ESPN chose the wrong game to air tonight!

So I’m watching ESPN’s Sunday night game (Tigers v White Sox) and am getting annoyed because the White Sox are having their way with Kenny Rogers (who, after seeing run around Fenway Park on a day he wasn’t pitching, and seeing what fabulous shape the “old man” is in, I’ve developed a new appreciation for)…so what do they do?  They tell me that Carlos Zambrano has taken a no-hitter into the seventh inning.  So I get to shut the volume off of ESPN and log into MLBtv and am now watching the Cubs/Astros game…which is taking place in Milwaukee.

Our own no-hit boy got another impressive win today.  Even though it felt like he threw 210 pitches in the first four innings, Crabcakes kicked some Blue Jay behind today.  Good on him.  I might have been one of the only fans who expected the Sox to win three out of four.  Sitting at Saturday afternoon’s game, I knew there was no way the Sox were going to let themselves be swept in the double-header.  And, with all due and deserved respect to Roy Halladay, I had a lot of confidence in young Crabby.

(Oh hell, the ChiSox just scored two more runs against Rogers.  My dislike of the White Sox and, specifically, Ozzie Guillen, has been well-documented on my blog.  I just want them to lose, lose, lose.)

Zambrano just got out of the seventh with a backward K against Lance Berkman.  Seven innings – no hits.  And thanks to ESPN, I’m watching it instead of them on MLBtv!

They just sang “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” to Kenny Rogers because he’s been chased from his game in the fifth (they showed him leaving the field and I thought maybe they were showing it because he jumped into the stands and attacked someone – nope.  He just went quietly into the dugout.  Ah, fans!

Zambrano is in the mid-90s with his pitch count, in the 8th inning with two outs.  The Cubs fans are being great, standing on all his two-strike counts…I almost feel guilty about typing this while it’s going on, so I won’t publish it until the game is over.

He just struck out another (he has nine in the 8 innings) and has completed 8, no-hit innings.  Incidentally, the Cubs are winning 5-0.

ESPN is now showing Tommy Lasorda in a box while also showing the game in another box.  I’m so glad I have the volume off.  Lasorda tends to make me want to throw things at him.

One of the million reasons I love baseball:  Generally speaking, I couldn’t care less who wins a Cubs/Astros game, but I find my heart pounding for Zambrano and I really want the bottom half of the ninth to come and for Carlos Zambrano to get his no-hitter…and here it comes.  Carlos has 99 pitches and stupid mlbtv just went to commercial instead of showing him taking the mound.  😡

AND ESPN just switched from the White Sox/Tigers game to the Cubs/Astros game and Zambrano already has one out.  There is a long-standing belief that ESPN screws it up for the pitchers trying to do this when they switch to the game…as I was at Clay Buchholz’s and was watching NESN for Jon Lester’s, I can’t attest to whether or not this is true…all I know is I have a knot in my stomach as Zambrano gets his second out.

So White Sox and Tigers fans can only see the game they WANT to see on ESPN, right?  So, because Zambrano is throwing a no-hitter, they don’t get to see their game?  I’m sure this REALLY pleases White Sox fans.  Sucks to be them.

WOOOOO!  On a swinging strike, Zambrano gets the final out!!!!! (That makes 10 strikeouts on the night!) Congratulations to Carlos Zambrano!!!

This is, as they say, pretty damned cool.  🙂

How odd is it happened in a park that didn’t belong to either team?   This thing was just meant to be!

ESPN went back to the other game and MLBtv stayed with the feed…they’re interviewing Carlos now:  “I’m tired, man!”.

Zambrano did this with 12 days off coming into the game.  Pretty freaking impressive.