All eyes were on Corey Kluber on Wednesday night as he inched closer to baseball history, eventually finishing off the first no-hitter in Yankees history since 1999.
Well, almost all eyes. For former Yankee John Flaherty, his focus was behind the plate with Kyle Higashioka. It’s only natural for a former catcher.
“Corey Kluber has done so much in his career and has never thrown a no-hitter, so you’re excited for him, but I always go to the guy behind the plate,” Flaherty told Moose & Maggie on Thursday. “Higgy has had such a long career in the minor leagues and finally getting a shot in the major leagues, and to be able to say you caught a major league no-hitter is something not a lot of people are able to do, so I’m happy for both of them, especially Higgy.”
Flaherty has been behind the plate for close calls at history, most notably in his first major league game when battery mate Matt Young tossed eight no-hit innings but lost 2-1 to Cleveland thanks to seven walks. Flaherty knows the stress of every pitch that a catcher lays down when history is on the line, only adding to his appreciation of Higashioka’s part in Wednesday night’s unforgettable performance.
“I think when you have someone like Corey last night who is locked in, you really try to stay out of the way,” Flaherty said. “You have conversations between innings, you try to keep it as normal as possible when you get to the end of the game. But Kyle talked about it. I’ve been in that position a bunch of times when you get to the seventh or eighth inning, and it becomes a mental strain.”
Higashioka told reporters after the no-hitter that he was having “a mini panic attack” behind the plate during the eighth and ninth innings, but it didn’t show, and he was the first teammate Kluber sought out after the final out was in the glove of first baseman Luke Voit.
“Every pitch you’re putting down there, you’re thinking about a little more, which probably isn’t the best thing to do,” Flaherty said. “Corey had great stuff, we watched the movement on his breaking ball. It was filthy last night, and he was able to locate all of his pitches. If you’re catching a guy like that, you just want to stay out of the way and follow the game plan and kind of follow his lead.”
Higashioka and Kluber represent the sixth battery to put together a no-hitter this season, and the second in two days. But the increased frequency of hitless games and the historically low offensive numbers across the board this season shouldn’t diminish what Kluber and Higashioka were able to accomplish on Wednesday night.
“A major league no-hitter is legit for everybody involved,” Flaherty said. “I heard Tyler Wade say it was one of the coolest things he’s ever been through…to be able to share in some of these moments as a teammate is something you don’t forget…so yeah, there have been a lot of no-hitters…but if you’re a major league pitcher and you go 27 outs without giving up a hit, that’s always going to be exciting.”
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