When Alexi Casilla's roped fly ball landed in the glove of Los Angeles Angels outfielder Torii Hunter early this morning, it capped a no-hitter for Angels ace Jered Weaver and concluded an significant day in sports, one in which triumph, tragedy, the inspirational and the astounding were doled out in equal measure.
A no-hitter is the kind of rare accomplishment in baseball that fans and players savor (the last time Angels fans witnessed one at home was in 1975, with Nolan Ryan on the mound), but Weaver's accomplishment was soaked with added significance. The 29-year-old Southern California native tossed the best game of his career, against the Minnesota Twins, in front of his parents, Dave and Gail Weaver, and his wife, Kristin, who sit together for Jered's starts, 20 rows behind home plate in section 119 of Angels Stadium.
Just over eight months ago, Weaver signed a new contract with the Angels worth $85 million. A consensus emerged the Angels landed an ace at a bargain price, that Weaver could have earned even more money had he challenged the free agent market. But Weaver wanted to stay home, near his family and where he grew up. After Hunter secured Casilla's fly ball, it was easy to see why. On the field, an exhausted Weaver was congratulated by his teammates, then his wife and mother. Then Dave Weaver spread his arms to hug his son and wouldn't let go.
As Jered Weaver was silencing the Twins, the chaos in Washington had hockey in fits of joy and despair.
The Rangers and Washington Capitals slid across the ice in Game 3 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series through regulation, two full overtime periods and much of a third before Marian Gaborik's point-blank shot put the Rangers ahead. They hold a 2-1 series lead.
"I can't believe it," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist told ESPN.com following a game that ended four hours 34 minutes after its first puck was dropped. "It's a feeling where, usually I scream and am so excited. I was just too tired. I was just kept saying, 'Oh, my God, it's over.' It felt like it was never going to end. It's a special feeling being a goalie and playing in overtime. All it takes is a bad decision.
"At the same time, you feel like every save makes a difference. It's a pretty cool feeling to play and be out there but when the game is this long, the toughest challenge is your mindset."
SI.com's Adrian Dater explains that Game 3 got better as it went along, transforming from a chippy contest through two periods to a classic hockey match from the third period into overtime. Former Devils broadcaster "Doc" Emrick perhaps said it best while calling the game for NBC: "there were three games played tonight in the NHL, two of them right here."
The NFL handed down suspensions to four players involved in the New Orleans Saints' pay-for-pain bounty program. Jonathan Vilma, linebacker and team captain, was slapped with the sternest punishment. He will miss the 2012 NFL season, with his ban beginning immediately, the NFL announced.
As Sports Illustrated's Peter King writes, the NFL has handled its investigation of the Saints' bounty program -- which resulted in the heaviest penalties the league has ever levied -- with extreme diligence because player safety has become a paramount initiative for commissioner Roger Goodell.
The penalties, however, were pushed towards the periphery later Wednesday with the tragic news that Junior Seau, a 12-time Pro Bowl linebacker, shot himself in the chest. Seau is the latest in a growing number of former NFL players who have committed suicide in the past few years and the eighth member of the 1994 San Diego Chargers Super Bowl team to die.
Jim Trotter, a Sports Illustrated writer and friend of Seau's, presents a eulogy that remembers the player and his significant role in the San Diego community.
Wednesday began, however, in much the way it began -- with a story of triumph. Shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Rutgers jointly announced the signing of Eric LeGrand, who has been paralyzed since a hit on the football field in Oct., 2010.
Since his injury, LeGrand has become an inspirational figure, challenging medical prognoses with a smile spread across his face. Greg Schiano, LeGrand's coach at Rutgers, said the organization made the move as a symbolic gesture. LeGrand, Schiano said, serves as a role model for the kind of person he wants his players to be.
At a press conference at Rutgers Wednesday to announce the signing, LeGrand said he felt like a dream had been fulfilled. Speaking to reporters, his mother, Karen LeGrand, wiped tears from her eyes.
