I remember my first like it was yesterday. No. not that. Totally forgettable. My first Strat-O-Matic no hitter. a little backstory. IT was with my first real Strat-O-Matic buddy, who was a long time childhood friend. Every year, we used to get together and play a tournament, which we called The Cup. The winner would get to keep the cup for an entire year. Funny thing was, my wife never knew about this. I never told her. I kept my Strat gaming a secret. I know. this is where it gets great.
One summer day, we had scheduled The Cup. I told my wife that I was going somewhere. Where? She said. Don’t worry about it I said. What do you mean? She said. I said don’t worry about it. and I left. Didn’t plan to come back for an afternoon. I was getting random texts during that time about, well you know, how I was spending an afternoon with the ladies at some sleazebag motel. True story. but I digress. I met my buddy and the marquee matchup was 1984 Reds vs Mets. I took the Mets and started Gooden. and I got my first ever no hitter, after probably 20+ years. Like any great husband, I called my wife.
She immediately started screaming, “where are you? blah blah blah” and I said “honey, I got a NO-HITTER!”
“WHAT!???!??!??!??!
I then proceeded to tell her the dominance of Dwight Gooden and his 15 strikeouts. she wasn’t having it. I think she called me her ex-darling. I though then, hmm, should I not start Ron Darling in Game 2?
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Last night in my 1982 Yankees replay, Rudy May tossed a no-hitter. He faced 28 batters, one over the minimum. The only blemish was Damaso Garcia, in the top of the 7th. He gets an X chance and hits to the SS. God no, not to Smalley. The SS 4 16. Thankfully, I roll a 12, which puts the roll on Smalley’s errors, rather than the range chart, which gives up more cheap hits and for sure would have cost May the game. Smalley thankfully booted it, which he always does and kept the no-no alive.
May’s final line: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 6 K.
The Yanks won the game 1-0, on a Dave Collins triple, which drove in Willie Randolph.
The Yanks currently sit at 93-59. I have them playing at a .600 clip.
They have 1 left vs Toronto, 3 vs Minnesota and 4 vs Milwaukee to conclude the season.
The next step is to roll out a complete 162 for Milwaukee and Baltimore to see who wins the AL East.
Until you can tell me a better album than Michael Jackson’s Thriller, released on November 30, 1982…you can’t….
-JRN
