Way to go RAMON

Dutifully, I was pulling time at the Chicken pits during Labor day. Our Knights of Columbus group puts on a gigantic chicken barbecue for the church's Labor Day picnic, and we cook chicken... A whole lot of chicken, about 150 at a time per giant grill, with 6 grills running. We almost always sell out, too. I like chicken duty; it makes me feel like I'm contributing something and it's a pleasant social time, for all the hard work that goes into it. Then I get the phone call.. It's from Drey. My brother in law will not be able to utilize his ticket to that day's ball game. Would I be interested? Sure. But I had pangs of guilt about abandoning my post. At that moment, God intervened by giving us extra volunteers, so I cleared it with the head Chicken Wrangler and headed south to pick up tickets, then North to RFK.

We witnessed an amazing game. Three Up, Three Down, for six inning straight. At that point, both Gar and I wanted to leave, the game was getting pretty dull. I really wasn't paying attention to the dynamic here... Ramon Ortiz was pitching a no-hitter, right before my eyes. I thought it was a dull game until the 7th inning. And then, WHAM! A double. Then WHAM! Both runners go home. And virtually the same thing in the 8th inning, this time with Ortiz (who hadn't hit anything that day) knocking the run out of the park. He really crushed it-- it landed in the opposing team's bullpen.

In the end, Ortiz came within three outs of throwing a no hitter. When he finally got pulled late in the 9th, the crowd gave him a standing ovation, which he richly deserved. Maybe next time!

(From the Nationals Website)

WASHINGTON -- Jose Rijo, the special assistant to Nationals general manager Jim Bowden, was in Washington the last few days and he was set to travel back to the Dominican Republic on Sunday, but right-hander Ramon Ortiz wanted his mentor to stick around for another day to watch him pitch.
It was a good thing Rijo stayed in Washington. He watched Ortiz pitch one of the best games in Nationals history on Monday. Ortiz came within three outs of throwing the team's first no-hitter since moving to Washington in a 4-1 victory over the Cardinals at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.

Ortiz was on a personal three-game losing streak and he had given up 22 earned runs in his last 16 1/3 innings.

"I was leaving [Sunday] and he said, 'You have to stay here for me.' So I ended up staying," Rijo said.

Had he pitched the no-hitter, Ortiz would have become the first pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter since Dennis Martinez threw a perfect game for the Expos against the Dodgers on July 28, 1991.

As each inning passed, no member of the Nationals mentioned that Ortiz had a no-hitter. In fact, Ortiz never looked at the scoreboard to check on how he was doing.

"I never saw the scoreboard today. When I was throwing a no-hitter, I didn't want to see it," Ortiz said. "Everybody was quiet. Everybody was happy."

Ortiz topped it off by hitting a solo home run against Jorge Sosa in the eighth inning to give the Nationals a 3-0 lead. In his first two at-bats against St. Louis starter Jason Marquis, Ortiz saw nothing but breaking balls. Sosa, on the other hand, threw a high fastball on the inside part of the plate and Ortiz hit it over the left-field wall. Ortiz raised his hands in excitement as he rounded the bases and clapped as he reached the dugout before receiving a curtain call from the fans.

"When I hit the home run, I said, 'Oh my god, it's a home run.' I said, 'Yes.' It's unbelievable. I can sleep tonight. We [were throwing] a no-hitter. I hit a home run."