Maury Allen, Brandt told Belinsky, "Nice game, Bo, but it's over. I'm leading off with a bunt single." Belinsky got Brandt out to start the final inning of his no-hitter.

text: In 2009, when Mark Buehrle was pitching his perfect game, as he exited the field after the eighth inning, White Sox broadcaster Ken Harrelson exclaimed, "Call your sons! Call your daughters! Call your friends! Call your neighbors! Mark Buehrle has a perfect game going into the ninth!" Buehrle retired the side in the ninth to complete the perfect game.

text: When Jim Bunning was pitching his perfect game in 1964, he deliberately violated this superstition, talking to his teammates about the perfect game's progress in order to dispel the tension in the dugout.[30]


document_title: Euro

question_text: when was the euro introduced as legal currency on the world market

root

text: Euro

text: Administration[edit]

text: The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank (ECB) and the Eurosystem (composed of the central banks of the eurozone countries). As an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy. The Eurosystem participates in the printing, minting and distribution of notes and coins in all member states, and the operation of the eurozone payment systems.

tag: p

text: The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, although not all states have done so. The United Kingdom and Denmark negotiated exemptions,[13] while Sweden (which joined the EU in 1995, after the Maastricht Treaty was signed) turned down the euro in a 2003 referendum, and has circumvented the obligation to adopt the euro by not meeting the monetary and budgetary requirements. All nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course.

text: Issuing modalities for banknotes[edit]

text: Since 1 January 2002, the national central banks (NCBs) and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis.[14] Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them.[dubious – discuss] Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the total value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem.[14] In practice, the ECB's banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs, thereby incurring matching liabilities vis-à-vis the ECB. These liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The other 92% of euro banknotes are issued by the NCBs in proportion to their respective shares of the ECB capital key,[14] calculated using national share of European Union (EU) population and national share of EU GDP, equally weighted.[15]

text: Characteristics[edit]

text: Coins and banknotes[edit]

text: The euro is divided into 100 cents (sometimes referred to as euro cents, especially when distinguishing them from other currencies, and referred to as such on the common side of all cent coins). In Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage.[16][17] Otherwise, normal English plurals are sometimes used,[18] with many local variations such as centime in France.

text: All circulating coins have a common side showing the denomination or value, and a map in the background. Due to the linguistic plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used (as opposed to the less common Greek or Cyrillic) and Arabic numerals (other text is used on national sides in national languages, but other text on the common side is avoided). For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, the map only showed the 15 member states which were members when the euro was introduced. Beginning in 2007 or 2008 (depending on the country) the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe also showing countries outside the Union like Norway. The 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, however, keep their old design, showing a geographical map of Europe with the 15 member states of 2002 raised somewhat above the rest of the map. All common sides were designed by Luc Luycx. The coins also have a national side showing an image specifically chosen by the country that issued the coin. Euro coins from any member state may be freely used in any nation that has adopted the euro.

text: The coins are issued in €2, €1, 50c, 20c, 10c, 5c, 2c, and 1c denominations. To avoid the use of the two smallest coins, some cash transactions are rounded to the nearest five cents in the Netherlands and Ireland[19][20] (by voluntary agreement) and in Finland (by law).[21] This practice is discouraged by the Commission, as is the practice of certain shops of refusing to accept high-value euro notes.[22]

text: Commemorative coins with €2 face value have been issued with changes to the design of the national side of the coin. These include both commonly issued coins, such as the €2 commemorative coin for the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, and nationally issued coins, such as the coin to commemorate the 2004 Summer Olympics issued by Greece. These coins are legal tender throughout the eurozone. Collector coins with various other denominations have been issued as well, but these are not intended for general circulation, and they are legal tender only in the member state that issued them.[23]

