Jonathon Sanchez is a pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.
At the beginning of this baseball season, despite having a great arm, "nasty stuff" and being selected to play in the World Baseball Classic, Sanchez was thought to be only the 5th best starting pitcher on the Giants.
Sanchez's basic problem was that he had a way of emptying his own bucket - getting mad at himself for making a bad pitch, or worrying about how the umpire was calling balls and strikes. Sanchez often pitched well for the first few innings of his games; then something would happen to upset him and he would fall apart.
So poorly did Sanchez's pitching become that he wasn't allowed to start anymore. Instead, he was sent to the bullpen so that he could practice.
A couple of weeks after being sent to the bullpen, one of the Giants' other pitchers, Randy Johnson, got hurt. Sanchez was chosen to replace him.
Excited about his second chance and confident that the things he'd been practicing were working, Sanchez told all of his friends and family about his upcoming start. Most of his friends promised to watch the game on TV, but one decided to come to the game.
That person was Jonathon Sanchez's dad. He lives in Puerto Rico. He had never seen his son pitch in the major leagues.
When Jonathon Sanchez found out that his dad was going to be at the game, he said: "I'm really pumped up. My dad is going to be at the game."
On that night, July 10, 2009, Jonathon Sanchez threw a no-hitter.
Sometimes, just being there is enough to fill someone's bucket, and people with full buckets are capable of extraordinary things.
1 comment:
Yesturday I was watching the Giant's game and Barry Zito threw a line drive and when the Padres' batter hit the ball it struck Barry in the forearm. He was acting all macho but you could tell that he was in serious pain. Now he's done for the rest of the season because of his injury, they said that his arm might of been broken. I feel sad for Barry even though he's only my third favorite pitcher. Johnny Sanchez is my second, (Did you know that my real last name is Daisy Sanchez, even though I'm half Mexican I sure don't look it.) and Timmy Lincecum is my first favorite. Though you were probably watching the game too. Unless you're an A's fan, then I would partially dislike you. Bye from Daisy!
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