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09-29-2006, 09:23 AM
Are you kidding me?!?!? What a performance by Daniel Cabrera last night! :hail:
Just when you start thinking that there's nothing exciting left in the season, something like this happens. Man. i wish i had seen this game!
Young Daniel Cabrera almost.......almost.....no hits the Yankees. And I can't believe our infield made 3 errors. :eek: I bet the Yankee crowd was sort of pissed off at the scorer. :D
Very happy for Danny. :thumbsup:
Orioles 7, Yankees 1
'Almost' for Cabrera
Oriole falls 2 outs shy of throwing no-hitter
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun Reporter
Originally published September 29, 2006
New York // Daniel Cabrera brought down the curtain on his erratic 2006 season in grand fashion last night, nearly making history on baseball's biggest stage.
Cabrera carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium, before second baseman Robinson Cano, a childhood friend of the pitcher's, lined a one-out single to left field.
His no-hit dreams dashed, Cabrera got Bobby Abreu to bounce into a double play on the next pitch, ending the Orioles' 7-1 victory before 54,046, on a night when the Orioles hope their inconsistent pitcher finally took the next step.
"It's not disappointing," said Cabrera, sporting a wide smile as a throng of media gathered around his locker. "It's part of the game. I never thought I'd be that close to a no-hitter. When he got the base hit, I said to God, 'Thank you God for bringing me that close.'"
Cabrera pumped his fist after Abreu's double play and pointed to the sky before hugging his catcher Ramon Hernandez , whose two home runs and four RBIs last night gave the pitcher a big margin of error. He then hugged several other Orioles, including his manager Sam Perlozzo. When the 6-foot-7 pitcher bent to hug the 5-9 manager, he whispered, "Almost."
"He had a big smile on his face," Perlozzo said. "You might have thought there was some disappointment, but I think he was real relieved, real proud of himself. And he should have been."
Cabrera would have turned in the first Orioles no-hitter since four pitchers - Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson - combined to no-hit the Oakland Athletics on July 13, 1991. Jim Palmer, who called last night's game for Comcast, is the last Orioles pitcher to register a no-hitter by himself. That came on Aug. 13, 1969, also against Oakland.
Former Oriole Hoyt Wilhelm was the last pitcher to no-hit the Yankees by himself and that happened in 1958. That also was the first no-hitter in Orioles history.
"You have a no-hitter going in Yankee Stadium. It doesn't get much better than that," said Orioles pitching coach Leo Mazzone, who has preached patience with the enigmatic right-hander all season. "I thought he was going to get it. It was just an awesome performance. That's what his capabilities are. He'll get the chance to throw more no-hitters in the future."
Cabrera put his 0-1 fastball to Cano on the inside corner, exactly where he wanted it. However, the Yankees second baseman, who grew up 10 minutes away from the Orioles pitcher in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, laced a sinking liner that dropped well in front of Orioles left fielder Jeff Fiorentino.
"Powerless," said Fiorentino, describing how he felt when the ball dropped in. "Everything was on my shoulders. I almost dove for it, but I would have been 15 feet off. I felt terrible because he pitched a [heck] of a game."
Cabrera joked that he and Cano, who was 0-for-9 against the pitcher heading into the at-bat, were no longer friends.
"I thought he was going to give me a crazy swing to give me a no-hitter," Cabrera said. "I've got to talk to him when I see him. I know him too well, but I never thought he'd get me with a base hit in the ninth inning. He's not my friend anymore."
Said Cano, the second-leading hitter in the American League: "I was excited because you don't want anybody to throw a no-hitter, especially at your house. I was glad I got a hit. We are friends, but this is a game. He wants to get me out. I want to get a hit."
The drama started to build in the sixth inning when the buzz in the crowd became more and more audible. A loud cheer went up when New York shortstop Miguel Cairo hit a ball to the left of Miguel Tejada , but the Orioles shortstop fielded it cleanly. His one-hop throw was dropped by first baseman Kevin Millar .
It took no time at all for official scorer Bill Shannon to make his call: error - first baseman. When the decision was revealed on the scoreboard, the boos were immediate.
