On March 2, 1973, Eddie Bane was perfect.
Not close, not almost, but absolutely perfect. Bane’s perfect game – a 9-0 Sun Devil Baseball victory over Cal State Northridge – is the only one in program history. Nine Sun Devils have thrown no-hitters, yet only one has achieved the elusive “27-up, 27-down” moniker.
ASU’s three-game series against UC Irvine marked the 50th anniversary of the event. As it happened, Bane was back in Phoenix and attending the game on a work trip. He was not there to show off his velocity, but locate the next generation of Sun Devil greats.
Bane is a long-time scout for the New York Mets. His son, Jaymie, is also an ASU alum and a teammate of Willie Bloomquist‘s in 1997.
“I love coming back,” said Eddie Bane. “The alums really care about this program. I didn’t even realize it was the 50th anniversary, someone had to remind me. We like a couple guys on the team and we feel the program is moving in the right direction.”
If the pitching staff can get anywhere close to Bane’s level of dominance, the opposition would be lost looking for answers.
From 1971-73, Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA. He pitched on the College World Series runner-up teams in 1972 and 1973. Additionally, he was the 1973 Sporting News National Player of the Year.
In his perfect game, Bane sat down 19 of the 27 hitters by strikeout. He still wishes he could have reached 20.
“I was pretty cocky back then, maybe still am,” said Eddie. “You’re not supposed to talk the pitcher when he’s throwing a no-hitter, and I remember going up to my teammates when they scored like five runs runs and telling them, ‘hey, you do not need to score all of these runs because I am going to throw a perfect game.'”
For his accomplishments, Bane is a member of the College Baseball Hall of Fame (2019) Sun Devil Athletics Hall of Fame (1978) and the College Baseball Hall of Fame (2008).
His number 21 was permanently honored on the outfield wall in 2000.
“Eddie Bane is a great representative of Sun Devil Baseball,” said head coach Willie Bloomquist. “I’ve tried to bring back as many alums as possible to teach our players what it means to be a Sun Devil. I’m grateful Eddie gave us some of his time.”
For Bane, there was never any doubt. A performance like that for him was expected.
“The funniest thing for me…
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