Photo courtesy of Wiitanen family John ‘No-Hit’ Wiitanen is pictured during his baseball days at LaGarde General Hospital.

HOUGHTON — Of all the nicknames that have been used to describe past Copper Country sports figures, John Wiitanen may have had the most distinctive one.

Wiitanen had the moniker of “No-Hit” as his nickname. It was one he earned at a young age while pitching for the Houghton Tigers in the mid-1930s.

Back in those days, practically every small town in America had its own baseball team.

“I recall there were teams in places like Redridge, Beacon Hill, Ripley, Elo and Tapiola,” the late Wiitanen said in in a 1992 interview. “The bigger towns, like South Range, Stambaugh, Crystal Falls and L’Anse, were part of a larger Upper Peninsula League.”

Wiitanen showed his potential on the mound by hurling two no-hit games before the age of 19.

The fact that the performances usually included double figure strikeout totals made them all that much more impressive.

He had a 22-strikeout game against Crystal Falls, a game that added to his reputation. He also pitched for L’Anse, South Range and Crystal Falls.

In all, the hard-throwing lefthanded Wiitanen pitched “seven or eight” no-hitters in his career.

And that didn’t include a stint during World War II when he was playing for the LaGarde (La.) Army Hospital baseball team.

He compiled a 31-12 record in two seasons for LaGarde, including two more no-hit showings.

“It was a pretty competitive league,” Wiitanen recalled. “Most of the teams had players who were under major league contracts. In fact, we had a couple on our team.”

In a 13-inning game versus a tough Fort Polk team he retired a 31 straight hitters — in essence a 10-inning perfect game.

Always a solid hitter, Wiitanen batted .358 in 1944 for LaGarde to rank second on the team.

Prior to going into the service, Wiitanen was invited to attend a Detroit Tigers tryout in 1941 after he posted a 33-8 record in two years for the Houghton Cubs.

Out of some 185 candidates at Briggs Field that day, he was one of just a handful asked to stay afterward to pitch to the Tigers regular catcher.

“I had good control, a good fastball and a curveball,” he said. “But I left before the (Tigers) scout came around.”

The Boston Red Sox later asked him to pitch for their farm club in Wausau. Wisconsin, but he declined the offer.

“My Dad often said I had a million dollar arm and a one-cent head for not trying,” he said. “He was probably right.”

Wiitanen had at least one more memorable game when he had the chance to match up against Houghton’s fast-balling ace Tony Bukovich in the early 1950s.

“The South Range manager paid me 50 dollars to pitch that game,” he said. “Well, we won a close game, even though Tony Bukovich was a real good young pitcher.”

He joined the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy in 1956 and was elected sheriff in 1962. He held the job until he retired in 1980.

While he was the only one in his family to star in baseball, John had a nephew, Ron, who was an all-state goaltender for Houghton High School.

“Ron (Wiitanen) really worked hard at his game,” he said. “And he was very good.”

Just like his uncle was on the ball diamond.