There is nothing like the high of a no-hitter in the game of baseball

Photo by Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

By James Larken Smith

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved

SUGAR LAND, TEXAS (July 23, 2020) There is nothing like the high of a no-hitter in the game of baseball. I know, I’ve seen 2 in my lifetime in person. My first was one all of Houston will never forget. Nolan Ryan’s infamous no-no against them Dodgers in 1981. My brother Jonathan and I who had just 3 months earlier moved to Houston went to that game at the very last minute and snagged some of the last outfield seats available for that game. Five years later I would witness in person Mike Scott’s No hitter to send the Astros to the playoffs in 1986. The Sugar Land Lightning Sloths experienced the high of a 7 inning no-no on Sunday night, the first ever in the 9 seasons at Constellation Field. It was a much needed high point in this COVIS-19 era. 

On Tuesday night, they might as well have gotten no hit. It was Team Texas, behind the bat of Kacy Clemens, who had a triple and a single each knocking in two RBI’s, giving his dad Roger and brother Koby who manage the team, more than they needed to give them a 12-0 win over the Sloths. The Lightning Sloths lived up to the Sloth part of their name, putting up just 3 hits. It was the tail of two sloths you might say. But Manager Greg Swindell did not look too exasperated. He traded barbs with his assistant coach and UT alum Todd Haney, It’s baseball, and as former University of Texas Longhorns, they had to enjoy seeing some of the alumni doing well. 

Seeing these coaches reminds me of an old classmate of mine at Westlake High School in Austin, Calvin Schiraldi that they played with. A Westlake teammate of Calvin’s was a guy named Kelly Gruber. Calvin would later play with Roger Clemens in Boston for the Red Sox. And Kelly, who by the way, also played for the football team, and was a pretty good kicker, would play most of his career for the Blue Jays, predating Roger’s years in Canada. I had a few classes with both of them, but mainly knew their coach, 1975 UT graduate Howard Bushong. I didn’t play baseball, but I did drive coach around town a bunch one year in drivers ed. He found out I already knew how to drive. He would basically say “James, take me to the bank”. “James, take me to the sporting goods store”. “James, we got our buts kicked yesterday, I’m tired, just turn the radio on the country station and drive me over to see coach”. I’d drive to the campus, and I’d stay in the car while he’d go in to see coach Gustafson for a few minutes. I had no idea at the time who they both were becoming, and the influence each would have. Coach Bushong would coach at Westlake 12 years, leading a startup program to two championships. He left Westlake to return to UT as an assistant for a few years, then he became the head coach at Texas State, leading a successful program for a number of years, before leaving to go into minor league baseball, then returned to Texas State as an assistant coach until recently retiring. It’s funny how all of these coaches kind of melt together. This whole league is full former 

UT, Texas State players, amongst others with such a Texas influence. It truly is a Texas melting pot, both players, and coaching staff. And it’s a pretty easy thing to say that many of these guys, the vets, did like coach Bushong had me do that day, and made an effort to get some advice from coach Cliff Gustafson. 

In spite of the lop-sided victory, there was a lot to enjoy in this game. Roger Clemens spent a few innings as first base coach for Team Texas, making it an all Clemens duo on the base pads as Koby was manning 3rd when Kacy hit both of his RBI hits. Kacy, who was released by the currently homeless Toronto Blue Jays, with games like this, could put himself in a good position for the reason Roger, Kevin Zlotnik and family and the Skeeters organization, worked so hard to form The Constellation Energy 

League. Give both young players that missed MLB’s 40 man roster, and the older veterans released, like Bud Norris, former Houston Astro’s pitcher and just released by the Philadelphia Phillies organization, a second chance. Bud, so familiar to Astro fans, got off a plane, and headed straight to Sugar Land, and pitched for the Sloths in that dreaded 3rd inning. He looked good at first. He managed to get an out where no one else could. But it was a well hit ball to left center field that went over the head of the fielder Phillips, that pulled the vet out of the game. Baseball is like that. You can shine one second, then it just doesn’t fall your way. One night you have a no-hitter, two nights later, you get blasted for 9 runs in one inning. 

The Sloths were taking it in stride. But no-one likes losing. You can be sure neither team is taking winning, or losing, or playing, for granted….

You can experience The Constellation Energy League in person. Go to www.sugarlandskeeters.com for tickets and information on precautions taken for COVID-19.