Erickson is back to normal; He doesn't dwell on his no-hitter

Wednesday night, as Erickson finished a conversation in front of his locker, he pulled on his jacket and prepared to leave, saying, "It really hasn't hit me."

Then he stopped, looked down, and glanced up in astonishment. "I put on the wrong jacket," he said. He had mistakenly put on his Twins warmup jacket, even while trying to hide the effects of his accomplishment.

The Erickson who showed up yesterday was more in keeping with his public persona. He dressed at about 3 p.m., after stashing various artifacts from his no-hitter into a corner of his locker. He was friendly but not forthcoming.

Did he do anything unusual while celebrating? "No, it was pretty basic."

When did he get to sleep? "I'd rather not say. It was before I had predicted [which was 8 a.m.]"

Did he receive many calls? "Not a whole lot,' he said. "Most of them came last night. I got a lot of messages and talked to a few friends.

"I've got to go work out."

With that, he headed into the training room to lift weights. While he was gone, a replay of his no-hitter played on the clubhouse television.  "Think of the pressure we're putting on Carlos Pulido," catcher Derek Parks said of last night's Twins starter. "What are the odds he'll throw a no-hitter? A gazillion to one?"

Everyone else seemed more enthralled with the feat than Erickson.  Catcher Matt Walbeck asked for a tape of the television broadcast. Reliever Mike Trombley asked a reporter when was the last time a pitcher with less than four full years in the big leagues had won a World Series game, won 20 games and pitched a no-hitter.

The reporter didn't know. "Not only that," Trombley said. "He was supposed to start the All-Star Game in '91, and couldn't because he was hurt. That's amazing."

After a while, Erickson emerged and sat next to reliever Keith Garagozzo to watch the late stages of his no-hitter. When approached to talk more about it, he was brief.

Has he dreamed of pitching a no-hitter? "Who wouldn't dream of it?" he said.

Has it sunk in yet? "I don't know," he said. "We'll wait and see."

Had he watched the replay? "No, I just watched a couple of pitches right there."

Erickson turned and walked wordlessly into the training room. When he returned, he walked to the far end of the clubhouse, then turned and watched the last pitch.

Wednesday's Erickson raised his arms in the air and got swarmed by teammates. Thursday's Erickson took a swig from a bottle of water, turned and headed for the field.