Every now and then, ALOT of things baseball-wise happen in one day... the flood gates opened on Wednesday 06-30-10 for this fan. Not only did the Baltimore Orioles bats warm up and they hit 5 homeruns in their 9-6 win over Oakland, got to experience my first in-person complete game No Hitter. I have seen No Hitters either on video or Television, but in all my years of going to minor league and major league games this was the first time I was THERE in the stands for a "No-No".
After the game was over I made my way down to the box seats behind the vistors dugout to capture the picture above of the Fredrick Keys celibrating both their 7 - 0 win, and the No Hitter pitched by Nathan Moreau. Make a note: this was Nathan's first Carolina League outing for the Keys, having just been promoted from Full-Season Low A. You could say he made an impression in his debut.
How special was this No-Hitter? Last complete game No-Hitter was spun by then Salem Avalanche pitcher Kip Bouknight on 08-07-02 in (of all places) Fredrick. They are that rare.
As a group, many of us "tipped our caps" to the Fredrick Keys players as they came back to the dugout. Good sportsmanship is universal in baseball, and a little appreciation for an outstanding performance goes a long ways even when your team is on the losing end. Many of the Fredrick players paused and acknowledged us before going down the steps into the dugout. Some classy players on that team :)
Thursday Night (07-01-10) Update
Looks like the Orioles lost to Oakland tonight , and are now 24 - 54. The Fredrick Keys once again beat the Salem Red Sox (2 - 6) tonight. At one point Salem had a 4 to 1 lead, but their un-doing happened when they let Fredrick score 3 runs in the top of the 9th. Final was 6 to 4.
Spoke with Fredrick Keys hitting coach and former Major Leaguer Denny Hocking before Thursday nights game. What a super nice guy from California. I asked him if the team had settled down from the No-Hitter celibration the night before yet. Mr. Hocking said "they jumped around in the clubhouse for about 5 minutes celibrating, then it was business as usual". Denny was also kind enough to sign ten different of his cards for me - Thank You!
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