Arizona Diamondbacks rookie left-hander Tyler Gilbert no-hit the San Diego Padres on Saturday night, August 14th, making big-league history on an individual and league-wide basis as part of a 7-0 blowout victory.
Gilbert, 27, was making his first career start and just his fourth career appearance in the majors. Nevertheless, he became the fourth pitcher to ever toss a no-hitter in start No. 1, joining Theodore Breitenstein (1891), Bumpus Jones (1892), and Bob Holloman (1953), according to research conducted by MLB.com's Sarah Langs.
Additionally, Gilbert's no-hitter was the eighth in the 2021 Major League Baseball regular season, setting a new record. The most no-hitters thrown in a single season in modern times had previously been seven, a mark that was reached most recently in 2015. Eight, then, ties the all-time record, which was set in 1884. (Note that seven-inning no-hitters are not included, as MLB does not consider them to be official no-nos.)
Gilbert's no-no is the third in Diamondbacks franchise history. Randy Johnson first threw a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves in 2004 (Ugh), and Edwin Jackson then threw a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010.
A friendship that impacted a man's eternal destination. A bond shared between a black man from the United States and a white man from Germany. One man carrying the hopes of his nation and race, the other man undergirding his country's nationalistic pride and ambition. Luz Long, was a German long jumper favored to win his event in the 1936 Olympics. He was white, blonde, and the perfect candidate to portray Adolf Hitler's superior Aryan beliefs. He had already won the German long jump championship six times in 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. Hitler, the self proclaimed chancellor of the German Reich, had made no secret of his beliefs that these Olympics would be the global stage where his Aryan people would position themselves as the superior race.
Jesse Owens, a black man from the United States, was experiencing the pressure of competing in this stadium located in the heart of Nazi Germany. He had won the gold medal in the 100 meter race earlier but was struggling to qualify for the long jump contest. This stress could have been amplified by the actions of Hitler who shook hands only with the German victors after the first day of competition and then left the stadium. International Olympic Committee president Henri de Baillet-Latour insisted that Hitler greet every medalist or none at all. Hitler opted for the latter and skipped all further medal presentations. So it was with great expectation that Hitler watched from his perch high above the throng, awaiting the triumph of his favorite German athlete, Luz Long, in the long jump contest.
Tonight, Thursday, August 12th, 2021, a Major League Baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees was played in Iowa, for the first time in history. MLB built a baseball stadium next to the Field of Dream stadium, which was originally built for the movie (best baseball movie of all-time in my opinion) which was filmed in 1989. The White Sox won it in the bottom of the 9th with a two run homer - what a night!
"People will come, Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn into your driveway, not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door, as innocent as children, longing for the past. “Of course, we won’t mind if you look around,” you’ll say, “It’s only twenty dollars per person.” And they’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it, for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk off to the bleachers and sit in their short sleeves on a perfect afternoon. And find they have reserved seats somewhere along the baselines where they sat when they were children. And cheer their heroes. And they’ll watch the game, and it’ll be as they’d dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick, they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again. Oh people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come."
And on a personal note, just hearing the first few notes of the perfect soundtrack from the movie causes me to tear up immediately. Time moves differently in the game of baseball, where stats originate from its start in the 1800's, and there is a direct correlation between that kind of timeless moments and the relationships that we covet the most. It is sacred, almost spiritual in its impact. This film is in my opinion one of the most perfect movies ever made. People do come to this location, and some day I hope to walk on that field, carrying my glove and baseball, and play catch in the twilight of that Iowa cornfield.
People come to that field, over thirty years after the movie was made, and I believe there will be a steady caravan of people until Jesus returns, longing for the emotional connection they felt when they watched the movie.
