There, I said it. Phew.
This topic is pretty silly to begin with, but since it’s been a relatively slow afternoon news-wise, I thought it was worth discussing. You see, during Tuesday’s near no-hitter by the Rangers, I was accused of being a jinx. Yes, it’s true. That stung a little bit at the time, but it’s not going to stop me from mentioning potential no-hitters in the future. My apologies if you hate it, but I just refuse to believe that if I mention the event in progress -- as I did here on the blog on Tuesday night -- it will have some cosmic effect on the actual game on the field. That’s positively bananas.
We have had five no-hitters this season, including two perfect games, the great majority of which HardballTalk has covered in progress.
April 17: Ubaldo Jimenez
May 9: Dallas Braden
May 29: Roy Halladay
June 25: Edwin Jackson
July 26: Matt Garza
And that’s not even counting how MLB Network cuts into live game action as early as the sixth or seventh inning in some cases, or how the instant-gratification of Twitter has pretty much hacked away at whatever superstitions you once held dear. We live in a world where no-hitters in progress are mentioned more frequently than ever before, yet we have had more no-no’s this season than there have been since 1990.
I don’t want to get all scientific about it, because really, whatever you believe is up to you. The Mets have never thrown a no-hitter, so perhaps the whole darn franchise is a jinx for all I know. Though, I admit Cubs fans may have an argument with me there. The point is, no, I don’t think my words had any impact on Tuesday’s outcome, nor did ESPN’s or MLB Network’s or anybody on Twitter for that matter. Neftali Feliz just happened to miss his location on a fastball to Joe Mauer, who is a pretty good hitter, it turns out.
