Feel The Flow ..... It's Circular

By Taryn "The Coop" Cooper
Posted Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Jimmy Qualls. Antonio Perez. Ernie Banks. Edgar Renteria. Wade Boggs. Miguel Cabrera.

All unique players, some more heard-of than others, some on the same team, mostly different team representatives. But what do they all have in common?

They have all broken up Met no-hitters.

Huh. The “no-hitter.” That elusive and rare occurrence in baseball. Or as we Mets fans refer to it…That %!$%()&)!(@&^! No-hitter!

John Maine has come close twice this year, Oliver Perez looks poised to do it, Tom Glavine is the king of one-hitters. El Duque? Not yet, but don’t be surprised if he is a candidate for this year.

Don’t we say that every year, as Mets fans? This is the year the no-hitter happens! And be honest – you do go to every game, expecting that this is the day it will happen. It doesn’t matter who is on the mound. If it can happen to Mark Buehrle, why not one of our own?

I think I had my first experience of no-hitter non-issue back in 1986. I was very young, but I remember Bobby Ojeda took one deep into the game, maybe the 7th inning. Someone yelled behind my dad – Hey Bobby! Keep pitching that no-hitter! To which EVERYONE looked at the guy and gave him the look of death. Of course, Bobby O didn’t take it further, and of course, section 22 in the loge blamed big mouth behind us. (Of course, being 10 years old, I has to ask Dad…What’s a no-hitter?)

But 20+ years later, I just never imagined that the fact that no Mets pitcher has pitched a no-hitter or perfect game for that matter – in a pitcher friendly confine for pete’s sake! - would have taken a life of its own after all these years.

Heck, I even attended a Brooklyn Cyclones game where the starting pitcher for the Cyclones took a perfect game into the 9th inning, only to lose it in 8 2/3. Sound familiar, Tom Terrific? The guy behind me said, prior to the start of the 9th inning, “Hey, who’d a thought I’d be watching a no-hitta in Brooklyn?” I thought it was a cute sentiment at the time.

But I just wanted to clock the guy when it was lost.

So I’ve been doing some thinking. In light of Shea Stadium going away in less than two years, the prospect of two non-Mets, Jim Bunning - whose 1964 Father's Day game was absolutely perfect - and Bob Moose having pitched the only no-hitters in the stadium's lifetime weighs heavily on us.

Shea Stadium’s capacity is 55,000+. Although I know a sell-out is out of the ordinary unless it’s a pennant race type game, a Subway series, Opening day or clincher type game, let’s just say that on average, 35,000+ attend each game.

So let’s say 35,000 people attend each game, and think the same thoughts…These bums can’t throw a no-hitter if they tried! I say – let’s get rid of the negativity and start generating POSITIVE thoughts toward the no-hitter. Encourage our pitchers. Start the flow. Projecting the image of a no-hitter being thrown at Shea by a pitcher in a Mets uniform.

Hey, that’s the basis of the New York Times best-seller, The Secret, isn’t it? If you can project it, envision it, it will come to fruition. So instead of being apprehensive, instead of being negative, instead of thinking of the past, let’s employ a new technique. POSITIVE VISUALIZATION!!!

Hey, it’s worked for Rick Peterson all these years, in coaching his pitching staff, hasn’t it?

So the next time you attend a game, get the thoughts of – this guy couldn’t pitch a no-hitter if his family’s life depended on it. Think "I feel a no-hitter. I love no-hitters, and no-hitters love me". John Maine or Oliver Perez or Tom Glavine or Jorge Sosa or El Duque can pitch a no-hitter. They can visualize the no-hitter. So can we.

Feel better? I do.

Positive visualization. Feel the flow, folks. It’s circular. The no-hitter will happen this year.