NO-HAN
That hyphenated word, a clever riff on the first name of Mets pitcher Johan Santana, flashed across the Citi Field scoreboard. It was June 1, 2012, just moments after Santana had put the finishing touches on the first no-hitter in Mets history.
The Flushing Faithful rejoiced as a drought that had lasted for over fifty seasons finally came to an end. The crowd’s euphoria was palpable, and the night would endure as one of the most celebrated moments in franchise history.
Johan’s no-no deserves a hallowed spot in Mets lore, but it was nowhere near the best game he pitched in the orange and blue. As fans may recall, that start — while historic — was not the smoothest of outings for Santana. On that evening, a pitcher renowned for his pinpoint command issued five walks. He also allowed some uncharacteristically hard contact, including the screaming line drive that Mike Baxter sacrificed his body to corral.
Ultimately, as much as I respect Santana’s effort on that night, I feel that it overshadowed his true masterpiece.
It may not have been a no-hitter, but Santana’s shutout on the penultimate day of the 2008 season was his greatest Mets start.
A Season on the Brink
Years before fans started celebrating “Harvey Day,” they tuned into each Johan Santana start with rapt attention. The two-time Cy Young winner was a rock star, an ace whose swagger bordered on arrogance.
In fact, the energy he brought to the ballpark was epitomized by his entrance music, the 1999 smash hit “Smooth.” That song, with its blazing guitar solos from the legendary Carlos Santana (no relation), reflected the excitement that Johan’s presence generated. It was also appropriate because few pitchers performed their job so gracefully.
When the familiar chords of “Smooth” reverberated across Shea Stadium on September 27, 2008, there was more tension than excitement in the air. The Mets were barely clinging to their postseason hopes, and dangerously close to repeating the tragic late-season collapse that had befallen them a year earlier. Once again, a beleaguered bullpen threatened to keep the Mets from reaching October.
With just two games remaining in the season, it was win or go home.
Santana’s Shutout
On this Saturday afternoon, Santana toed the rubber against the Florida Marlins, a perpetually mediocre team that had given the Mets fits through the years. This Marlins team was no pushover offensively, and their lineup featured sluggers like Hanley Ramirez, Josh Willingham, and Dan Uggla. Keeping the fish off the board would be a challenge, especially since Santana was working on just three days’ rest.
For much of the 2008 season — his first with the Mets — Santana had demonstrated the ability to grind his way through a start even when he lacked his best stuff. He was still a great pitcher in terms of run prevention, even if diminished velocity caused him to allow more baserunners than usual. But with his team teetering on the precipice of elimination, Santana looked like his younger, Cy Young-winning self.
Santana’s iconic changeup was in peak form on this afternoon, teasing hitters into wildly overswinging and otherwise looking befuddled. A bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning aside, Santana never ran into trouble. The Mets only scored two runs, and that was all Santana needed.
The rest of the team needn’t show up that day; this was Johan’s game to win or lose.
Santana had seen the bullpen blow seven of his wins that season, and he refused to let anyone else decide his team’s fate. Against all odds, he worked into the ninth inning, and though a one-out double brought the potential tying run to the plate, Santana never flinched.
When Endy Chavez secured a Cody Ross fly ball at the edge of the warning track in left for the final out, Gary Cohen summed up Santana’s heroic effort.
After reminding viewers that the Mets lived to fight another day, Cohen exclaimed, “AND JOHAN SANTANA MADE THAT HAPPEN!”
Searle’s Final Say
It’s understandable why Johan Santana’s no-hitter continues to overshadow his 2008 shutout. The no-no was an unprecedented feat, and something that many fans believed they’d never see in their lifetime.
The 2008 performance has also been forgotten because in their next game — the final one ever played at Shea Stadium — the Mets lost and were eliminated from postseason contention. Much like John Maine’s one-hit, fourteen-strikeout performance on the second-to-last day of the 2007 season (coincidentally also against the Marlins), many fans refuse to revisit this game because it evokes too many painful memories.
Santana’s Marlins shutout was not just a more dominant performance than his no-hitter; it also had much higher stakes. Had Santana come up short, the Mets would have entered the final game at Shea Stadium with no hope whatsoever. It also came on three days’ rest, which means that fatigue easily could have affected Santana’s stuff. The Mets would have settled for a quality start out of their ace; no one could have expected him to go a full nine innings.
Days after the Marlins performance, news broke that Santana had pitched the last month of the 2008 season with a torn meniscus in his left knee. That fact, combined with the desire to take the ball on short rest, underlined the heroic nature of Santana’s performance.
Fans will always cherish the no-hitter, and with good reason. I, however, remain far more nostalgic for that September start in the waning days of Shea.
