Final Score: Mets 8 Cardinals 0

Matthew Cerrone: I’m speechless. I’m without speech. I just don’t know where to start.

Basically, I love Johan Santana. It’s official. I love knowing Terry Collins would had to have fought Santana on the mound had he tried to pull him from the game. I love how focused he is, how he roots for his teammates, cheers them along on field, and how gets the crowd to only look center stage. And, most important, I love that he gave me this memory tonight. We’ve been waiting and watching and joking about the franchise’s lack of a no-hitter forever. I’m so happy he was the guy to bring this to us and the franchise.

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Michael Baron: It finally happened. After all of these years, all of these close calls, the what-ifs, the head scratchers, the Jimmy Qualls’ of the world, it’s Johan Santana who becomes the immortal Met. What a moment in team history. I mean, nobody was even sure if Johan would be ready by Opening Day, or what his overall contribution would be as a whole. And, here he is becoming a true Mets legend with two epic performances in a row. The amazing thing is, he is still recovering and working his way back from shoulder surgery, yet he has this intangible ability to be the fiercest competitor on the field, and win with guts and guile. Santana is a true baseball warrior, and I am so very happy he has completed his journey back from such uncertainty, beaten all of the odds and the naysayers, and has put his stamp on baseball history. There is nobody more deserving of this honor – even if Carlos Beltran’s ground ball was really fair…

Santana has talked all year about the need to make adjustments, find consistent command, and give the team length. It has all come together for him in the last week. He threw a lot of pitches to make this happen tonight, and so, as is always the case with Johan, how he recovers from this is criticial. I wonder how the team is going to handle this as far as possibly giving him an extra day off, or limiting his pitch count, and so on.

In any event, we have waited so long for this day to come. I think a lot of us thought it might never come. But the team’s inspiring and thought provoking ace came up with a gem and the game of his life, and I couldn’t be prouder to be a Mets fan as I am right now. Congratulations to Johan, the Mets, and baseball history for the new addition to the no-hit club.

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WB Mason Post Game Extra

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