At 9:45pm on a cool, breezy night in Flushing, David Freese swung on and missed for the 27th out. Johan Santana had thrown the first no hitter in New York Mets history. The Mets could not do it at the Polo Grounds for their first two years. They could not do it at Shea Stadium for its 45 years of existence. They could not do it in the first three seasons at Citi Field. Finally, in the celebratory year of the Mets 50th anniversary, in the team's 51st season and third ballpark, Johan Santana had completed the first ever Mets no hitter. I was waiting for last night to happen since I started being at fan at the age of 8. I have been to over a season's worth (162) Mets games in my life and the night finally came.
There were so many moments in this game that made this such a special first no hitter for the Mets. First, in the 6th inning, the ball hit by Carlos Beltran that was fair and got called foul. After this, it seemed the Mets caught a break, and history could be in the making. In the 7th inning is when it seemed that it was destiny for the Mets. Yadier Molina, the man who beat the Mets in the NLCS in 2006 at Shea Stadium with his 9th inning home run, would hit one deep to left field that looked to make it the 8,020th game that the Mets would not throw a no hitter. The pride of Whitestone, Mike Baxter, would put his glove out, catch the ball, and bang into the left field wall and somehow hold on to the ball to make one of the biggest catches in Mets history. Baxter would leave the game with injury, but not before getting a standing ovation from everyone in the ballpark. Baxter had somehow saved the no hitter and Santana was just seven outs away from history. After that catch is when I said to myself...this could happen tonight.
After the 134th pitch thrown by Johan Santana, the Mets woes of never throwing a no hitter came to an end. Citi Field finally had the feel of home. It was like the days at Shea as random fans all celebrated together. High fiving and chest pumping with everyone at the ballpark was normal. It was a night that you enjoy with the people who have been going to games for years, and a night you tell the youth to remember when they grow up. Leaving Citi Field was hard as fans stuck around to celebrate together and realize how big of a moment this was. It was a dream come true to be witness to such a tremendous moment in Mets history. It happened in my last game before I begin interning Tuesday with SNY working Mets programming. Being at the John Maine near no hitter in 2007 was incredible, but this topped them all.
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