Something extraordinary happened at the World Series last night – you may have missed it since most of the Series this year is being played in November, and we’re already deep into football season. Anyway, the Astros pitched a no-hitter, only the second no-hitter in World Series history, after Don Larsen’s perfect game on October 8, 1956.

Re last night’s game: Cristian Javier of the Dominican Republic pitched 6 no-hit innings, and three relievers pitched one inning each for the no-hitter. Apparently, Javier throws an “unhittable fastball.”

I remember Don Larsen’s perfect game. I was 9 years old and didn’t see the game, but I remember clearly asking my dad that afternoon, “Did the Dodgers win?” (We are National League fans.) Dad, a former minor league pitcher, replied, “No, but something wonderful happened.”

In those days, the World Series score was the above-the-fold headline. The October 9 edition of The Greenville News the next morning not only had the score but a giant picture of Don Larsen.

I cut that picture out, glued it to cardboard, and kept it for a very long time. There’s more perspective on that game in this blog from last October.

Is there a lesson? In addition to “something wonderful happened” even if it wasn’t in favor of the team I was rooting for, I think the lesson is, “Counts for one.” It’s one game in a best-four-out-of-seven series. Tuesday night, the Phillies set a record of their own with five home runs in five innings, beating the Astros 7 – 0. Counts for one.

Whether you’re coming off of a once-in-a-lifetime triumph, a crushing defeat, or something in-between, it’s good to remember that it only counts for one.

One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3.13, 14, ESV)