Inside The Mets

Former New York Mets ace Johan Santana Diffuses Narrative Surrounding No-Hitter

Former New York Mets ace Johan Santana diffuses narrative surrounding no-hitter.

Rob Piersall

In this story:

“It has happened!”

Any Mets fan will tell you which Gary Cohen call this is from, and exactly where they were when it happened.

Exactly ten years ago Wednesday, Johan Santana performed his swan song in front of the Flushing Faithful, as he no-hit the St. Louis Cardinals, the Mets’ first ever in franchise history.

It was a picturesque June Friday night in Queens, with Santana and company donning the snow white home uniforms in front of an announced 27,000 fans.

While Santana scattered several walks through the first few frames, he kept his no-hitter intact as the game progressed.

In the sixth inning, Santana’s former teammate Carlos Beltran stepped into the dish and drilled a ball down the third base line on a 1-0 count which was ruled foul.

At the time, fair and foul plays were not eligible for video review. That would come two years later as part of the league’s new collective bargaining agreement.

While the ball appeared to be fair, the at-bat trudged on and Beltran wound up grounding out to third.

An inning later, Mets’ left fielder Mike Baxter preserved the no-hitter by making a running grab that saw him slam into the wall which caused a shoulder injury and led to a stint on the injured list.

Overall, Santana threw 134 pitches, and topped off his tremendous outing by striking out former World Series hero David Freese to end the game.

With the outing, Santana lowered his season ERA to 2.38. Though, the fact that he was able to pitch successfully at all that season was impressive.

The southpaw missed all of 2011 after undergoing shoulder surgery to repair an anterior capsule.

"I was just sitting there hoping he'll get a couple of one-pitch outs," former Mets manager Terry Collins said about the no-hitter. "I was very aware of what the wear and tear of that night could do to him, and basically, that worst-case scenario happened.

“To throw that amount of pitches with that much pressure and that much adrenaline going, it can beat you down. And it did."

Santana stumbled over his next 10 starts to an alarming 8.00+ ERA and then suffered another tear in his shoulder in Spring Training 2013.

His last official MLB game was in August, 2012, though he unsuccessfully tried to mount a comeback multiple times.

Regardless, Santana has an amazing career to look back on. Apart from the no-hitter, he has two Cy Young awards, a Gold Glove, a triple crown and four All-Star Game appearances to reflect on.

To celebrate the 10 year anniversary, Collins, Santana and catcher Josh Thole were all at Citi FIeld on Tuesday to watch the Mets play the Washington Nationals.

Collins, for many years, was haunted by the high pitch count Santana threw that evening because of how his career shook out afterwards. This week, that was all put to rest once and for all.

"As we were going through the season, everything was working pretty good," Santana said. "To say that game was the one, that’s why I always say to you guys, ‘No.’ I already knew that there was a lot going through my shoulder.

"In fact, there was a limit that we had in innings for the season. I was going to reach my limit pretty soon after that game. At that point, we’re just competing, competing, and we had a great run. I wouldn’t change anything."

Collins was more concerned about Santana, who was battling every five days, and his health. Though, he wanted him to secure his place in the history books.

"I felt that he deserved the opportunity to try to get it because of who he is and what he stands for," Collins said. "It was something I thought, the people that were in the stands, they deserved to see that and have the opportunity.

"It’s easy to say, ‘No, I wouldn’t do it again.’ I know that probably hurt him a little bit afterwards because of throwing that many pitches, but I have come to realize that I probably would’ve done exactly the same thing."

The Mets tossed their second no-hitter in franchise history in April, a combined effort from Tylor Megill, Seth Lugo. Joely Rodriguez, Drew Smith and Edwin Diaz to shut down the Philadelphia Phillies.

Santana's will always hold a special place in Mets fans hearts as it was the first in 50 years and over 8,000 games for the team.

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Rob Piersall
ROB PIERSALL

Rob Piersall has covered the Mets for a number of different outlets including metsmerizedonline.com. He is also the founder and editor-in-chief of MetsLegends.com. Give him a follow on Twitter at @RTPiersall and also shoot his page a follow @MetsLegends for great Mets' news and analysis. 

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