Saturday, June 23, 2007

No-Hitter in Bellingham, WA

After being a baseball fan since the 1960s, I finally saw my first live no-hitter!

The local Senior American Legion Post 7 is hosting a weekend tournament. With the opening game, Kai Hatch pitched a seven-inning no-hitter allowing only one walk as the King Nissan team beat the Bethel Huskies 5-0.

What a beautiful day for baseball. Bright blue skies with soft Microsoft-like clouds (you do remember Windows 95 don't you). Sun and baseball. It was a perfect day with hardly a cellphone in sight or sound. The only thing missing was singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." However, since there was no seventh inning stretch, the absence was hardly noticeable

Throughout the game King Nissan played well and paid attention to fundamentals. It was a well-played game by the local team. They look like a good team with dominating pitching. In the twilight game they defeated Hudson's Bay 10-0.

I don't want to take anything away from the Kings' win, but sadly the Bethel team did not play with any interest in the game at all. They lacked verge and panache and all of those other qualities Annie Savoy talked about in "Bull Durham." The third baseman seemed glued to the spot where he chose to stand, failing to run in on slow hit grounders or even move side to side. His throws to first almost always gave the first baseman a chance to practice his acrobatic catches. The lackadaisical attitude of the Huskies showed itself when their firstbasecoach lacked focus and looked dazed as he adjusted his earring (or at least did something to his right ear) while in the coach's box.

It's cloudy here in Bellingham today, but I'm hoping to sneak over for at least a few innings before the College World Series starts this afternoon.

Everyone have a nice, good day! Let's play two!