May weekendHalladay pitching---
Perfection
The 20th perfect game in major league history--and the second this month!--took place last night in Florida. Roy Halladay was simply awesome. Around the fifth, I noticed he had a perfect game going. Around the seventh it started to seem real. Josh Johnson, the Marlins' superb young righty, hung in for much of the game. Wilson Valdez scored the only run of the game on a three-base error by center fielder Cameron Maybin. That happened in the third, which meant the game was a nail-biter right down to the final out, a grounder to third baseman Juan Castro. As soon as the out was made, Halladay thumped his glove, then waited for catcher Carlos Ruiz to run into his outspread arms. Doc's broad smile said it all.
Halladay threw 115 pitches, including 11 strikeouts. Because of the long holiday weekend there were lots of Phillies' fans in the stands. By the 9th, the atmosphere was electric. After the game, Marlins' owner Jeff Loria had the pitching rubber dug up and, in a generous gesture, presented it to Halladay.
One of the beat writers for the Phillies tweeted that when the modest, reticent Halladay went into the lockerroom, his teammates demanded that he say something. Halladay just pointed at Chooch and smiled--and everyone erupted in cheers.
How amazing is it that two perfect games are tossed in the month of May, one by the Athletics and one by the Phillies? Both teams now have two perfect games in their history. Only five major league teams can make that claim. Go, Phillies! Go, A's!