text: The design for the euro banknotes has common designs on both sides. The design was created by the Austrian designer Robert Kalina.[24] Notes are issued in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10, €5. Each banknote has its own colour and is dedicated to an artistic period of European architecture. The front of the note features windows or gateways while the back has bridges, symbolising links between countries and with the future. While the designs are supposed to be devoid of any identifiable characteristics, the initial designs by Robert Kalina were of specific bridges, including the Rialto and the Pont de Neuilly, and were subsequently rendered more generic; the final designs still bear very close similarities to their specific prototypes; thus they are not truly generic. The monuments looked similar enough to different national monuments to please everyone.[25]

text: Payments clearing, electronic funds transfer[edit]

text: Capital within the EU may be transferred in any amount from one country to another. All intra-EU transfers in euro are treated as domestic transactions and bear the corresponding domestic transfer costs.[26] This includes all member states of the EU, even those outside the eurozone providing the transactions are carried out in euro.[27] Credit/debit card charging and ATM withdrawals within the eurozone are also treated as domestic transactions; however paper-based payment orders, like cheques, have not been standardised so these are still domestic-based. The ECB has also set up a clearing system, TARGET, for large euro transactions.[28]

text: Currency sign[edit]

text: A special euro currency sign (€) was designed after a public survey had narrowed the original ten proposals down to two. The European Commission then chose the design created by the Belgian Alain Billiet. Of the symbol, the EC stated[16]

text: Inspiration for the € symbol itself came from the Greek epsilon (Є)[note 18] – a reference to the cradle of European civilisation – and the first letter of the word Europe, crossed by two parallel lines to 'certify' the stability of the euro.

text: The European Commission also specified a euro logo with exact proportions and foreground and background colour tones.[29] While the Commission intended the logo to be a prescribed glyph shape[citation needed], font designers made it clear that they intended to design their own variants instead.[30] Typewriters lacking the euro sign can create it by typing a capital "C", backspacing, and overstriking it with the equal ("=") sign. Placement of the currency sign relative to the numeric amount varies from nation to nation, but for texts in English the symbol (or the ISO-standard "EUR") should precede the amount.[31]

text: There is no official symbol for the cent.[citation needed]

text: History[edit]

text: Introduction[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text:
v
t
e

tag: ul

text:
Preceding national currencies of the Eurozone

Currency
Code
(ISO 4217)
Rate[32]
Fixed on
Yielded

 Austrian schilling
ATS
7001137603000000000♠13.7603
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Belgian franc
BEF
7001403399000000000♠40.3399
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Cypriot pound
CYP
6999585274000000000♠0.585274
2007-07-10
2008-01-01

 Dutch guilder
NLG
7000220371000000000♠2.20371
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Estonian kroon
EEK
7001156466000000000♠15.6466
2010-07-13
2011-01-01

 Finnish markka
FIM
7000594573000000000♠5.94573
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 French franc
FRF
7000655957000000000♠6.55957
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 German mark
DEM
7000195583000000000♠1.95583
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Greek drachma
GRD
7002340750000000000♠340.75
2000-06-19
2001-01-01

 Irish pound
IEP
6999787564000000000♠0.787564
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Italian lira
ITL
7003193627000000000♠1,936.27
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Latvian lats
LVL
6999702804000000000♠0.702804
2013-07-09
2014-01-01

 Lithuanian litas
LTL
7000345280000000000♠3.4528
2014-07-23
2015-01-01

 Luxembourgish franc
LUF
7001403399000000000♠40.3399
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Maltese lira
MTL
6999429300000000000♠0.4293
2007-07-10
2008-01-01

 Monégasque franc
MCF
7000655957000000000♠6.55957
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Portuguese escudo
PTE
7002200482000000000♠200.482
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Sammarinese lira
SML
7003193627000000000♠1,936.27
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Slovak koruna
SKK
7001301260000000000♠30.126
2008-07-08
2009-01-01

 Slovenian tolar
SIT
7002239640000000000♠239.64
2006-07-11
2007-01-01

 Spanish peseta
ESP
7002166386000000000♠166.386
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

