As any New York sports fan already knows, Mets pitcher Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in team history Friday night, breaking a streak of 8,020 games for a franchise often characterized by its celebrated hurlers. The shutdown performance would have been for naught, though, without a spectacular catch by former Lion and Queens native Mike Baxter in the 7th inning that kept a zero in the Cardinals hit column.
Baxter sacrificed his body running full speed into the wall just after the line drive fell into his mitt, injuring his shoulder in the process, but still managed to hold onto the ball as he fell to his back in pain, surely earning a place among the heroic catches in Mets history. Baxter joined the Mets major-league roster last August after being claimed off waivers, and has placed a key role so far this season with left-fielder Jason Bay on the disabled list. He played for Columbia his freshman year before transferring to Vanderbilt.
