Joe Posnanski Blog: Fenway and No Hitters

Poz takes in a no-hitter (No, no…Dennis Paepke hasn’t become homeless and Poz provided a ratty pull-out couch for him).

“It’s a shame he wasted that catch in a game like this,” my friend and writing partner Bob Dutton said. At the time, the Royals were down 5-0, thanks in large part to three consecutive walks by Luke Hochevar followed by a dropped infield pop-up by Mark Grudzielanek. He was right — Ellsbury’s catch was one that you would love to see in the late innings of a 3-3 game — but something about it struck me wrong.

“Yeah,” I said. “That catch will be shown on SportsCenter over and over again after Lester throws the no-hitter.”

I was joking. Only I wasn’t joking. There was something about that catch, something about the night, something about being a sports fan, something about a lineup that had Esteban German and Tony Pena, something illogical happening in my mind … I could already see the headlines, and I could already hear the announcers, and I could already feel something. That catch was the moment. Lester really was going to throw a no-hitter.

Of course, crazy thoughts like that happen all the time at a baseball game. Anytime a pitcher throws three innings of no-hit ball, you might start thinking about the no-no. Anytime a guy hits a triple in his first at-bat, you might start thinking about him getting the cycle. I want to say this is different, that I had a deeper conviction, but I don’t know. That’s probably selective memory. In any case, Lester came out dealing in the fifth. He struck out Billy Butler. he struck out Miguel Olivo. He compelled Mark Teahen to hit a ground ball to second base. He was looking stronger.