The 2010 Major League Baseball playoffs are only a day old and already the magic has been ignited.
Yesterday, Roy Halliday of the Philadelphia Phillies fired a no-hitter, only the second of its kind to ever happen during the postseason. The first being Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
This was also Halliday's second no-no of the year, he had previously thrown a perfect game against the Marlins in May.
But in a strange way, Doc Halliday's no-hitter felt even more special than his perfect game and not simply because it was a postseason game as opposed to an early-season contest against a weaker opponent.
Certainly a perfect game is the ultimate pitching masterpiece. To be so focused and so on your game that you face 27 batters and retire all of them without surrendering a hit, a walk or an error is the greatest accomplishment a pitcher can ever achieve or strive for.
But Halliday's no-no was different, better even, because of the situation and the meaning that can be derived from it.
Yes obviously it's special because it's only the second time in postseason history that its happened but it's also special because it shows us that while we often fall short in our own quests for perfection in everything we do that doesn't make the ultimate result any less remarkable. Perfection is something to strive for yes but almost impossible to reach and it's important to take a step back and admire the fact that while we aren't always perfect, the things we do achieve are special.
