LUCKILY, NO-NO ENDED AT HALFTIME
Former Grossmont High baseball coach Jim Earley had divided loyalties Friday night.
Earley's son Stanley is a senior right tackle for Granite Hills High, so he was at the Eagles' football game as the drama in Texas unfolded with one of Grossmont High's favorite sons on the mound for the Padres.
Earley couldn't miss senior night — and a 35-21 win over Helix that boosted the Eagles to 5-0 this season — but he also couldn't miss Joe Musgrove's no-hitter.
Thank goodness for iPhones and apps. And good timing. Musgrove got the final out in the historic 3-0 win over the Rangers during a break in the action at the football game.
“I watched the first couple of innings at home and then we went to the game,” Earley said. “About the sixth inning some people started texting me, ‘Hey, are you watching?' and there were a couple of people at the game who knew I coached at Grossmont and they were like, ‘Are you watching this?' ”
The buzz went through the bleachers: “Musgrove's throwing a no-hitter for the Padres.”
Earley, sitting in the stands with his father, pulled out his phone to see if Musgrove could do what no Padres pitcher had ever done.
“It's the eighth inning and then (the football game) goes to halftime,” Earley said. “We sat there and watched the last two innings on my phone. Once he got that last out, there were
quite a few people in the bleachers who yelled, ‘Oh, yeah! All right!'
“People down on the sidelines were wondering what the hell's going on up there. All the kids are looking up and then it somehow gets down to them. It was a pretty cool scene.”
While Padres fans rejoiced, Earley was among those who took special pleasure in seeing Musgrove be the man to pitch the first no-hitter in the franchise's history.
Earley was Musgrove's high school coach at Grossmont, watching as the righthander
developed into a first-round draft choice of the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2011 MLB Draft.
Musgrove put together one of the finest seasons in San Diego Section history in 2010 when he emerged his junior year as a two-way standout for the Foothillers.
On the mound, he went 11-1 with five saves, a 2.07 ERA, 70 strikeouts and 29 walks in 772⁄3 innings.
At the plate, he batted .430 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs.
“That was about as good a year as anybody I've ever seen,” said Earley, whose
Foothillers beat Helix for the Division II championship that season. “He was huge for us. He was a major cog . ...
“He always knew he was very good, but when he put that season together I think he realized, ‘Hey, I've got a chance to do some things in this game.'
“That's where he saw pro ball was a possibility.”
A year later, Musgrove's 7-5 record did not reflect the dominance he showed on the mound. He had a 2.40 ERA and 100 strikeouts with only 14 walks in 782⁄3 innings. He again was a force at the plate, batting .350 with nine homers and 32 RBIs.
“At that time, we knew he was destined for good things, not knowing he was going to be a first-round pick,” Earley recalled. “We all thought he was going to go to San Diego State (on a scholarship), play for Tony Gwynn and from there, who knows?
“Things took a different path, he signed and we're at where we're at.”
After being traded from Toronto to Houston, Musgrove reached the majors in 2016, the first of two seasons with the Astros before being traded to Pittsburgh. He played three years with the Pirates before being traded this past offseason to the Padres.
“When he was with Pittsburgh,” Earley said, “he had good stuff, but you were like, ‘Man, he's putting it together, but then he would have a bad inning or give up a hit or two and give up a run and you could kind of see it in his body language, ‘I may not win tonight.'
“With the Padres he seems pretty free and easy, where if you give up a run or two, you're probably going to win the game. I don't think there's that pressure to be perfect every time.”
Earley said Musgrove is a regular visitor on campus, even coming to play catch now and then.
“I think he was at a game last week,” Earley said. “Since he got traded, he's been down there more than ever.”
Musgrove should have a nice little story to tell on his next visit.