(Endwell, N.Y., July 1996) Marty Fiehl reported what he calls one of his
three most memorable games of APBA in the last 25 years, occurring in a
TCBA Yesterday series between his South Starrucca Ainspans and Jesse Elicker's
Gettysburg Lightning. After splitting games 1 and 2, Marty went into the
first game of a doubleheader facing his boyhood idol, Tom Seaver. Marty
sent Joe Coleman to the mound with a team leading record of 15-6. It certainly
had the aura of a pitchers' duel in the making.
When Marty noticed that the game was progressing rather quickly, he observed that it was the fourth inning and there was a no-hitter in the making.....FOR BOTH SIDES! This lasted another inning thru five before Marty put the Ernie Harwell Broadcast Blast CD in the drive to hear the play by play.
Ernie called a good game, but Marty was disappointed that he didn't make mention of either pitcher's no-hitter. The standoff progressed thru the sixth, then the seventh......then the EIGHTH! Both pitchers were staring each other down in a "who's gonna blink first" contest! Marty got up after every inning, walking around the house and savoring the situation. A no-hitter is rare enough, but to have two of them going at once was mind-boggling!
Coleman gave up a couple of walks along the way, so Gettysburg had some people on base, but George Thomas Seaver was PERFECT--"I don't think he even threw a ball." Everything was a strikeout, flyout, or groundout. Marty pictured Seaver in his mind, driving off the mound, the fastball rising at the letters as Perez, Bando, and Buford of the Lightning kept swinging, but couldn't catch up to it.
On one of Marty's rounds around the house he stopped to tell his wife Diana about it. He may as well have been talking in Swahili....she didn't know a no-hitter from a cookbook! The only one left was the hamster. He was fascinated, listened intently, pouched the sunflower seed Marty gave him, and then returned to licking himself.
Returning to the action in the top of the ninth, Coleman got the first batter...then Petrocelli hit a little bleeder into left for a cheap single to break the string. Dave Nelson came in to run for the slow-footed Petrocelli and up stepped Boog Powell looking to drive a ball in the gap. Coleman, still irate about losing the no-hitter, drove a pitch into Boog's skull, laying him out on the ground. At first they said he didn't look hurt, but only because it hit him in the head! Powell was carried into the clubhouse and declared out for the next 6 games...or sooner if they could find an ape available for a brain transplant !
Marty brought in Felipe Alou to run for the Booger, and with 2 on in the ninth, Coleman looked a little tired from all the stress. He'd walked 5 and hit a batter to this point. Marty didn't want to press the issue so he went to his bullpen ace, Danny Frisella, who was fully rested and itching to come in. Danny did what he gets paid to do, inducing a double play grounder on his first pitch, and he's out of the inning. Now it's bottom 9, the Ainspans are pumped, and they have a chance to win it.
"NOT!", said Mr. Seaver, taking the Ainspans down in the ninth and tenth, with still nary a hit or walk or error.
In the top of the 11th, the Lightning's Joe Pepitone doubled in the gap...then with two out, up came Boog's replacement, Felipe Alou. The Ainspans have thoughts of drilling him in the head too, (it worked last time) but didn't. Alou singled to left, where Don Buford came up with it in a hurry. With the spaghetti arm on Buford, Marty knew Pepi was going to score. He threw it home anyway for the sake of crowd reaction...and Pepi was safe, the only run of the game so far!
Seaver went into the bottom of the 11th with his perfect game still intact. Sanguillen flied out weakly to left, then Tony Perez hit a blooper down the rightfield line. Alou went racing for it....racing...and made a running catch off his shoetop to save a hit!!! With two out, Sal Bando strode up looking to put one over the wall. Well, he put the leftfielder within 50 feet of the wall.....but it was just another routine out.
Gettysburg won 1-0, and Tom Seaver had an 11-inning no hitter and PERFECT GAME, something he never did in his real life career, but he did it in Ainspan Arena!
The game was great.....but unfortunately Ernie was a major disappointment. He (apparently on "light commentary" setting) never acknowledged the perfect game, even after the game was over. Obviously, Marty made his own excitement notwithstanding.
Thanks to Marty for sharing this story with us.
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