Boston Red Sox Pitcher Curt Schilling loses no hitter with two outs in the 9th inning.

Better to get this close? Or better to give up a hit in the 1st?

There is something magical about the "No Hitter" in baseball. When a pitcher is throwing a no hitter, by the 7th or 8th inning, as long as it's not a Red Sox/Yankees game (or your favorite team playing their rival), the fans slowly start to forget what team they're cheering for. Inning after inning ends with a standing ovation and the pitcher gets to have his alone time on the bench because he's "in the zone."

We love to see records and see records be broken. The usual, just another pitch, or another catch, somehow becomes completely different because of the context of the situation. These moments have the potential to become immortalized because of when or how they happen, often not because of the actual act itself. It's not only a "web gem" for the night, it becomes something that people talk about well past the time that it's appropriate to talk about it.

The crazy thing here is that you can clearly see Schilling shaking off catcher Jason Varitek before throwing a fastball that got slapped through the infield by Shannon Stewart. Is that pitch the baseball equivalent of the "one that got away?" I guess the great thing about being an athlete is that you become the ultimate master of controlling the game of "What if?" Because you don't have time to play that game.

This was the third one hitter of Schilling's career.

Think of me, Curt. not Michelle Kwan.

Hang in there, Curt. It took Phil Mickelson a while to do his unthinkable.