This weekend was huge for baseball pitchers. On Friday, legendary Yankees closer Mariano Rivera ended his storied career with his final game on the mound. Meanwhile, Henderson Alvarez of the Miami Marlins completed a walk-off no hitter yesterday against the Detroit Tigers. But just four years ago, this day in history was significant for another Marlins pitcher.
On September 30, 2009, Ricky Nolasco came close to setting a MLB record as the Marlins defeated the Atlanta Braves 5-4. Picking up the 40th win of his career, Nolasco struck out 16 batters throughout 7.2 innings pitched. Even more impressive was the fact that Nolasco sat down 9 consecutive batters between the third and sixth innings. The 9 straight strikeouts were just one short of a 1970 record held by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. "Something kind of weird about me is that, ever since high school, I keep a mental tally in my head of how many I have every single game. I knew how many I had and what was going on, but I wasn't aware of any record," Nolasco said of his performance.
During his red-hot night on the mound, Nolasco wore the Nike Air MVP Show Elite, a model which has since been discontinued. If you're on the hunt for these particular cleats, eBay is probably the best bet, but you can shop Nike's current baseball cleat selection here.
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