 Vatican lira
VAL
7003193627000000000♠1,936.27
1998-12-31
1999-01-01

text: The euro was established by the provisions in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. To participate in the currency, member states are meant to meet strict criteria, such as a budget deficit of less than 3% of their GDP, a debt ratio of less than 60% of GDP (both of which were ultimately widely flouted after introduction), low inflation, and interest rates close to the EU average. In the Maastricht Treaty, the United Kingdom and Denmark were granted exemptions per their request from moving to the stage of monetary union which resulted in the introduction of the euro. (For macroeconomic theory, see below.)

text: The name "euro" was officially adopted in Madrid on 16 December 1995.[8] Belgian Esperantist Germain Pirlot, a former teacher of French and history is credited with naming the new currency by sending a letter to then President of the European Commission, Jacques Santer, suggesting the name "euro" on 4 August 1995.[33]

text: Due to differences in national conventions for rounding and significant digits, all conversion between the national currencies had to be carried out using the process of triangulation via the euro. The definitive values of one euro in terms of the exchange rates at which the currency entered the euro are shown on the right.

text: The rates were determined by the Council of the European Union,[note 19] based on a recommendation from the European Commission based on the market rates on 31 December 1998. They were set so that one European Currency Unit (ECU) would equal one euro. The European Currency Unit was an accounting unit used by the EU, based on the currencies of the member states; it was not a currency in its own right. They could not be set earlier, because the ECU depended on the closing exchange rate of the non-euro currencies (principally the pound sterling) that day.

text: The procedure used to fix the conversion rate between the Greek drachma and the euro was different, since the euro by then was already two years old. While the conversion rates for the initial eleven currencies were determined only hours before the euro was introduced, the conversion rate for the Greek drachma was fixed several months beforehand.[note 20]

text: The currency was introduced in non-physical form (traveller's cheques, electronic transfers, banking, etc.) at midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently. Their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new euro notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002.

text: The changeover period during which the former currencies' notes and coins were exchanged for those of the euro lasted about two months, until 28 February 2002. The official date on which the national currencies ceased to be legal tender varied from member state to member state. The earliest date was in Germany, where the mark officially ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 2001, though the exchange period lasted for two months more. Even after the old currencies ceased to be legal tender, they continued to be accepted by national central banks for periods ranging from several years to indefinitely (the latter for Austria, Germany, Ireland, Estonia and Latvia in banknotes and coins, and for Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Slovakia in banknotes only). The earliest coins to become non-convertible were the Portuguese escudos, which ceased to have monetary value after 31 December 2002, although banknotes remain exchangeable until 2022.

text: Eurozone crisis[edit]

text: Following the U.S. financial crisis in 2008, fears of a sovereign debt crisis developed in 2009 among investors concerning some European states, with the situation becoming particularly tense in early 2010.[34][35] Greece was most acutely affected, but fellow Eurozone members Cyprus, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain were also significantly affected.[36][37] All these countries utilized EU funds except Italy, that is a major donor of the EFSF.[38] To be included in the eurozone, countries had to fulfil certain convergence criteria, but the meaningfulness of such criteria was diminished by the fact it was not enforced with the same level of strictness among countries.[39]

text: According to the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2011, "[I]f the [euro area] is treated as a single entity, its [economic and fiscal] position looks no worse and in some respects, rather better than that of the US or the UK" and the budget deficit for the euro area as a whole is much lower and the euro area's government debt/GDP ratio of 86% in 2010 was about the same level as that of the United States. "Moreover", they write, "private-sector indebtedness across the euro area as a whole is markedly lower than in the highly leveraged Anglo-Saxon economies". The authors conclude that the crisis "is as much political as economic" and the result of the fact that the euro area lacks the support of "institutional paraphernalia (and mutual bonds of solidarity) of a state".[40]

text: The crisis continued with S&P downgrading the credit rating of nine euro-area countries, including France, then downgrading the entire European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) fund.[41]

text: A historical parallel – to 1931 when Germany was burdened with debt, unemployment and austerity while France and the United States were relatively strong creditors – gained attention in summer 2012[42] even as Germany received a debt-rating warning of its own.[43][44]

text: Direct and indirect usage[edit]

text: Direct usage[edit]

text: The euro is the sole currency of 19 EU member states: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain. These countries constitute the "eurozone", some 332 million people in total as of 2013[update].[45]

text: With all but two of the remaining EU members obliged to join, together with future members of the EU, the enlargement of the eurozone is set to continue. Outside the EU, the euro is also the sole currency of Montenegro and Kosovo and several European microstates (Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and the Vatican City) as well as in four overseas territories of EU members that are not themselves part of the EU (Saint Barthélemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and Akrotiri and Dhekelia). Together this direct usage of the euro outside the EU affects nearly 3 million people.

