I saw a no hitter!

Last Friday night was pretty special. First, it was cool to get the opportunity to spend some time with my 'old' friends Johnny and Rob. I have known Rob for 35 years. That is almost scary. I've known Johnny for 28 years. The three of us have shared all of life's ups and downs, in's and outs, philosophy, music, spirituality, music, sports, etc., etc., etc. I feel quite blessed to count them as my close friends for such a long time. Friday night we went to the Huntsville Stars' playoff game together. I have been a Stars fan since their inception in 1985. My Dad and I hoped Huntsville would get a minor league team throughout my childhood years. When it finally happened, Dad bought us season tickets the first few summers.

Future superstar José Canseco was the MVP of the Southern League that year. Catcher Terry Steinbach won the MVP award in 1986. Other notable Stars who became major leaguers included: Greg Cadaret, Jason Giambi, Stan Javier, Mark McGuire, Terry Steinbach, Eric Chavez, Prince Fielder, Tony Gwynn, Jr., Tim Hudson, Miguel Tejada, Ben Sheets, Todd Van Poppel, Rickie Weeks, Luis Polonia, Charlie O'Brien, Tim Belcher, Darrel Akerfelds, Eric Plunk, Felix Jose, Ben Grieve, etc. There are many others.

The Stars have quite a great history, all of which is documented on the excellent "Baseball Cube" website. Anything you want to know about the Stars' history can be found there.

There is no telling how many Stars games and other games I have seen in person in my life, but this was my first time to watch a no hitter.

News reports:

9/7/2007
Smokies succumb to Stars' no-hitter, 5-0

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Tennessee Smokies fell victim to a no-hit pitching performance by the Huntsville Stars pitching staff Friday night, succumbing 5-0 to the home team at Joe Davis Stadium. Stars' hurlers Corey Thurman, Dave Johnson and Luis Pena combined on the historic feat, and evened the Southern League Divisional Series at 1-1.

Thurman was able to shake off two first-inning walks Friday night to retire 16 Smokies in a row. He used a commanding fastball to keep the Smokies off-guard, striking out seven over six innings.

The Stars' bullpen would not let Thurman's performance go to waste. Johnson followed with three strikeouts in two innings, including a third-strike wild pitch to the Smokies' Nate Spears in the eighth. The road team could do nothing against Pena either, with three ninth-inning groundouts to secure the no-hit bid.

With Stars pitching stifling the Smokies offense, the Stars' five-run sixth inning was more than enough to win. Hernan Iribarren and Adam Heether kicked off the Stars' attack with back-to-back singles. After Lou Palmisano reached on an error by Smokies infielder Kyle Reynolds, Michael Brantley delivered a two-run single to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. The bases would load up again for the home team, where pinch-hitter Mike Goetz's single brought in two more. A sacrifice groundout by the Stars' Steven Sollmann concluded the scoring for the home team.

The best-of-five series is now tied at 1-1 and will shift to Smokies Park on Saturday. Tennessee will start Jeff Samardzija (3-3, 3.41), while the Stars are sending Derek Miller (6-2, 3.18) to the mound. Tickets are available by calling the Smokies ticket office at (865) 286-2300 or by ordering online at www.smokiesbaseball.com.

9/7/2007

Stars Toss No-Hitter in Win Over Smokies!

Corey Thurman, David Johnson and Luis Pena combined on the first home no-hitter in franchise history in Huntsville’s 5-0 win over Tennessee Friday night at Joe Davis Stadium in the second game of the North Division Playoff series. The Stars evened up the best-of-five series at a game apiece after exploding for all five runs in the sixth inning against Smokies’ starter Justin Berg.

Thurman issued two walks in the first inning before getting Issmael Salas to fly out for the final out of the frame. From there, the right-hander retired the side in order in each of the next five innings, recording six of his seven strikeouts in the game. Berg had blanked the Stars on three singles through five frames before the Stars broke through in the sixth.

