Archival Photo of Robert “Shirtless Bob” Blair, time traveler, on the 1909 day he no-hit Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers in an exhibition game against the Ford Motormen. Today’s series “no-no” for the Babies against the 2005 Astros was Blair’s 2nd against a big league club
Game Five: Astros @ Babies, Wednesday, 10/19/05, 7:30 PM
Constellation Field, Sugar Land, Texas
BOB BLAIR NO HITS ASTROS, 1-0! BABIES LEAD SERIES, 3-2!
Last night in Game Five, Shirtless Bob Blair set the Time Warp Series on its ear by pitching the first no-hitter in the entire history of these games. Two walks alone separated Blair from matching the perfect game of Don Larsen of the New York Yankees in their 2-0 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 8th of the 1956 World Series at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx. All of Blair’s good stuff was working and it showed. Blair racked up 12 “K”s and needed only a single tally in the bottom of the first to protect his 1-0 triumph in the end.
The madly celebrated Babies win has driven Bob Blair’s record in the Series to 2 wins and 0 defeats in two complete game starts that have seen him surrender only one unearned run in 18 innings. Blair has been touched for 6 hits from his first opening game start and a total of 5 walks. In return, he has struck out 20 batters in his two games. And most importantly, Blair’s 2-0 “Ironman” performance has now given the Houston Babies a 3-2 Time Warp Series lead as everything now goes back to Minute Maid Park for a definite Game Six and a possible Game Seven.
Asked how he does it, Bob Blair explained that he followed the lead of his boyhood hero, Babe Ruth. “I ripped off my shirt the night before I pitched and went out and did a little elbow-bending,” Bob explained. “The exercise strengthens my pitching arm and also seems to sanctify both my mind and my resolve. – Look at today’s results! – I couldn’t have done much better had I tried even six or seven more miracle juice spots.”
Babies Manager Bob Dorrill didn’t exactly endorse Blair’s training regimen, but he conceded that “I can’t argue with his results. We take nothing for granted, but going back to MMP and a 3-2 lead without Blair’s two monster wins would have been impossible.”
Roger Clemens (0-2) wasn’t exactly pitching sliced salami out there in Game Five either. Clemens just has experienced the hard luck of opposing Bob Blair in both of his “run for the ages” wins in Games One and Five. In Game Five, Clemens also went all the way, giving up only a single unearned run in the bottom of the first and 4 hits on the night that included 2 triples by that possessed Babies batter, Phil Holland. Phil’s two distant wallbanger shots were half the game’s hits. Bill and Jo Hale got the other two at a “one each” clip.
Game Six will go tonight, 7:30 PM, Thursday, October 20, 2005, at Minute Maid Park. Larry Hajduk (0-1) will take the mound for the 1888 Houston Babies. Andy Pettitte (1-0) goes for the home club 2005 Houston Astros.
Bob Blair in the early twilight time of Game 5 and a memorable night. The Babies were wearing their alternate home jerseys in the early innings of “The Night of the Big No-No.” In the 7th, the Babies changed to their “good luck” white with dark blue pinstripe attire.
Here’s how the scoring went in Game Five by Inning (In these line summaries, each new batter is preceded by the “*” sign; outs (1) (2) and (3) are shown in parentheses as they occur; changes of pitchers are noted in bold type; and the new score is indicated in parentheses after each run crosses the plate and again, at the end of the half inning time at bat):
Bottom of First: Babies batting, Roger Clemens pitching ~
* J Disch grounds out unassisted to 1st baseman M Lamb (1); * B Hale strikes out (2); * P Holland triples down RF line; hugs 3rd with 2 outs; * LJ Miggins grounds a ball to 2nd baseman C Biggio; C Biggio flips it to M Lamb at 1st, but it flips off Lamb’s glove for an E3 that allows LJ Miggins to reach and make the turn for 2nd and for P Holland to score from 3rd (Babies, 1-0); M Lamb retrieves the ball and flips it to R Clemens, who is now covering 1st; LJ Miggins is tagged out by R Clemens as he tries to get back to first (3), but the games’s lone run has scored; side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros o) – a score which holds up as the final tally in 9.
Blair’s Run to Greatness ~ How Bob Blair pitched to Every Batter he Faced in his No-Hit Game:
Top of >>>
First ~ * W Taveras flies out to K Burns in RCF (1); * Craig Biggio flies out to A Hajduk in LF (2); * M Ensberg pops out to LJ Miggins at 1st (3); side retired; (no score).
Second ~ * L Berkman strikes out (1); * J Lane strikes out (2); * M Lamb grounds out to LJ Miggins at 1st (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros 1).
Third ~ * B Ausmus strikes out (1); * A Everett is retired on a great 4-3 play up the middle by 2nd baseman P Holland (2); * R Clemens strikes out (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros o).
Fourth ~ * W Taveras strikes out (1); * C Biggio lashes a ball to short right, but B Stevens in RF makes incredible throw to nip him on a 9-3 play to LJ Miggins (2); * M Ensberg grounds into a 5-3 retirement that starts with B Disch (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros 0).
Fifth ~ * L Berkman flies out to B Stevens in deep RF (1); * J Lane walks (1st Astros base runner); * M Lamb flies out to K Burns in deep CF (2); J Lane holds at 1st; * B Ausmus strikes out (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros 0).
Sixth ~ * A Everett strikes out (1); * R Clemens strikes out (2); * W Taveras sends B Stevens to the wall in RF for the deepest kind of FO (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros 0).
Seventh ~ * C Biggio retired on a high fair pop fly to catcher J Hale (1); * M Ensberg walks and becomes the Astros’ 2nd base runner in the game; * L Berkman hits into a 6-4-3 double play (2) (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros 0).
Eighth ~ * J Lane strikes out (1); * M Lamb grounds to P Holland for a 4-3 put-out (2); * O Palmiero pinch hits for B Ausmus; O Palmeiro retired by LJ Miggins on grounder to 1st (3); side retired; (Babies 1 – Astros 0).
Ninth ~ * A Everett pops out to P Holland at 2nd (1); * J Vizcaino pinch hits for R Clemens and strikes out (2); * W Taveras strikes out (3); side retired; game over; no-hitter locked into history; (FINAL SCORE: BABIES 1 – ASTROS 0).
Babies catcher Jo Hale was the first to congratulate Bob Blair when he closed out his 1-0 no-hit win over the 2005 Astros with a called strike 3 to Willie Taveras on the outside corner.
Tags: 10/19/05, Game 5: Astros @ Babies, Wednesday
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