text: The euro has been used as a trading currency in Cuba since 1998,[46] and Syria since 2006.[47] There are also various currencies pegged to the euro (see below). In 2009, Zimbabwe abandoned its local currency and used major currencies instead, including the euro and the United States dollar.[48]

text: Use as reserve currency[edit]

text: Since its introduction, the euro has been the second most widely held international reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. The share of the euro as a reserve currency increased from 18% in 1999 to 27% in 2008. Over this period, the share held in U.S. dollar fell from 71% to 64% and that held in Yen fell from 6.4% to 3.3%. The euro inherited and built on the status of the Deutsche Mark as the second most important reserve currency. The euro remains underweight as a reserve currency in advanced economies while overweight in emerging and developing economies: according to the International Monetary Fund[49] the total of euro held as a reserve in the world at the end of 2008 was equal to $1.1 trillion or €850 billion, with a share of 22% of all currency reserves in advanced economies, but a total of 31% of all currency reserves in emerging and developing economies.

text: The possibility of the euro becoming the first international reserve currency has been debated among economists.[50] Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan gave his opinion in September 2007 that it was "absolutely conceivable that the euro will replace the US dollar as reserve currency, or will be traded as an equally important reserve currency".[51] In contrast to Greenspan's 2007 assessment, the euro's increase in the share of the worldwide currency reserve basket has slowed considerably since 2007 and since the beginning of the worldwide credit crunch related recession and European sovereign-debt crisis.[49]

text: Currencies pegged to the euro[edit]

text: Outside the eurozone, a total of 22 countries and territories that do not belong to the EU have currencies that are directly pegged to the euro including 13 countries in mainland Africa (CFA franc), two African island countries (Comorian franc and Cape Verdean escudo), three French Pacific territories (CFP franc) and three Balkan countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark), Bulgaria (Bulgarian lev) and Macedonia (Macedonian denar).[52] On 28 July 2009, São Tomé and Príncipe signed an agreement with Portugal which will eventually tie its currency to the euro.[53] Additionally, the Moroccan dirham is tied to a basket of currencies, including the euro and the US dollar, with the euro given the highest weighting.

text: With the exception of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia (which had pegged their currencies against the Deutsche Mark) and Cape Verde (formerly pegged to the Portuguese escudo), all of these non-EU countries had a currency peg to the French Franc before pegging their currencies to the euro. Pegging a country's currency to a major currency is regarded as a safety measure, especially for currencies of areas with weak economies, as the euro is seen as a stable currency, prevents runaway inflation and encourages foreign investment due to its stability.

text: Within the EU several currencies are pegged to the euro, mostly as a precondition to joining the eurozone. The Bulgarian lev was formerly pegged to the Deutsche Mark; one other EU currency with a direct peg due to ERM II is the Danish krone.

text: In total, as of 2013[update], 182 million people in Africa use a currency pegged to the euro, 27 million people outside the eurozone in Europe, and another 545,000 people on Pacific islands.[45]

text: Since 2005, stamps issued by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta have been denominated in euros, although the Order's official currency remains the Maltese scudo.[54] The Maltese scudo itself is pegged to the euro and is only recognised as legal tender within the Order.

