With two down in the top of the ninth inning during Game 1 of the NLDS, Roy Halladay took the signal, wound, and fired his 104th pitch of the game.
In an all-too-perfect culmination of just the second no-hitter in postseason history, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz scrambled for short dribbler in front of the plate, gathered himself and threw to first from his knees.
Brandon Phillips was out, the Reds collectively went 0-for-27 with just one walk, and Roy Halladay had achieved greatness … again. 4-0 Phillies, up one to none in the Divisional Series.
And as 45,000 and some change in Philadelphia jumped uncontrollably trying to figure out if what they just witnessed was real, Halladay and his catcher embraced. Ruiz was still shaking.
Roy Halladay and Carlos Ruiz embrace after the tandem orchestrated a no-hitter against the Reds. Off the 104 pitchers Halladay threw, 79 were strikes. Photo Courtesy of David Warren/Philly.com
The buzz was more than palpable in Philadelphia. It was clear that, as the Phillies entered their fourth postseason in the same amount of years, something was different this time.
Halladay worked like an artist, throwing first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 28 he faced. His canvas? A strike zone he painted so expertly, you would be hard-pressed to find a drop of white space.
He joins Don Larsen, who tossed a perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, as the only other pitcher to reach that mark in the playoffs. Four others have thrown two no-hitters in one season.
Halladay used the word “fun” more than any after the game. At a press conference, which from the looks of it came only after he completed his postgame workouts, Halladay was clearly just as at a loss as the rest of us.
“It was a lot of fun,” Halladay, who added a key RBI single at the plate, said. “It was one of those special things I think you’ll always remember.”
As for that final out?
“It couldn’t happen to a better guy, Carlos getting the last out,” he said.
But the stars had aligned for Halladay all night. And Ruiz, who had been tremendous calling pitches all night, wasn’t about to let that change.
In what felt like a lifetime, Ruiz sprung towards first base. But the bat and ball were doing something unfamiliar that night: touching.
Ruiz, in classic, clutch, Chooch fashion, collected himself and made the tough play, throwing to Ryan Howard before sprinting towards the mound.
The rest of the Phillies would soon follow.
As the Charlie Manuel’s club approaches potential dynasty status, it is those types of plays that seem to set them apart.
Manuel, a seemingly goofy leader, has instilled in this team a type of quiet confidence that brings the swag, but checks the attitudes on Broad Street. There’s no room for that on the Phillies.
The result?
Magic.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, October 7th, 2010 at 12:47 am and is filed under Deportes!, Study Abroad.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.