Hernan Iribarren and Adam Heether opened the inning with singles before Lou Palmisano dropped down a sacrifice bunt attempt that third baseman Kyle Reynolds fielded but his throw to first base pulled second baseman Nate Spears off the bag, allowing Palmisano to reach to load the bases. Michael Brantley then grounded the next pitch into right field to chase home the first two runs of the night. Steve Moss singled with one out to reload the bases and force manager Don Money to make a decision whether or not to leave Thurman in the game. The skipper opted to send up pinch-hitter Mike Goetz, who made the move pay off by chopping a single over a leaping shortstop Robinson Chirinos for a two-run single to push the lead to 4-0. Steve Sollmann’s fielder’s choice grounder plated Moss with the final run of the night.

Johnson took over for Thurman and walked Tyler Colvin with one out in the seventh before getting Salas to ground into a broken bat, inning-ending double play. He then struck out the side in the eighth before turning the game over to Pena, who saved 12 games during the regular season. The hard-throwing right-hander retired Eric Patterson on a grounder to second, Jorge Cortes on a comebacker and got Casey McGehee to ground out to second base on an 0-1 offering to finish off the third no-hitter in Stars’ history. Dana Allison tossed a no-hitter at Birmingham on August 3, 1992 and Tanyon Sturtze kept Chattanooga hitless on June 13, 1993 at Engel Stadium.

The series continues Saturday afternoon with southpaw Derek Miller taking the hill for Huntsville against Smokies’ right-hander Jeff Samardzija. Coverage of the game begins at 3:50 pm central time and can be heard locally on SportsRadio 730 WUMP and through the internet at www.huntsvillestars.com.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Paybacks are tough, they say.

On June 21, Huntsville pitcher Corey Thurman yielded a home run to Tennessee pitcher Mark Holliman, who went on to pitch a no-hitter against the Stars.

On Friday night, Thurman was one of three Huntsville pitchers to turn the tables on Tennessee, combining for a no-hitter in a 5-0 Stars' victory.

Thurman, a 28-year-old former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher who as recently as 2005 was pitching in independent ball, struck out six in six innings, walking only two, before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. Dave Johnson followed with two innings of hitless relief, followed by Stars' closer Luis Pena, who hit 100-plus mph on four of his ninth-inning deliveries.

With the series evened at 1-1, the playoffs move to Smokies Park in Sevierville at 5:05 p.m. today, with Huntsville sending Derek Miller (6-2) against Tennessee's Jeff Samardzija (3-3).

Game four will be in Huntsville Sunday at 7:05 EDT; game five, if needed would be at Joe Davis Stadium Monday at 8:05.

It was the first no-hitter by a Huntsville pitcher in a home game in franchise history and only the third in club history.

The last no-hitter in a Southern League playoff game came in 2005 when Jacksonville's Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton combined to stop Birmingham in the series opener.

"I've seen some no-hitters but I've never been a part of one," Thurman said. "After Holliman got his against us, I was thinking tonight I'd much rather do it this time of the year."

Thurman, who began the season slowly and painfully, battling food poisoning, saved his best for the postseason. He was almost doing a tightrope walk early, walking a pair of batters in the first and throwing two dozen pitches in the inning. But after putting Tyler Colvin on with a walk, he retired the last 16 men he faced, five by strikeout.

The Stars broke open the shutout with a rat-tat-tat sixth inning against Smokies' starter Justin Berg (7-7), who is 0-2 in two previous starts against Huntsville.

After a pair of hits and a Kyle Reynolds error on a bunt loaded the bases for Huntsville, Michael Brantley swatted a single through the right side to score a pair of runs.

Mike Goetz, pinch-hitting for Thurman later in the inning in only his sixth Huntsville at-bat since a promotion from rookie ball, added two more runs with a chopper over short. Steve Sollmann's infield hit plated the fifth run.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.