Wow. Amazing. Unbelievable. Unreal. Ridiculous. Insane.

Wow. Amazing. Unbelievable. Unreal. Ridiculous. Insane.

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Those are all words that I have used tonight in describing Justin Verlander’s no hitter.  I have never high-fived, shook hands with or pounded fists with more people than I have tonight from the time Magglio Ordonez caught that fly ball through now. The entire car ride from the stadium felt like a dream, because I felt like I was dreaming realizing that I got to see something in person that only a handful of people get to. It’s almost 1 AM right now, and I can’t get the ringing out of my ears from the crowd. And I don’t want it to leave.

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This is a night that I will never forget. From walking in to the press room in the fourth inning, looking up at the scoreboard to get a quick recap of the game to this point and noticing the zero in that middle column next to the Brewer’s name to sitting in the press box after the game looking out at the empty stadium and coming to grips with what I just saw.  I was skipping with joy while going from the field to the clubhouse after the game. I was smiling from ear to ear while capturing the players embracing on the field after the game. Being a lifelong Tiger fan this has been the greatest.  But tonight wasn’t about me. It was about Justin and his teammates.

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It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Even before tonight while in the locker room and seeing Hondo and Justin joke about Hondo always calling him “Rocket”. He is always joking around with teammates and will give anyone an interview regardless of whether he pitched a good game, or had trouble for that night.

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Before tonight, I had seen good “stuff” from pitchers on the mound before, but none of it that said to me “This is no-hit stuff”…until tonight. Justin was throwing his fastball in the upper nineties and into triple digits for the entire night. His curveball was buckling the knees of the entire Brewer ball club all night. But on the rare occasion that Justin missed his spot, his teammates were there to help him out. With 1 out in the 7th inning Corey Hart hit a very hard line drive to right field. I was so sure that that ball was going to drop in for a hit that I put my head up and thought about what could have been. Then I heard the roar of the crowd and the rest of the press box. I missed it. I looked up at the TV just in time to see the feet first slide that Mag’s made to make the pretty grab. At that point in the game I said to myself that I would not look up, and watch every play the rest of the way. And boy was I glad that I did in the 8th inning when Neifi Perez made a sweet flip to Placido for the great turn of an integral double play that kept the no hitter intact. Watching Justin throw his final two fastballs of the game at 102 and 99 MPH respectively I stood in awe. Justin and the rest of the Tigers made a dream come true tonight for 33,000 fans. And for that, I think them all.