[OldFatGuy]

As I've mentioned on these forums before, I've played over 60 years of baseball with this series, and that's playing out every inning of every game. And for about the last 40 or so of that 60 plus, it even includes playing out every inning of spring training games as I didn't like the way the AI handled my pitchers in ST.

In all of those thousands of games and decades of seasons I've seen a lot. I was privileged enough to win lots of games, lots of divisions, and my share of championships while touring through several versions of this great game.

But there are some things I haven't seen. One of them is what I think of as the "ultimate baseball fantasy" where every kid has dreamed of "trailing by 3 in the 9th, 2 outs, bases loaded" and you know the rest.

I also have yet to play out a perfect game. None for me, nor against me. I have been involved in about a dozen no hitters, so I went back to version OOTP 10 and looked at the 1901-1958 history of 58 of my seasons before starting a new league in version 11. I was involved in 11 no hitters, 7 were mine and 4 were against me. The four against me occurred Apr-1905, Jun-1930, Sep-1930, Aug-1940. "My" seven occurred Jun-1904, May-1915, Sep-1932, Oct-15-1941 (Game one of the World Series), May-1952, Aug-1952, Apr-1955.

The absolute closest I ever got to a perfect game was my no hitter that occurred in May of 1915. My pitcher blazed through 7 innings without breaking a sweat. Then in the 8th, a routine ground ball went to third where my third baseman could be counted on to make that play in his sleep. Only not that day, he booted it, and it would be the only base runner my guy allowed.

Over 60 seasons, literally thousands and thousands of games, and yet not once have I been fortunate enough to witness a perfecto. According to my history, in the 58 years of that league, there were 9 perfect games, a rare feat indeed.

Likewise, in all of those thousands of games never had my team (or the opposing team as far as I can recall) had ever pulled off the "ultimate fantasy." In fact, it's actually pretty rare to even see a chance for it, as one team has to be trailing by exactly three runs with exactly three runners and with exactly two outs before it's even possible, so I can see why it's such a rare event that I've never witnessed.

Until tonight. June 4, 2013, in the year 1976 of my latest league, my Oakland A's have been struggling around .500 all season after being touted as a contender. We have just been unable to get any kind of roll going, and as August of 76 ends we find ourselves falling out of it completely as we are in 4th place 10 games behind.

Playing the second place team, we broke out early for 1 in the first and 2 more in the third for a 3-0 lead that lasted until the 6th, when my starter hit a wall and was hammered for four runs.

After the bullpen gave up one each in the 7th and 8th we entered the 9th trailing 6-3. After the leadoff batter struckout, the next guy was hit by the pitch and with one out a single put runners on 1st and 2nd with one out. The next guy hit a double play ground ball but managed to just beat out the throw at first on a fielders choice that left runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs, with my two biggest HR threats due up. But there were two outs.

The next guy had an 8 pitch AB that resulted in a walk that loaded the bases leaving us trailing 6-3, with two outs and the bases loaded. Orlando 'Mountain Man' Marquez came to the plate with a team leading 31 HR's and 103 RBI's.

He quickly got behind 0-2 on swinging strikes that cooled the stadium's fans as it was no secret what he was trying to do when suddenly that which I've never seen in all of those thousands of games happened before my very eyes. After working the count back to 2-2, the next pitch was a mistake that Mountain Man didn't let waste, and 438 feet later I had for the first time ever experienced the "ultimate fantasy" and let me tell you, I'm still shaking.

I love this game.