The playing field was chilly at the beginning of the contest. This was the second day in a row with the temperatures in the 50's. But today there was a steady breeze coming straight in and made it feel cooler than it looked. It was game time.

After Greg Maddux held the Rockers hitless in the top half of the first inning, the Eagles went on a scoring binge. Lofton grounded weakly to the pitcher. Jeter singled to left field. Williams singled moving Jeter to third. Jones doubled to right field bringing both runners home. Leyritz singled to left scoring the Chipmeister. Score after one inning: Eagles 3, Rockers 0.

The second inning went three up and three down for the Rockers and the Eagles much the same.

In the third inning, Chipper walked and then scampered home on a two run blast by Jimmy Leyritz. Two batters later, Jose Hernandez tripled to centerfield. Girardi, behind the plate tonight for the Eagles, singled to bring home Hernandez. Score after three: Eagles 6, Rockers 0.

During the forth inning, the magic started to swell. The people in the stands felt it. The players in the Eagles dugout came out and looked around. Yes, they could see it in the fans eyes. It was there. Electric. Maddux took the mound and ranked up another 1-2-3 inning. For four straight innings, the Boy-Wonder had held the tumultuous Rockers at bay. How long would it last?
1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3.

Memphis added two more runs in the bottom of the forth when Jeter led off with a single and the Chipster cranked a shot to right field for a round tripper. Eagles up 8-0.

In the fifth, Junior went down swinging, Rolen tapped a nubber to Maddux and Taubensee went down on strikes. 1-2-3.

The sixth came with more of the same. Spiers fouled out to Leyritz at first for out number one. Mabry lofted a shallow fly to left field that Bernie Williams easily pulled in for out number two. Escobar, now in relief of Reynolds, swung weakly at three straight fastballs at the belt. 1-2-3.

The Eagles continued to score. This time with a lot of help from the Vegas pitchers. Jones walked with one out. Leyritz followed with a pass. Men at first and second. Everett doubled to right field bringing Chippy home and Leyritz to third. Hernandez walked to load the bases. Girardi earned a free pass forcing Leyritz home. Maddux struck out for the second out. Lofton worked a walk, Escobar's fifth of the inning to plate Everett. And that would finish the scoring for the Mighty Eagles. Eagles 11, Rockers 0.

Stewart went down on strikes to lead off the seventh. Olerud hit a routine grounder to second for out number two. Alex Rodriguez, looking to change the last twelve Rocker hitless innings ripped a 2-2 pitch hard towards left field. Chip dove to his right and speared the liner for the third out. 1-2-3.

"I didn't think about it at all" said Jones after the game, "I just reacted to it and it landed in my glove."

It was magic. Some call it luck. Some call it chance. But it was magic. The spirit of Elvis was heavy in the park. And the Rockers knew it. Vegas may have been where the King worked for several years, but Memphis was his home. His hand was on the home team tonight. Junior grounded out to second to start the eighth inning.

"I thought about making some defensive changes" said Eagles manager, Billy Martin, through medium, Chuck Tanner. "But I've seen things like that change the chemistry. You wouldn't think that it would, but it does. I said to Chucky (Tanner) "Chuck, keep everyone where they are. Don't screw with anything.", and so we didn't change a thing. They were behind Maddux this far into it, let them take the ride with him."

Scott Rolen fouled off 4 pitches before finally earning a walk from Maddux. The first base runner for the Rockers. Taubensee drove a ball to deep centerfield on the next pitch, but with the wind blowing straight in at 15 mph, Lofton was able to track it down for the second out. Spiers then squeaked one down the first base line only to find Jimmy "I can't catch a beach ball" Leyritz making an outstanding play to save the No-No.

"They told me to play first, so I played first" said Leyritz. "I told them that as long as the throws were right at me, I'd be alright. Well, I guess I got caught up in the emotion of the situation. You know, the one that nobody was even talking about. I figured that if I could at least knock it down, we might still get him (Spiers) out at first. I was as shocked that I came up with it as Spiers was. Greggo just smiled as if he knew something I didn't."

Top of the ninth. Rockers have had only one base runner. Time for some money pitches. Mabry came up with a borrowed bat.

"I was using Griff's bats. He had been hitting .330 or around there with pop. I didn't figure it would hurt to try and change our luck."

Mabry fouled off a couple, but was caught with Junior's bat on his shoulder as a 2-2 curve dropped over the plate for strike three. One out. Bobby Kelly, pinch hitting for reliever, Ron Villone, swung on the first pitch and sent an easy fly to Lofton in center. Out number two. It was all on Shannon Stewart's shoulders. Stewart hit a 1-2 change up down the third base line. Stewart, with good speed, was out of the box in a flash. Chipper charged the ball and barehanded it. Stewart racing towards first. The throw. GOT HIM!

And it was over. The first no hitter in Fat Elvis Baseball Collective history!