The No-No No-No.

Do you remember where you were on April 22, 1993? I do. I was one of 13,603 other fans at the Kingdome to watch the Mariners play the Boston Red Sox. I can't believe it has been 18 years. I was a month shy of turning twelve years old, it was a Thursday night and I had school the next day, in the sixth grade.

The lineups:

Boston

Ernie Riles 2B
Carlos Quintana RF
Mike Greenwell LF
Andre Dawson DH
Mo Vaughn 1B
Ivan Calderon CF
Scott Cooper 3B
John Valentin SS
Tony Pena C

Joe Hesketh P

Seattle

Mike Felder LF
Henry Cotto DH
Ken Griffey CF
Jay Buhner RF
Bret Boone 2B
Tino Martinez 1B
Mike Blowers 3B
Dave Valle C
Omar Vizquel SS

Chris Bosio P

You'll notice Edgar was not in there... he injured his leg at the end of spring training on bad turf in Vancouver, he was coming off winning the batting title in 1992 and this injury led to him becoming the best DH in the history of the game.

At that point we had our season tickets on the third base side, I believe in the third or fourth row. The angle was perfect to watch Omar work his magic on a daily basis (and eventually some young dude named Alex). In those days the Kingdome was often pretty empty. You could drive up and park on the street outside the North Lot with five minutes to spare, and get to your seats with no problem before the first pitch.

What I remember about the game is that it wasn't particularly entertaining, in fact I remember being a bit bored. In the top of the 6th (or was it the 7th?) we decided to leave because I was tired and had school the next day. Other season ticket holders asked "are you leaving!" and we shared that yes, it was a school night and I had to get to bed. If only they had said "look up at the scoreboard" instead of just letting us leave. We were probably the only people to leave that night early... it wasn't until we got back to the car and turned on the radio that we realized what a mistake we had made. It was the top of the 8th and Dave shared that Bosio still had not allowed a hit in the game. My mom and I both looked at each other with a "holy shit" look on our faces. It was too late to go back to the game, we hadn't gotten our hands stamped when we left. That was the first and only time I will ever leave a no-hitter.

We won the game 7-0, Bosio walked the first two batters and then was perfect the rest of the way.

On any given day... you may see something special at the ballpark... a triple play, a cycle, an amazing catch.... I did that day, just didn't know it until it was too late. How many people can say they left a no-hitter? I think this ends up being the better story. I was there, and I left... I'm not afraid to admit it. I've been to a few "almost" no-hitters over the years, each time hoping that "this will be the day!" Maybe April 22, 1993 was my chance. As of this writing it is the last no-hitter to have been thrown by a Mariner pitcher. We have all seen those replays of the final out, Omar bare-handing a chopper over 2nd. I would have had an awesome view.