By Dylan Butler
Less than 24 hours after being part of baseball history, Pete Munro sat in the visitor’s clubhouse at Yankee Stadium still struggling to grasp the reality.
Maybe it’s that the former Cardozo standout isn’t much of a baseball history buff or that he hadn’t slept much the night before, but the Astros middle reliever still couldn’t believe that he was part of a six-pitcher combined no-hitter the night earlier.
And that it happened against the Yankees, at Yankee Stadium in front of about 20 family and friends — including his wife, Samantha, who took her first trip to the House that Ruth Built — made it even sweeter for the Little Neck native who grew up a Mets fan.
“It actually hasn’t hit me yet,” Munro said before the interleague finale at Yankee Stadium last Thursday. “I know the big deal of it, but I didn’t get much sleep last night. Some people called me and I was just talking about it with my wife, but it’ll probably hit me today when I’m in the bullpen, when I realize what a big deal it is and what a milestone it is for the Astros.”
Munro, along with fellow hurlers Roy Oswalt, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner, spent a good portion of the morning signing what seemed like an endless supply of baseballs after they set a major league record for most pitchers used in a combined no-hitter.
The previous mark was four, shared by the Oakland A's and the Baltimore Orioles.
Of the six, Munro was the only one to have pitched at Yankee Stadium before. The no-hitter was the first thrown at Yankee Stadium in 50 years, and the Yankees major league record of 6,980 games — dating back to Sept. 20, 1958 — without being no-hit also was broken in the Astros’ 8-0 drubbing.
Each of the six hurlers had a bottle of champagne waiting at his locker, bought by Astros traveling secretary Barry Waters, in honor of the record-breaking achievement.
“It’s strange. I don’t even know if it’ll ever happen again, six pitchers combined,” Munro said. “It’s more strange than someone doing it on their own. I’ll definitely tell people about it because not only did it happen, it happened here in Yankee Stadium. That’s a thrill in its own.”
Munro was the first of five relievers used after Oswalt left the game in the second inning with a strained right groin. Oswalt went on the 15-day disabled list in May, missing two starts after injuring his groin running the bases against Pittsburgh May 15.
The 6-foot-3 righty was inserted into the starting rotation in Oswalt’s absence but struggled in a pair of losses to the Cardinals five days apart last month, giving up 10 earned runs in 5.1 innings.
“Coming out of the bullpen, I think I’m throwing fine,” said Munro, who is 3-1 with a 3.34 earned run average in 24 relief appearances. “It’s just those two starts pretty much screwed up my numbers.”
Munro entered the game in the second inning, inheriting a 1-1 count to leadoff hitter Jorge Posada. After walking the Yankee catcher, Munro was visited by Astros pitching coach Burt Hooton.
“He just told me to calm down and not try to be so fine with the pitches and just throw strikes. I really didn’t do that, but I guess you get lucky,” said Munro, who last pitched one inning in an 11-1 win vs. Baltimore June 5. “I hadn’t pitched in six days, so I wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked to have been. But when you don’t have your best stuff you have to battle, and I did that.”
Munro got Robin Ventura and Hideki Matsui to fly out and then struck out Todd Zeile to get out of the inning.
The Yankees threatened in the bottom of the third, loading the bases with two out. But Posada swung through a take sign on 3-0 and grounded out to first baseman Jeff Bagwell to end the inning.
“I wasn’t really physically loose last night, but mentally I wasn’t at all because I had no time to think about it, and to come into Yankee Stadium it’s going to be kind of a shock,” said Munro, who threw 57 pitches, 27 for strikes. “Your heart is pumping a little bit faster and stronger and you’re more thrilled, I think.”
Munro, who turned 28 Saturday, got Ventura and Matsui to ground out before walking Zeile. Munro was relieved by Saarloos, who got Raul Mondesi to fly out to end the inning.
“He got eight big outs for us,” Astros manager Jimy Williams said. “He’s had a couple of starts, but to me he’s done a better job overall out of the bullpen. He always takes the ball. Regardless of the situation he’s always ready to pitch and that’s a good teammate.”
Munro went to the clubhouse, where he said he had no idea about the no-hitter until Lidge, who retired all six batters he faced, informed him in the eighth inning.
“I was sitting over there on the couch having a cup of coffee and (Lidge) was pacing back and forth,” said Munro, who last pitched a no-hitter his junior year at Cardozo. “I really didn’t think it was a big deal until everyone else started to. I’m not a baseball history buff, I don’t know about those things, but it was exciting to be a part of it.”
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
