MLB

The no-hitter Friday night by San Francisco Giants hurler Jonathan Sanchez is a reminder that one of baseball’s most hallowed accomplishments is not just reserved for pitchers with lofty career statistics. Instead, for one night anyone (even a pitcher with a 16-26 career record) can look like a Hall of Famer and stamp himself a place in baseball immortality.

No-hitters have a special place in baseball lore because, while there are other accomplishments that occur with less frequency, a no-hitter is one feat that can seemingly come out of nowhere.

1. Is Brian Matusz' 2009 performance more impressive than Matt Wieters' of 2008?

Lawrence Barreca: In some ways yes, and in other ways no. Both have taken the same sort of route, hitting Frederick and Bowie along the way, and both had similar results.

You knew it was going to be a different type of an All-Star game when Dock Ellis served up a dandy for the sports writers in the days leading up to the contest.

“Ain’t no way,” Ellis, who was black, told reporters, “they gonna start two brothers against each other in the All-Star game.”

Citi Field is a state-of-the-art facility. A throwback to old-time baseball with an eye towards the future. Filled with a vast array of unobstructed views, intimate feel and quirky dimensions. It is truly a ballpark in every sense of the word.

So why does it feel more like a morgue?

It wasn't so long ago that the core of these Mets' players—Wright, Reyes, Beltran, and Delgado—were part of a reorganization, headed by Omar Minaya, to bring back the good old times from Shea and deliver them into Citi Field.

Jeff Francoeur is a Met. I’m not sure I like the sound of that, but I guess I’ll have to get used to it.

Jacoby Ellsbury, the young center fielder for the Boston Red Sox, is regarded around the league as one of the great young players in Major League Baseball today.

While Jacoby is still developing as a baseball player, his offensive repertoire currently consists of a swing that is prone towards contact, a batting average that generally hovers around .300, and the potential to develop legitimate power as he grows older.

Also, it should be noted that Jacoby is considered to be among the fastest players in the league, and his stolen base total is consistent with that notion.

Last night’s win against the Yanks notwithstanding, the next month is going to seriously test the mettle of the Angels. Hunter and Vladdy out means more pressure on...the pitchers.

The Angels are not going to outslug teams on a regular basis. They’re hitting better for sure—with the exception of Matthews, who is a stiff waiting to happen...oh, wait, it did happen! But Hunter is a huge loss and even Vladdy was coming around.

A few weeks ago, Bay Area sports personality Shooty Babitt attributed Jonathan Sanchez’s lack of success to his lack of nickname. San Francisco has The Freak (Lincecum), Cainer (Cain), the Big Unit (Johnson), Big Z (Zito), but Sanchez is sans-pseudonym so far this year.

What a way to make history.

On a night that he wasn't even supposed to start, Giants lefthander Jonathan Sanchez tossed the first no-hitter in team history since 1976, when John "the Count" Montefusco did it at Atlanta. It was also the first no-hitter in the majors this season.

His dad, Sirgfredo, chose the perfect time to go to San Francisco and watch his son pitch.

"Right now I'm just going to go home and hang out with my dad," Sanchez said afterwards. "I was pumped that he was here watching the game."