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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Father no-no

                                      Well it took 50 years and 8,020 games played, but the New York Mets finally have their first no hitter.It happened yesterday, June 1st(also the 10th anniversary of me moving to New York, but anyway...)2012 , and it was pitched by Johan Santana , or "No-han" as the papers called him.(Non-sport savvy nerds may have read this as someone is in no way , shape or form like Han Solo, but I digress) .When the Mets signed Santana a few years back, they had visions of Cy Young awards(as he won 2 with the Twins)and multiple playoff berths.Well, that hasn't happened...yet anyway...but yesterday gave Mets fans what they've been waiting for, an actual NO HITTER...Tom Seaver came close back in the day , and a few others in recent memory have as well , but this was the first , if controversial one they've ever had.The controversy happened in the top of the 6th , when former Met(of course it had to be a former Met)Carlos Beltran , now a Cardinal, hit a liner down the third base line , but was called foul, although replays clearly showed it hit the line.This is the second most memorable Cardinal/Mets memory for Carlos Beltran(Adam Wainwright, anyone?), and Carlos was classy after the game when asked about it, saying it wouldn't have mattered because no one else was hitting, and so forth.


                  Too bad the St Louis Papers weren't so tactful , showing the headline " No hitter* ".An asterisk?Really?You lost 8-0 and your team is the defending world champs , couldn't you just let it slide?(In case you were wondering , the last defending World series champs to be no- hit were the 1990 Oakland A's , by some guy named Nolan Ryan). Maybe it was a slow news day.Anyway , now that the Mets have their no hitter , it's time to talk about the only franchise left to not have one:The San Diego Padres.Formed in 1969 as one of the four expansion franchises that year(Kansas City Royals,Montreal Expos(became Washington Nationals in 2004) ,and The Seattle Pilots(Played one year and became the Milwaukee Brewers), have had their ups(few)and downs(many)over the years.Two NL pennants , one in 1984(losing to the powerhouse Tigers in 5 games) and in 1998.(losing to the even bigger powerhouse Yankees in a sweep)They've had a couple of Cy Young winners, and even an MVP(Something the Mets still have not had, although if David Wright stays healthy, blahblahblah)in 1996 , by the name of Ken Caminiti.(Speaking of asterisks , Caminiti admitted to using steroids the entire season and died a few years later).


                    So for the rest of the year, all(well, some)eyes will be on San Diego and their last place team.Maybe one of their young pitchers can catch lightning in a bottle.I doubt they'll no hit a team like the St. Louis Cardinals ,(and the Padres don't have a horse like Johan on their roster), but there's always questionable offenses out there to take advantage of , like The Pittsburgh Pirates , Houston Astros and (Let's face it)The New York Mets.(That would be a weird way to have it come around full circle)For now though , they are the only no hitterless team left.Well , at least they have  a couple of pennants , unlike the Seattle Mariners and Washington Nationals.The Jury is out on who will be the first of those 2 teams to finally get a flag , as they both have come close:In 1981, The then Expos were an inning (and a Rick Monday hit)away from going to the 1981 World series, and the 2001 Mariners won a record 116 games, only to be beaten in the ALCS by the team whose wins in a season record they broke: The Yankees(1998, with 114) .When a Padre does pitch a no-no, let's just hope they do it at home, at Petsmart, or Petco, or whatever the hell that field will be called then. 
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1 comment:

  1. All eyes would be on the Padres if it weren't for those god-awful camouflage-style uniforms they break out every week. They're really getting under my skin.

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