Ask and ye shall receive

A touch of background info here. A couple days ago, Washington’s Ramon Ortiz took a no-hitter into the ninth inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning, he hit his first career home run, then promptly gave up a hit in the bottom of the ninth.

So I got to thinking, when the hell was the last no-no?

Answer: Randy Johnson’s perfect game back on May 18, 2004.

Been a while, no? A tad too long, no? I mean, they say good pitching beats good hitting, so what’s the problem here?

Now maybe it’s just because I never could hit a home run, so I focused on learning to play defensive baseball, but I’ve always been a big fan of an old-fashioned pitching gem. Watching a pitcher with a 12-6 curve that makes you wonder if there was a time zone in there is an absolute joy. Those of us that saw the aforementioned Johnson pitch in his prime, (before he came to New York) were truly blessed to see such an amazing performer. It was practically impossible to get a hit off the guy, not just because he could bring it around 100 mph on nearly every pitch, but because he threw great breaking stuff and great off-speed pitches. That big, swooping slider of his must have looked like the second baseman was throwing the pitch, and sure enough, he’d paint baseball white and stitching red all over the black.

A guy like Toronto’s Roy Halladay is another one. He’s got a great curve, and he mixes in those breaking pitches so perfectly, one has to imagine it’s only a matter of time before he tosses a no-no of his own. Mark Mulder was one of those guys before injuries slowed him down. Tom Glavine, in his prime, and still today has the ability to make umpires believe the plate is twice as wide as it actually is.

There’s something magical in that.

So I sat around the house bitching and moaning that no one had thrown a no-hitter in more than two years, and all I wanted was for someone to do it.

And last night, my wish was granted.

Florida Marlins rookie Anibal Sanchez, making just his 13th start of his Major League career shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks, putting together one of the greatest feats in all of team sport. He had some help from his defense and from the official scorer, but a no-no is a no-no, and this 22-year old rookie has one.

Great work, rook. You’ve made me a happy man, and I can’t wait for the day I’m watching Stump the Schwab and they ask the question: “What Florida Marlins pitcher ended the Major Leagues’ longest no-hitter drought in September 2006?”

Anibal Sanchez, that’s who.