A Life of Words

Pitcher Framber Valdez was one strike away Tuesday night from sending fellow Houston Astros fan Roger Pinckney and me home with what would’ve been a first for both of us: The rare thrill of witnessing a no-hitter in person, and by our favorite team, no less.

But Valdez walked the Rangers’ Josh Smith with his 106th pitch of the night, bringing slugging shortstop Corey Seager to the plate. Valdez’s first pitch, a slider, caught too much of the plate, and Seager slammed it over the right-field wall to send Rangers fans among the 34,458 in attendance into a frenzy – and Roger, me and the many other Astros fans into shocked silence. The no-hitter that had seemed almost a certainty moments earlier after a brilliant performance by Valdez was gone.

That, folks, is baseball.

Valdez exited the game, and home run-prone closer Josh Hader almost let the Rangers tie the score after walking Marcus Semien and giving up Josh Jung’s flyout that settled into Chas McCormick’s glove just short of the wall in right for the final out of the Astros’ 4-2 win. Thankfully, the 2-run bomb Houston’s Yordan Alvarez hit in the top of the ninth proved to be the difference.

For me, it was a special night. I had someone very important to me on my mind and in my heart, as I hoped the Astros would win for him after they had fallen short the night before. That’s my lifelong friend and Astros fan Paul Sweitzer, who passed away Monday while mowing his yard in College Station.

This one was most definitely for you, my dear friend.

In addition to Roger, a former Fort Worth Star-Telegram colleague of mine (so is his wife Diane), our longtime S-T (and my Dallas Morning News) colleague John Gandy also joined us. He grew up in the Fort Worth area so he’s a Rangers fan. But his ex-wife Linda, who was one of my first bosses at the S-T, also was at the game with their daughter Allison and one of her daughters, so we went down to visit them. It was the first time I’ve seen Linda in more than 30 years and the first time I’d seen Allison since she was probably 11 or 12. It was wonderful to see them both and catch up a bit with Linda.

All in all, it was a wonderful night: I got to spend time with friends, one of whom I haven’t seen in decades. I went to a baseball game – and not just any game but an Astros game! And the Astros prevailed by nearly making history with a no-hitter. How glorious would it have been for them to finish out the no-no?!

If only. Darn you, Corey Seager!

Go Astros!!!