"That's a play that 26 major league first basemen make," Shannon said.
The situation played out again in the seventh - twice in fact - when the no-hit bid was in the hands of the longtime official scorer.
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts traveled a ways to his left to field Abreu's slow roller with one out in the seventh. He got there in plenty of time, but bobbled the ball and his throw was late. Error - second baseman. More boos.
Then, with two outs in the inning and after Abreu had reached third on two passed balls, Gary Sheffield hit a hard one-hopper at Melvin Mora . The third baseman charged it but watched the ball bounce out of his glove. Abreu scored the Yankees' first run, but the important thing was Shannon's call. Error - third baseman.
"The ball was in his glove and he batted it out," Shannon said. "I don't see that as a hit under any circumstance."
How strange were the three errors? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles had made only three errors combined in Cabrera's 25 previous starts.
"I was praying for the error," Mora said. "I was nervous. We all were nervous."
Cabrera didn't appear to be. He sat in the corner of the Orioles' dugout with his powerful right arm wrapped in a towel after each inning. His teammates mostly abided by the tradition of ignoring a pitcher who is working on a no-hitter, though infielder Fernando Tatis did joke around with Cabrera, waving a towel at him as if to cool him off.
Even after Cano's hit, Cabrera didn't have much of a reaction. He saved it for after the final out. On this night, Cabrera was plenty satisfied celebrating his second complete game of the season. His teammates seemed to be the most disappointed that history was not made.
"If you have been around us for a while and watched Daniel pitch, we've said time and time again that he's got no-hit stuff and you feel like one of these days he is going to go out and throw a no-hitter," Perlozzo said. "He was pretty darn close tonight."
• NOTES // Tejada reached the 100-RBI plateau with his first-inning single and tied Cal Ripken's single-season hits record, set in 1983, with a fourth-inning single. Tejada has 211 hits. ... Orioles rookie pitcher Hayden Penn , who left his last start due to a strained lower back, threw a side session yesterday and Perlozzo said he'll start Sunday's season finale as long as he doesn't experience any setbacks.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun
Just when you start thinking that there's nothing exciting left in the season, something like this happens. Man. i wish i had seen this game!
Young Daniel Cabrera almost.......almost.....no hits the Yankees. And I can't believe our infield made 3 errors. :eek: I bet the Yankee crowd was sort of pissed off at the scorer. :D
Very happy for Danny. :thumbsup:
Orioles 7, Yankees 1
'Almost' for Cabrera
Oriole falls 2 outs shy of throwing no-hitter
By Jeff Zrebiec
Sun Reporter
Originally published September 29, 2006
New York // Daniel Cabrera brought down the curtain on his erratic 2006 season in grand fashion last night, nearly making history on baseball's biggest stage.
Cabrera carried a no-hit bid into the ninth inning at Yankee Stadium, before second baseman Robinson Cano, a childhood friend of the pitcher's, lined a one-out single to left field.
His no-hit dreams dashed, Cabrera got Bobby Abreu to bounce into a double play on the next pitch, ending the Orioles' 7-1 victory before 54,046, on a night when the Orioles hope their inconsistent pitcher finally took the next step.
"It's not disappointing," said Cabrera, sporting a wide smile as a throng of media gathered around his locker. "It's part of the game. I never thought I'd be that close to a no-hitter. When he got the base hit, I said to God, 'Thank you God for bringing me that close.'"
Cabrera pumped his fist after Abreu's double play and pointed to the sky before hugging his catcher Ramon Hernandez , whose two home runs and four RBIs last night gave the pitcher a big margin of error. He then hugged several other Orioles, including his manager Sam Perlozzo. When the 6-foot-7 pitcher bent to hug the 5-9 manager, he whispered, "Almost."
"He had a big smile on his face," Perlozzo said. "You might have thought there was some disappointment, but I think he was real relieved, real proud of himself. And he should have been."
Cabrera would have turned in the first Orioles no-hitter since four pitchers - Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson - combined to no-hit the Oakland Athletics on July 13, 1991. Jim Palmer, who called last night's game for Comcast, is the last Orioles pitcher to register a no-hitter by himself. That came on Aug. 13, 1969, also against Oakland.
