NYC Report – 4 – Witness to Baseball History
:: After many SLA conventions, whenever possible I’ll attend a major league baseball game. Historically, most of the games I’ve seen have been boring, and the home team always loses. This trend remained intact on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, except that as the game neared its end, things got really, really interesting.
The Yankees were playing the Astros, and the Astros’ pitcher pulled a groin in the second inning and was replaced. As the game wore on, more Astros pitchers took the mound, and no Yankee hit the ball. Into the 9th inning, it was still a No-hitter by Committee. In the 9th inning, the Astros’ closer blew 101 mph pitches by two Yankees for strikeouts, and enduced a ground out from Hideki Matsui. It was a no-hitter by six combined pitchers, a new MLB record, and humbling for the Yankees. It was also the first time the Yankees had been no-hit since 1958 – 45 years, also a new major league record. Imagine the chances of seeing my first and only Yankees Stadium-based baseball game, and this would happen. The Yankees were embarrassed in front of their fans, so much so that the announcer didn’t announce the box score at the end of the game.
:: The SLA convention is over, and Geoff and I are hanging out. It is hot and muggy, making it tiresome to walk about. Thank God for air conditioning.
