“Could the Indians pitch a combined no-hitter?”
Would you believe Cleveland announcer Tom Hamilton asked?
It would’ve been the first since 1981, he told us from Houston, where the Astros floundered.
Perhaps it was because he discussed other no-hit attempts.
Everyone knows you don’t talk about things that matter this much.
Lenny Barker threw a perfect game almost 34 years ago, Hamilton said again.
But the Indians pitching staff had never collaborated for a no-hitter.
Trevor Bauer, Kyle Crockett, Scott Atchison and Nick Hagadone would make history.
Well.
History reminds me that I didn’t move a muscle during St. Louis pitcher Michael Wacha’s no-hit bid on September 24, 2013. I sent texts to relatives but didn’t tell them what was occurring.
Yet somehow Wacha lost it on a high chopper to the mound with two outs in the ninth.
I must’ve done something.
But I still wouldn’t talk about it.
Hamilton was so coy, carrying on about such a grand feat, that I couldn’t see it lasting.
Sure enough, Houston’s Jed Lowrie homered with one out in the ninth.
The no-hitter was gone.
I was safe.
I still had complete control over players in a field hundreds of miles away.
By avoiding the subject and sitting perfectly still I might inspire greatness yet.
Thank God.
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