text: Economics[edit]

text: Optimal currency area[edit]

text: In economics, an optimum currency area, or region (OCA or OCR), is a geographical region in which it would maximise economic efficiency to have the entire region share a single currency. There are two models, both proposed by Robert Mundell: the stationary expectations model and the international risk sharing model. Mundell himself advocates the international risk sharing model and thus concludes in favour of the euro.[55] However, even before the creation of the single currency, there were concerns over diverging economies. Before the late-2000s recession it was considered unlikely that a state would leave the euro or the whole zone would collapse.[56] However the Greek government-debt crisis led to former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw claiming the eurozone could not last in its current form.[57] Part of the problem seems to be the rules that were created when the euro was set up. John Lanchester, writing for The New Yorker, explains it:

text:
“
The guiding principle of the currency, which opened for business in 1999, were supposed to be a set of rules to limit a country's annual deficit to three per cent of gross domestic product, and the total accumulated debt to sixty per cent of G.D.P. It was a nice idea, but by 2004 the two biggest economies in the euro zone, Germany and France, had broken the rules for three years in a row.[58]
”

text: Transaction costs and risks[edit]

text:
Most traded currencies by value
Currency distribution of global foreign exchange market turnover[59]

Rank
Currency
ISO 4217 code
(symbol)
 % daily share
(April 2016)

1

 United States dollar

USD ($)

87.6%

2

 Euro

EUR (€)

31.4%

3

 Japanese yen

JPY (¥)

21.6%

4

 Pound sterling

GBP (£)

12.8%

5

 Australian dollar

AUD (A$)

6.9%

6

 Canadian dollar

CAD (C$)

5.1%

7

 Swiss franc

CHF (Fr)

4.8%

8

 Renminbi

CNY (元)

4.0%

9

 Swedish krona

SEK (kr)

2.2%

10

 New Zealand dollar

NZD (NZ$)

2.1%

11

 Mexican peso

MXN ($)

1.9%

12

 Singapore dollar

SGD (S$)

1.8%

13

 Hong Kong dollar

HKD (HK$)

1.7%

14

 Norwegian krone

NOK (kr)

1.7%

15

 South Korean won

KRW (₩)

1.7%

16

 Turkish lira

TRY (₺)

1.4%

17

 Russian ruble

RUB (₽)

1.1%

18

 Indian rupee

INR (₹)

1.1%

19

 Brazilian real

BRL (R$)

1.0%

20

 South African rand

ZAR (R)

1.0%

Other
7.1%

Total[note 21]
200.0%

text: The most obvious benefit of adopting a single currency is to remove the cost of exchanging currency, theoretically allowing businesses and individuals to consummate previously unprofitable trades. For consumers, banks in the eurozone must charge the same for intra-member cross-border transactions as purely domestic transactions for electronic payments (e.g., credit cards, debit cards and cash machine withdrawals).

text: Financial markets on the continent are expected to be far more liquid and flexible than they were in the past. The reduction in cross-border transaction costs will allow larger banking firms to provide a wider array of banking services that can compete across and beyond the eurozone. However, although transaction costs were reduced, some studies have shown that risk aversion has increased during the last 40 years in the Eurozone.[60]

text: Price parity[edit]

text: Another effect of the common European currency is that differences in prices—in particular in price levels—should decrease because of the law of one price. Differences in prices can trigger arbitrage, i.e., speculative trade in a commodity across borders purely to exploit the price differential. Therefore, prices on commonly traded goods are likely to converge, causing inflation in some regions and deflation in others during the transition. Some evidence of this has been observed in specific eurozone markets.[61]

text: Macroeconomic stability[edit]

text: Before the introduction of the euro, some countries had successfully contained inflation, which was then seen as a major economic problem, by establishing largely independent central banks. One such bank was the Bundesbank in Germany; the European Central Bank was modelled on the Bundesbank.[62].

text: The euro has come under criticism due to its imperialistic style regulation, lack of flexibility and [63] rigidity towards sharing member States on issues such as nominal interest rates Many national and corporate bonds denominated in euro are significantly more liquid and have lower interest rates than was historically the case when denominated in national currencies. While increased liquidity may lower the nominal interest rate on the bond, denominating the bond in a currency with low levels of inflation arguably plays a much larger role. A credible commitment to low levels of inflation and a stable debt reduces the risk that the value of the debt will be eroded by higher levels of inflation or default in the future, allowing debt to be issued at a lower nominal interest rate.

