ESPN classic was playing a replay of the game to commemorate the anniversary. I sat down and watched it.
I had no idea he pitched the no-hitter on June 29th. Today is my 36th birthday anniversary.
After spending the day at Minnehaha Falls with my mother and my kids, watching one of my favorite pitchers pitch a tremendous game was serendipitous.
A few things that I noticed –
Stan Javier was playing center field for LA. Kirk Gibson was in Left. I think Gibson had an error in the first allowing Pedro Guerrero to take first. From then on Javier was catching several popups well into Gibson’s territory throughout the game. The ground he was covering was truly amazing. Gibson was taken out in the 8th and replaced with a defensive substitute.
Speaking of Guerrero – one of the announcers was amazed at how much Pedro had grown since he was drafted at 17 and weighed about 157 lbs. Guerrero claimed he beefed up by eating green bananas. I found this funny in light of the rampant use of steroids throughout the era.
Stan Javier also placed down a perfect squeeze bunt in the 7th or 8th inning to pad the lead a bit.
June 29th, 1990 was also the only time 2 no-hitters were thrown on the same day. Dave Stewart pitched the other for Oakland against Toronto. I guess the Toronto fans even gave him a standing ovation with one out remaining. That’s classy, Canada!
This was Fernando’s 1st no-hitter. He had never thrown a one-hitter prior to this one but he did have 8 2-hit games.
Thanks for reading.
addiction as therapy 