Twice in my life now, I've been headed to a baseball game where a no-hitter was going to happen and events outside of my control kept me from attending that game.
As a teenager I had tickets to see Kenny Rogers perfect game at the Ballpark in Arlington, but instead of witnessing history, I was at my little sister's softball game (which didn't include a perfect game).
Yesterday, Zambrano threw a no hitter, facing only one more batter then the minimum as the Cubs magic number became 7. The game was supposed to be in Houston and I was supposed to be there. Hurricane Ike had different ideas and the game was played in Milwaukee.
I have seen a handful of no-hitters on tv, even more if you count just watching the end of the games after ESPN cuts to them, but a few of them from beginning to end, and none have meant to me what yesterday's did. I was living and dying with each pitch right there with the damn near life size Carlos Zambrano (I was watching the game on a 100inch projection screen, so I felt like I was there. There will be no other place to watch sports from now on.)
The last time that a Cubs pitcher threw a no hitter was in 1972 (Milt Pappas), so this was the first no hitter for my favorite team in my lifetime.
For all of the Cubs fans who have been sure that the recent slide meant that the curse was asserting itself, Harden's start on Thursday and Big Z's start yesterday should alliviate those fears. Not only that, but despite losing 8 of 9 games, the Cubs only lost two games on their best lead over Milwaukee (from 6.5 to 4.5) and after this weekend, the Cubs actually have their largest lead of the season with a 7.5 game lead.
A Cubs win today means the Cubs could have the division officially won by Thursday.
We'll obviously be keeping an eye on this, but right now, the main thing is to enjoy history. A Cubs No Hitter!
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