text: Unfortunately, there is also a cost in structurally keeping inflation lower than in the United States, UK, and China. The result is that seen from those countries, the euro has become expensive, making European products increasingly expensive for its largest importers. Hence export from the euro zone becomes more difficult.

text: In general, those in Europe who own large amounts of euros are served by high stability and low inflation.

text: Trade[edit]

text: A 2009 consensus from the studies of the introduction of the euro concluded that it has increased trade within the eurozone by 5% to 10%,[64] although one study suggested an increase of only 3%[65] while another estimated 9 to 14%.[66] However, a meta-analysis of all available studies suggests that the prevalence of positive estimates is caused by publication bias and that the underlying effect may be negligible.[67] Furthermore, studies accounting for time trend reflecting general cohesion policies in Europe that started before, and continue after implementing the common currency find no effect on trade.[68][69] These results suggest that other policies aimed at European integration might be the source of observed increase in trade.

text: Investment[edit]

text: Physical investment seems to have increased by 5% in the eurozone due to the introduction.[70] Regarding foreign direct investment, a study found that the intra-eurozone FDI stocks have increased by about 20% during the first four years of the EMU.[71] Concerning the effect on corporate investment, there is evidence that the introduction of the euro has resulted in an increase in investment rates and that it has made it easier for firms to access financing in Europe. The euro has most specifically stimulated investment in companies that come from countries that previously had weak currencies. A study found that the introduction of the euro accounts for 22% of the investment rate after 1998 in countries that previously had a weak currency.[72]

text: Inflation[edit]

text: The introduction of the euro has led to extensive discussion about its possible effect on inflation. In the short term, there was a widespread impression in the population of the eurozone that the introduction of the euro had led to an increase in prices, but this impression was not confirmed by general indices of inflation and other studies.[73][74] A study of this paradox found that this was due to an asymmetric effect of the introduction of the euro on prices: while it had no effect on most goods, it had an effect on cheap goods which have seen their price round up after the introduction of the euro. The study found that consumers based their beliefs on inflation of those cheap goods which are frequently purchased.[75] It has also been suggested that the jump in small prices may be because prior to the introduction, retailers made fewer upward adjustments and waited for the introduction of the euro to do so.[76]

text: Exchange rate risk[edit]

text: One of the advantages of the adoption of a common currency is the reduction of the risk associated with changes in currency exchange rates. It has been found that the introduction of the euro created "significant reductions in market risk exposures for nonfinancial firms both in and outside Europe".[77] These reductions in market risk "were concentrated in firms domiciled in the eurozone and in non-euro firms with a high fraction of foreign sales or assets in Europe".

text: Financial integration[edit]

text: The introduction of the euro seems to have had a strong effect on European financial integration. According to a study on this question, it has "significantly reshaped the European financial system, especially with respect to the securities markets [...] However, the real and policy barriers to integration in the retail and corporate banking sectors remain significant, even if the wholesale end of banking has been largely integrated."[78] Specifically, the euro has significantly decreased the cost of trade in bonds, equity, and banking assets within the eurozone.[79] On a global level, there is evidence that the introduction of the euro has led to an integration in terms of investment in bond portfolios, with eurozone countries lending and borrowing more between each other than with other countries.[80]

text: Effect on interest rates[edit]

text: As of January 2014, and since the introduction of the euro, interest rates of most members countries (particularly those with a weak currency), have decreased. Some of these countries had the most serious sovereign financing problems.

text: The effect of declining interest rates, combined with excess liquidity continually provided by the ECB, made it easier for banks within the countries in which interest rates fell the most, and their linked sovereigns, to borrow significant amounts (above the 3% of GDP budget deficit imposed on the eurozone initially) and significantly inflate their public and private debt levels.[81] Following the financial crisis of 2007–2008, governments in these countries found it necessary to bail out or nationalise their privately held banks to prevent systemic failure of the banking system when underlying hard or financial asset values were found to be grossly inflated and sometimes so near worthless there was no liquid market for them.[82] This further increased the already high levels of public debt to a level the markets began to consider unsustainable, via increasing government bond interest rates, producing the ongoing European sovereign-debt crisis.

