Roy Halladay's No Hitter
Where do you start? I've been sitting here for the better part of an hour trying to figure it out. Something that hasn't happened but once in Major League History just happened again.
And the guy was on our team.
It's truly magical.
I'm envious of those who where there. It's a sore subject right now that I wasn't…but I had my moment in '08. My friend Jeff was there…and my Nephew Mason was there. It's a moment that anyone can hang on to for a lifetime…and say THEY were THERE!
To quote Beasley tonight in the control room before he went on at 10, "You gotta understand who you're talking to. I was a sideline reporter in the NFL. I played in the NFL. I've never ever heard a crowd this loud in my entire life."
I had seen Halladay like this before. The perfect game I saw pretty much every pitch of…so I knew something was up early. About the 4th inning, I started making preparations. Just in case, I thought it was possible.
That's just how dominant Roy Halladay can be. What we witnessed was an act of God. It was a truly unique and wonderful gift of pitching mastery.
Roy Halladay, I'm convinced at this point, is a savant. He is just wired a little bit differently than any other pitcher...or person for that matter. He's kind of like a kid that you can put in front of a piano and he just starts playing Mozart.
This year he threw a perfect game. And honestly this was more impressive than the perfect game. That's how good he is…he can make a perfect game look chintzy.
His stuff when he's on is nothing less than the best I've ever seen.
Tonight, what we witnessed was Roy Halladay cementing his Hall of Fame credentials. You could make the argument that he was going in before tonight. And you'd probably be right. This however is something different than that. This means he's a first ballot guy. One of the greatest of all time.
Now I'm a baseball nerd. And I probably knew Don Larsen threw the only No Hitter, a perfect game, in MLB History when I was 5. That is the stuff of legend and immortality. Now there are 2, forever more immortal.
I think it is also amazing something else that's developed. Every time Roy Halladay could, he mentions Carlos Ruiz. Watch at the end of the 8th, Chooch got the strikeout and almost threw it down to 3rd. He was so in the zone, so in tune with his pitcher, that he didn't even care how many outs there were. He was putting down the signals, and Roy was throwing it where he said.
He hits .300. He hits in the clutch. He plays great defense…as evidenced by the play on the final out. And he continually gets the very best from his pitchers. I guess what I'm trying to say is that Carlos Ruiz might be the best catcher in the game right now. I dare you to try and argue.
And one day Chooch will manage the Phillies. Or at least I hope he does.
But the thing that strikes me most. The thing that stands up through all this is it's happening to us. Now.
That can't be taken for granted. Ever.
A friend of mine John said on facebook, remember when we had guys like Robert Person as our number 1 starter? The point I think to be made here is we can't ever forget how lucky and privileged we are to be right here right now in Phillies and Baseball history.
This team, if they go to the Series and win like I think they will in potentially historic type dominance, is among the best teams ever.
If you see the video of the crowd, it shows exactly what it should. That we aren't taking this for granted. That we are not what all of them say we are. We are the greatest fans in the game. Period.
A crowd that rabid, that vocal, that energizing…there were 10 players on the field tonight. There were all the players…and then there was the crowd.
Most of the games the Phillies play will be at home. And we have home field advantage through out. The World will finally understand what we are and that these Phillies have figured out. We are a force. A massive imposing force that inspires fear in all who stand before it. 45,000+ all watching the Phillies back, waiting for something great to happen, and knowing it will.
Doc Halladay has inspired the great to be even greater…and I can't wait to see how this all goes.
Reported By Andy Wheeler, CBS 3 Sports
