Nearly a month after the Boston Red Sox season ended, two of their former players made history in the World Series.
On Wednesday night, the Houston Astros took a no-hitter into the bottom of the ninth and sent Ryan Pressly out to the mound to close it out. Behind the dish knelt Christian Vázquez, whom the Sox dealt to the Astros the day before this year’s trade deadline.
Former Red Sox catcher Christian Vázquez and prospect Ryan Pressly make history in World Series no-hitter
Vázquez had been Boston’s longest-tenured player at the time of the trade, having been selected by them in the 2008 draft. Pressly had been Boston’s 11th-round pick in the 2007 draft, and it was in their system that he moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Unlike Vázquez, he never pitched in the majors for the Sox; after the 2012 season, the Minnesota Twins selected him in the Rule 5 draft, and he debuted with them in 2014. They traded him to the Astros at the 2018 deadline, so he ended up facing the Sox that fall in the ALCS.
But when Pressly took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, it was a full-circle moment for the battery. In 2008, he’d thrown the first pitch of his professional career to Vázquez, when they were just a pair of Sox prospects in the Gulf Coast League. By the end of Wednesday’s contest, they’d completed the second no-hitter in World Series history.
Vázquez joins Yankees legend, Yogi Berra, as the only catchers in history to catch a no-hitter in the World Series, an incredible achievement made possible by the Red Sox exchanging him for prospects a few months ago. Astros manager Dusty Baker subtly alluded to that when he praised his catcher after the game:
"“He’s been in this arena before.”"
Quite right. Vázquez accumulated ample postseason experience during his Boston tenure, and now, another team is benefitting from that while the Sox watch from the sidelines. Not the first time that’s happened.
At least Sox fans can be happy for Vázquez. He’s earned his moment.
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