"Watching History From The Worst Seats In The House" Or "The Night Johan Santana Blessed Mets Fans With A No-Hitter"

I can't sleep so I might as well write. Where do I begin? Tonight was special. Tonight was historic. Tonight was glorious. It was "spectorious" if you will.  Johan Santana put the franchise on his shoulders and delivered Mets fans the no-hitter they have been waiting for, some might even say obsessing over, for over 50 years.

No-hitters have a way of turning the even the most hardened jinx-deniers into a superstitious mess, and that is how I ended up watching history from one of the worst spots in the ballpark, the Promenade Club.  Now before I go on, keep in mind the Promenade Club is not necessarily a bad place. It just wasn't designed with watching the game in mind. But on an unseasonably chilly June night, keeping Mrs. The Apple @food_fashgirl from freezing was the priority and really, what am I going to miss, right?

So this was how I ended up saddled up to the window that overlooks a portion of the playing field with monitors on a delay to show you the rest. It's a pretty terrible way to watch a game but hey, we'll watch a couple of innings and then move to a better spot right?

Let me make one thing clear. I don't believe in no-hit jinxes. I don't believe in curses of Bambinos or goats or cats or any of that stuff. Yet, in the 5th inning with Johan pitch count at about 349, I turned to friends Keith @mediagoon & Sean @theseankenny who had joined us and jokingly asked "If this plays out like it might, we can't leave this club can we." to which Keith nodded in agreement. It was an uncharacteristic moment of superstition for me but hey, the guy is at like 75 pitches in the 5th. I'm pretty sure we're not seeing history tonight, right?

But we did see history tonight, even if it was through soundproof, and I suspect bulletproof, glass. We watched the first no-hitter in Mets history.

But this felt like more than a no-hitter.  From my soundproof box, it felt more like an exorcism.  Johan and company were exorcising the demons of a rough few years in Flushing.  Those demons from 2006 kept coming back me no matter how much I would rather not think of them. The phrase that kept crossing my lips as the game progressed was "Of course it would be...". Beltran laces one down the line.  "Of course it would be Beltran." My favorite Met since Alfonzo would surely break it up. Yadier Molina drives one to the wall. "Of course it would be Yadier." One of the most hated villians in recent Mets history would certainly be the one to wreck it. Those horrible red jerseys with birds on them that fans who kept walking by my window were wearing. "Of course it would be the Cardinals."  These guys again.

Surely one of these demons would rise up and make tonight just another ballgame.  But it never happened. Beltran's ball went "foul". Mike Baxter literally ran through a wall to glove Molina's shot. The Cards folded and Citi Field rocked like it never has in it's young life. Johan Santana delivered the elusive no-hitter. Mets fans can stop playing Sisyphus and stop pushing that no-hitter boulder up the mountain.

Tonight was different from the other 8019 in Mets history. Tonight was the night Boss.

Sleep well Mets fans...I promise you I will not.

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