Greatest Moments in Marlins History: #6 No-No Anibal Sanchez

April 15, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez (19) celebrates after striking out Houston Astros center fielder Jordan Schafer (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Welcome back to the Greatest Moments in Marlins History. 2006 was a very special year for me. I became a supervisor at my job, I got a brand new car, a new condo, and I would start dating the girl that would one day be my wife. September 6, 2006 was also a great day that year too.  That day brings us to moment 6. On this day Anibal Sanchez threw the fourth no-hitter in Marlins history. What made this day even more special is it was one of my and my future wife’s first dates.

Being a broke college students, there weren’t many things we could go out and do. So my future wife and I decided to stay at my place and watch some TV. 7 pm rolled around and I decide to put on the Marlins game. Since I didn’t know at the time that she was a huge Yankees fan, she was shocked that I put on a baseball game. I offered to put on something else but she thought it was cute that I “liked AAAA baseball“. Sometimes American League fans can be stuck up. So we watched the Marlins game. Pitching for the Marlins was the rookie sensation (I’ve said that phase a lot this countdown) Anibal Sanchez. He was going up against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Little did I, the future wife, the 12,000 plus fans at Joe Robbie (leave me alone) and the people watching on TV know that we were going to be a part of history today.

Anibal started the game off strong, sitting down the Diamondbacks player 1-2-3 on only 8 pitches. “Hey future wife, you know what these 2 teams have in common? They’ve both beat the Yankees in the World Series.” Future wife: “Talk to me when both teams combined have 27.” Ok that was clever.  The 2^nd inning was similar to the 1^st as Anibal went 1-2-3 again. “Hey future wife, did you know that the Marlins came back from 3-1 in the 2003 NLCS to win? The only team that did that better was the 2004 Red Sox against the… oh…” Future wife: “Congrats, at this rate the Red Sox will have 27 in 300 years”. Hahaha. Is this deja-vu? Because Anibal just went 1-2-3 again in the 3^rd. “Hey future wife, you know how we know we are watching real baseball? The pitcher bats in this game.” Future wife: “So you like the walking out?” I’ve got nothing for that one.  In the fourth inning Anibal would lose the perfect game by walking 2 batters but still got 3 outs to keep the no hitter intact.  Future wife: “Oh no, it’s the 5^th inning, is it time for the dreaded double switch??” Is she making fun of me now?

In the 5^th inning Anibal‘s no hitter was close to being broken as Carlos Quentin grounded to 3^rd base and was running at full speed. Miguel Cabrera scooped it up and threw it very much out of the reach of Mike Jacobs. E5. No hitter still intact. The next 3 batters would go down.  At this point I and the future wife had stopped the witty banter and were glued to the game. There was a no hitter going into the 6^th! In this inning Anibal made quick work of the 1^st and 2^nd batters, but walked the 3^rd. The next batter took only one pitch to get him out. The 7^th and the 8^th inning were very quick as Anibal sat the Diamondbacks down 1-2-3. We were inches from the TV screen when Anibal took the mound in the 9^th. The first batter he faced went down swinging! 2 more outs!  The next batter popped out to Miggy on pitch number four for out number 2! One more out to go! Up came the next batter. First pitch, strike swinging! Anibal’s next pitch was hit, a soft grounded to the shortstop, the throw to first, and out number 3! A no hitter! Anibal just threw a no hitter. I and the future wife jump for joy and hug. This is no hitter number 4 in Marlins history. Future wife: “ Only 7 more and you’ll tie the Yankees (smile).”  Ok that’s awesome that she knows how many no hitter a baseball team has.

The reason this no hitter moment is so much higher than the others is because of the story behind it. In the end, a moment is what it means to you and what you make of it.  It was great to find a girl who loved baseball as much as I do. The many moments we have shared together, both baseball and non-baseball related, have made our life together so magical. So whether it’s with your family, friends, co-workers, or someone you just met go out and make your own baseball moment memories, because in the end it’s your moment so make the most of it.