A No-Hitter in the World Series

 

The Astro's Pitchers and Catcher
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I watched Game 4 of the World Series Tonight. 

It was a doozie!  It was a no-hitter.  The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 behind four Phillies pitchers:  starter Cristian Javier and relievers Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly.  Javier pitched six innings and had nine strike outs.  Each of the relievers pitched for one inning in this historic game

It was the second no hitter in World Series history.  The first was, of course, the Don Larsen perfect game on October 8, 1956 in Game 5.  Larsen pitched for the New York Yankees, they played the Brooklyn Dodgers led by Duke Snider and Jackie Robinson.  The Yankees won the subway series in seven games.  Until this year, Larsen’s perfect game was the only no-hitter in the World Series.

In the playoffs, there has only been one no-hitter in a playoff game.  It was a Phillies pitcher, Roy Halladay, on October 6, 2010 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds.  The Phillies won the series by sweeping the Reds.  They faced the San Francisco Giants for the National League Championship.  The Giants advanced to the World Series beating the Phillies 4-2. 

Larsen and Halladay pitched complete games.  This year’s feat was a team effort of four pitchers though the hero of the day was Cristian Javier.  He was amazing.  He had great control of his fast ball.  He was dominant.  He struck out half of the batters he faced.  Until this game the Phillies batters were on fire.  As the no-hitter was unfolding, I was wondering if the Astro’s manager, Dusty Baker, would let Javier throw a complete game.  That is what I wanted.  While I, and I suppose many other fans, would have love this, it was not the smart move.  It was not the ”what is best for the team” move.  It was not the money move.  The objective is to win the World Series.  Baker relied on his bullpen.  The Astros won the game 5-0, tied the series at two games a piece, took a game in Philadelphia, and saved his very hot pitcher for another start in Game 6 or 7. 

I don’t really follow baseball these days.  It is a shame.  I used to love the great American pastime growing up.  I lived and died with the Detroit Tigers.  I would dutifully check the standings and league leaders in The Detroit Free Press every day.  I had the eternal hope that the Tigers would make a surge in the standings even if they were ten games out when school started.   I looked to see if a Tiger made it into or jumped to the top of the  ERA, RBI, batting average, or home run ranks.  It was a frustrating habit until, of course, 1967 and 1968.

Why did I lose interest in baseball?  I am not sure.  My passion became football, Michigan Football in particular.  That transition began a year later with the spectacular Michigan upset over Ohio State in 1969 and was solidified when I got my first season tickets as a student in 1971. 

I could have still followed baseball.  I loved the game.  But I just didn’t.  For many years, I blamed it on free agency.  Free agency has been around since 1975.  I should have easily gotten over it by now.  The honest truth is I do not know why my interest waned.

There seemed to be a fair amount of buzz about this year’s series.  Both the Astros and Phillies were playing well, the Phillies more so recently.  In scrolling around the guide on my TV for something to watch, I saw the ball game had just started.  A pang of nostalgia, and truly not finding a movie that interested me, got me to dial in and watch the game.  I really did not know any of the players except that ex-Tiger Justin Verlander is a pitcher for the Astros and ex-Cubs Kyle Schwarber is the Phillies leftfielder who has hit 50 homeruns this season.  I watched the game with no clue who Cristian Javier was and thought I would be watching the Phillies offense put on a show.

What I got was a no-hitter and a brilliant performance from Javier.

I might actually tune into Game 5 tonight as the 39-year-old Verlander gets the start for the Astros.