June 2, 2012

Aw c’mon!

Just my luck, I picked this week to travel to Spain for a fact-finding look into Elio Chacon’s ancestry.   Not only did I discover I was wasting my time, that Chacon was from Venezuela, not Spain, but while here I missed out on the first no-hitter in Mets’ history.

No such mound mastery was occurring at the Polo Grounds 50 years ago today.   The Mets starting pitcher Jay Hook lasted an entire 1/3 of an inning, which still gave him time to walk two, give up four hits, and hit a batter, resulting in five runs, a pitching line that I haven’t seen since my days in the Croton-Harmon minor league with the–what a coincidence–Hook and Ladder squad.  Near as I can tell, no yo la tengo moments in the outfield.

 

Congratulations to Johan Santana!