José Muñoz with the 1910 Stars of Cuba, sporting number “5”
(or “6”)
on his sleeve (the Stars were one of the earliest professional teams to use
uniform numbers).

After writing about Dick Redding’s no-hitter in 1912,
apparently the first no-hitter in what we call “Negro league” history, I
realized that there was an even earlier no-hitter that has gone completely
unnoticed.  It wasn’t strictly
speaking in Negro league play: it occurred on October 30, 1904, in Havana’s
Almendares Park.  Habana’s José
Muñoz blanked the Cuban X Giants, allowing no hits, while his opposite number,
Emmett Bowman, was wild, walking six and hitting four batters.  It was the last game of the X Giants’
series in Havana, and they went out on a sour note, losing 12 to 0.

This feat has fallen between the cracks historically, as it
was not in an actual Cuban League game, but it still deserves recognition.

(La Lucha, October 31, 1904)