Pulling Johan Santana last night in the middle of a no-no was, well, a no-no for New York Mets manager Terry Collins. The thought, however, clearly crossed Collins’ mind as the Mets ace saw his pitch count climb.
In accomplishing something that no player has done in franchise history, however, Santana justified TC’s decision. Just how big was the moment? Well, the Mets had played 8,019 regular season games in team history before Johan Santana’s no-hitter last night. That number, according to Elias Sports Bureau, is the most by any team before it recorded its first no-hitter.
Still, for a manager who is looking at the season as a big picture and not just a flash from last night’s game, doubts remain. And as Matthew of MLB.com wrote, the call to leave Johan in was a tough one.
Certainly I wanted it for him, wanted it for our organization and all of the people who were here tonight,” Collins said. “But you just don’t jeopardize the whole organization, a season, for one inning. So in five days we’ll see how it is.”
Those five days may actually be closer to six or seven, as multiple outlets have reported that the Mets plan to push back their beloved starter’s next outing by a couple of days.
So the plan for now is to wait and apparently check on Johan periodically, even at the risk of annoying him.
It’s understandable that Collins wants to make sure Santana is o.k., for his player’s own good and probably also to ease his own mind. If it’s assurance is what the 63-year-old skipper wants, he received just that from his peers and the higher-ups the day after he made the call to let his ace make franchise history and elate fans in a manner that has escaped us for so long.
As for Johan, well he took to Twitter to say thanks, but really, it’s the fans who are grateful for the work he put into coming back and the toughness he showed by going the distance. So thank YOU Johan, thank YOU!
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