Former Oriole Hoyt Wilhelm was the last pitcher to no-hit the Yankees by himself and that happened in 1958. That also was the first no-hitter in Orioles history.
"You have a no-hitter going in Yankee Stadium. It doesn't get much better than that," said Orioles pitching coach Leo Mazzone, who has preached patience with the enigmatic right-hander all season. "I thought he was going to get it. It was just an awesome performance. That's what his capabilities are. He'll get the chance to throw more no-hitters in the future."
Cabrera put his 0-1 fastball to Cano on the inside corner, exactly where he wanted it. However, the Yankees second baseman, who grew up 10 minutes away from the Orioles pitcher in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, laced a sinking liner that dropped well in front of Orioles left fielder Jeff Fiorentino.
"Powerless," said Fiorentino, describing how he felt when the ball dropped in. "Everything was on my shoulders. I almost dove for it, but I would have been 15 feet off. I felt terrible because he pitched a [heck] of a game."
Cabrera joked that he and Cano, who was 0-for-9 against the pitcher heading into the at-bat, were no longer friends.
"I thought he was going to give me a crazy swing to give me a no-hitter," Cabrera said. "I've got to talk to him when I see him. I know him too well, but I never thought he'd get me with a base hit in the ninth inning. He's not my friend anymore."
Said Cano, the second-leading hitter in the American League: "I was excited because you don't want anybody to throw a no-hitter, especially at your house. I was glad I got a hit. We are friends, but this is a game. He wants to get me out. I want to get a hit."
The drama started to build in the sixth inning when the buzz in the crowd became more and more audible. A loud cheer went up when New York shortstop Miguel Cairo hit a ball to the left of Miguel Tejada , but the Orioles shortstop fielded it cleanly. His one-hop throw was dropped by first baseman Kevin Millar .
It took no time at all for official scorer Bill Shannon to make his call: error - first baseman. When the decision was revealed on the scoreboard, the boos were immediate.
"That's a play that 26 major league first basemen make," Shannon said.
The situation played out again in the seventh - twice in fact - when the no-hit bid was in the hands of the longtime official scorer.
Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts traveled a ways to his left to field Abreu's slow roller with one out in the seventh. He got there in plenty of time, but bobbled the ball and his throw was late. Error - second baseman. More boos.
Then, with two outs in the inning and after Abreu had reached third on two passed balls, Gary Sheffield hit a hard one-hopper at Melvin Mora . The third baseman charged it but watched the ball bounce out of his glove. Abreu scored the Yankees' first run, but the important thing was Shannon's call. Error - third baseman.
"The ball was in his glove and he batted it out," Shannon said. "I don't see that as a hit under any circumstance."
How strange were the three errors? According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles had made only three errors combined in Cabrera's 25 previous starts.
"I was praying for the error," Mora said. "I was nervous. We all were nervous."
Cabrera didn't appear to be. He sat in the corner of the Orioles' dugout with his powerful right arm wrapped in a towel after each inning. His teammates mostly abided by the tradition of ignoring a pitcher who is working on a no-hitter, though infielder Fernando Tatis did joke around with Cabrera, waving a towel at him as if to cool him off.
Even after Cano's hit, Cabrera didn't have much of a reaction. He saved it for after the final out. On this night, Cabrera was plenty satisfied celebrating his second complete game of the season. His teammates seemed to be the most disappointed that history was not made.
"If you have been around us for a while and watched Daniel pitch, we've said time and time again that he's got no-hit stuff and you feel like one of these days he is going to go out and throw a no-hitter," Perlozzo said. "He was pretty darn close tonight."
• NOTES // Tejada reached the 100-RBI plateau with his first-inning single and tied Cal Ripken's single-season hits record, set in 1983, with a fourth-inning single. Tejada has 211 hits. ... Orioles rookie pitcher Hayden Penn , who left his last start due to a strained lower back, threw a side session yesterday and Perlozzo said he'll start Sunday's season finale as long as he doesn't experience any setbacks.
Copyright © 2006, The Baltimore Sun