Hisashi Iwakuma no-hitter factoids to impress your friends, relatives, and loved ones with

Yesterday, on August 12, 2015, Hisashi Iwakuma took the mound under the rain/sun/rain and the closed/opened/closed roof of Safeco Field. At the beginning of the day, Iwakuma's start was just like any other start. At the end of the day, Iwakuma's start was a rarity in baseball lore.

Iwakuma pitched the 291st no-hitter in major league history. It was the fourth no-hitter this season, joining Cole Hamels, Max Scherzer and Chris Heston. It was the fifth no-hitter in Mariners' history, joining Randy Johnson, Chris Bosio, Felix Hernandez and the Voltron that is Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen.

Here are some other potentially interesting, and others not so interesting, facts about Iwakuma's feat.

• That was the first no-hitter in the AL since King Felix's perfect game on August 15, 2012. Since then, there have been 12 no-hitters in the National League.
• The past three no-hitters in the American League have come from the Seattle Mariners' pitching staff.
• Four of the past five no-hitters in the AL have involved the Seattle Mariners (the fourth being Philip Humber's perfect game).
• According to ESPN, you have approximately a 1 in 800 chance to see a no-hitter in person.
  
• Iwakuma now has as many no-hitters as he does complete games in a Mariners uniform.
• He is one of two Japanese-born players to throw a no-hitter, the other being Hideo Nomo (who did it twice).
• Iwakuma is the only pitcher whose last name starts with and I to have thrown a no-hitter. No one with a last name starting with O, Q, U and X has ever accomplished the feat.
  
• He threw 116 pitches in the game, the second most of his career, which happened to be his last start on August 7 when Iwakuma threw 118 pitches.
• It was the seventh time the Baltimore Orioles have been no-hit, which is a lot but nowhere near the millions of times the Philadelphia Philles have been no-hit.
• Iwakuma, at 34-years-old, is the 20th oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Nolan Ryan holds the record, throwing a no-hitter in 1991 when he was 44.
• Iwakuma notched 77 strikes in the box score, the same number as King Felix through in his perfect game.
• It was the 24th time a no-hitter has ended with a 3-0 score. The most common no-hitter score is 1-0 (33 times).
• Iwakuma's longest previous no-hit bid was 4 1/3 innings on August 17, 2012.
• There have been four no-hitters at Safeco Field since it opened in 1999, the most in the majors since then.

Congratulations Iwakuma -- yesterday was spectacular, for all of us.