Here’s one thing you should know about me, your Paint It Red Author: it’s really hard for me to start something. Writing, for example. I love writing, and I want it to play a big role in my future. But starting to write? That’s the tricky part. This blog has been months in the making (my family is reading this sentence and nodding furiously, just so you know). I knew it was a great idea, and I knew it would be fun, and I knew I wanted to do it. But for one reason or another, I just hadn’t gotten around to starting it. I needed something to push me. I needed some pressure.

About two weeks ago, something happened to me that really bummed me out. It’s still bumming me out, and it will continue to bum me out at least a little bit for a while longer. After this “thing” happened, I knew it would be good for me to start this blog and get back into writing in order to get my mind off things. This “thing” got the wheels turning, but I still needed something else to slam down on the accelerator.

On Tuesday night, Homer Bailey tossed his second no-hitter in 10 months. And here you have it: my first post on Paint It Red.

Here’s a little no-hitter history for me. Last September, while Bailey was literally blanking Pittsburgh Pirates hitters left and right, I was having dinner with some friends in Cambridge’s Harvard Square. Admittedly, we were having a great time and the food was very tasty. However, when I checked my phone about halfway through our meal, disaster struck. I saw what seemed like 14 text messages from my brother, a fellow diehard Reds fan. His texts ranged from “There is something brewing in Cincinnati…” to “Are you watching this??? WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!” to finally “HOMER JUST THREW A NO-HITTER!!!!! ASDSDSKJAS:DKJSDL:AK!!!!!” (or something along those lines)

With apologies to Homer himself, I admit that my initial feelings were not of excitement and happiness. Rather, I was pissed off. A Reds pitcher finally threw a no-hitter in my lifetime, and I COMPLETELY MISSED IT?! I had multiple opportunities in the past to witness a Reds no-hitter or perfect game with my own eyes. They all vanished seemingly 4 seconds after I turned on the television or clicked open MLBTV to try and witness Reds greatness.

I specifically remember one occasion, when former Reds pitcher Travis Wood was perfect through eight innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. At the time I was home with my parents in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. When I heard about Wood’s ongoing performance, I sprinted across the house to my computer and fired up MLBTV. Wood got the first out in the ninth inning, and my heart rate started to go up. Then Phillies catcher Carlos F****** Ruiz laced a double to quash Wood’s chances at both a perfect game AND a no-hitter in one instant (keep in mind that I did not need to look up this play-by-play on the internet. I remember it like it was yesterday). I was heartbroken, and felt a lot of guilt for jinxing Wood’s perfection by turning on the game when he was doing just fine while I wasn’t watching it. That’s the life of an obsessed baseball fan for you.

Fast forward to Tuesday night. I’m on the way home from…you guessed it…dinner with friends when I get an update on my phone that Homer Bailey was holding the San Francisco Giants hitless through seven innings in Cincinnati. Luckily, I was only a few stops from my destination where my sister would be waiting to pick me up and drive us back to her apartment, where my MLBTV-equipped iPad waited for me. I could still catch at least the ninth inning while hoping that Homer would keep it together in the mean time. For a second, I thought about ignoring the game out of fear that I would jinx a Reds no-hitter once again.

But let’s be serious. I was not going to let silly superstition stand in my way.

I had my sister speed home, and I fired up my iPad just as Bailey was about to throw his first pitch of the ninth inning to Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford. I was so nervous I was shaking. I thought my heart was going to beat right out of my chest. If you think I’m exaggerating, think again. Really.

Bailey got Crawford out on a bouncer back to the mound, then proceeded to strike out pinch-hitter Tony Abreu on a 97-mile-an-hour fastball up and away (keep in mind that Homer started out the game topping out at 93 mph. He actually got stronger as the game progressed). This was officially the closest I had ever come to witnessing a Reds no-no first-hand.

The next batter was center fielder Gregor Blanco, who coincidentally had also been Bailey’s only base runner of the game (on a walk in the seventh inning). Blanco made contact on a fastball away, and he hit it so hard that I thought for sure the no-hitter was over. But Reds third baseman Todd Frazier gloved it with ease, and tossed it to Joey Votto at first base for the final out.

Homer Bailey had done it again. I didn’t jinx it after all.

The Reds really needed a performance like this on Tuesday night. They had been playing inconsistent baseball for weeks while looking up at the St. Louis Cardinals and Pirates (each with the two best records in baseball) in the NL Central Division standings. Maybe this no-hitter will be the start of a hot streak going into the All-Star Break. They won again on Wednesday night, so stay tuned, Reds fans.

I really needed that no-hitter too. After Votto caught Frazier’s throw and the team rushed Bailey on the mound, it was the happiest I’d felt in a long time. Hell, it was the first time in two weeks that I even felt happy at all. Homer’s hitless ways got me feeling good again, and it finally got me to the keyboard to write Paint It Red’s inaugural post. And you know what? I already can’t wait to write the second one.

Thank you, Homer Bailey.