text: Price convergence[edit]

text: The evidence on the convergence of prices in the eurozone with the introduction of the euro is mixed. Several studies failed to find any evidence of convergence following the introduction of the euro after a phase of convergence in the early 1990s.[83][84] Other studies have found evidence of price convergence,[85][86] in particular for cars.[87] A possible reason for the divergence between the different studies is that the processes of convergence may not have been linear, slowing down substantially between 2000 and 2003, and resurfacing after 2003 as suggested by a recent study (2009).[88]

text: Tourism[edit]

text: A study suggests that the introduction of the euro has had a positive effect on the amount of tourist travel within the EMU, with an increase of 6.5%.[89]

text: Exchange rates[edit]

text: Flexible exchange rates[edit]

text: The ECB targets interest rates rather than exchange rates and in general does not intervene on the foreign exchange rate markets. This is because of the implications of the Mundell–Fleming model, which implies a central bank cannot (without capital controls) maintain interest rate and exchange rate targets simultaneously, because increasing the money supply results in a depreciation of the currency. In the years following the Single European Act, the EU has liberalised its capital markets, and as the ECB has chosen monetary autonomy, the exchange-rate regime of the euro is flexible, or floating. In its first decade, the euro appreciated relative to the currency of Europe's main trading partners. Starting at US$1.60 in 2008, the euro declined to US$1.04 in 2015. In the following years the euro has recovered somewhat; as of February 2018 it was US$1.23.

text: Against other major currencies[edit]

text: The euro is the second-most widely held reserve currency after the U.S. dollar. After its introduction on 4 January 1999 its exchange rate against the other major currencies fell reaching its lowest exchange rates in 2000 (25 October vs the U.S. dollar, 26 October vs Japanese Yen, 3 May vs Pound Sterling). Afterwards it regained and its exchange rate reached its historical highest point in 2008 (15 July vs U.S. dollar, 23 July vs Japanese Yen, 29 December vs Pound Sterling). With the advent of the global financial crisis the euro initially fell, only to regain later. Despite pressure due to the European sovereign-debt crisis the euro remained stable.[90] In November 2011 the euro's exchange rate index – measured against currencies of the bloc's major trading partners – was trading almost two percent higher on the year, approximately at the same level as it was before the crisis kicked off in 2007.[91] In late January 2018, the euro rose again above US1.25.It also hit new relative or absolute highs against £ and other currencies.[92]

text:
Current and historical exchange rates against 29 other currencies (European Central Bank)[93]
Current dollar/euro exchange rates (BBC)[94]
Historical exchange rate from 1971 until now[95]

text:
Current EUR exchange rates

From Google Finance:
AUD CAD CHF GBP HKD JPY USD RUB INR CNY

From Yahoo! Finance:
AUD CAD CHF GBP HKD JPY USD RUB INR CNY

From XE:
AUD CAD CHF GBP HKD JPY USD RUB INR CNY

From OANDA:
AUD CAD CHF GBP HKD JPY USD RUB INR CNY

From fxtop.com:
AUD CAD CHF GBP HKD JPY USD RUB INR CNY

text: Linguistic issues[edit]

text: The formal titles of the currency are euro for the major unit and cent for the minor (one hundredth) unit and for official use in most eurozone languages; according to the ECB, all languages should use the same spelling for the nominative singular.[96] This may contradict normal rules for word formation in some languages, e.g., those where there is no eu diphthong. Bulgaria has negotiated an exception; euro in the Bulgarian Cyrillic alphabet is spelled as eвро (evro) and not eуро (euro) in all official documents.[97] In the Greek script the term ευρώ (evró) is used; the Greek "cent" coins are denominated in λεπτό/ά (leptó/á). Official practice for English-language EU legislation is to use the words euro and cent as both singular and plural,[98] although the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation states that the plural forms euros and cents should be used in English.[99]