today is the 13th anniversary of a 1-0 victory for the dodgers over the angels. what was special about that game, aside from the fact that it was documented in upper deck's ambitious yet greatly flawed 2008 documentary set featuring vladimir guerrero
is that the dodgers won despite registering no hits. this resulted in a fairly odd linescore, as the back of the card displays:
this would be the ultimate definition of a "hard luck" loss, and jered weaver and jose arredondo were further disparaged as their effort did not result in an official no-hitter since the dodgers did not need to come to bat in the 9th inning.
to me, this is a dumb rule. was it an official game? yes. were there any hits made by the dodgers? no. smells like a combined no-hitter to me. the first time i recall this being an issue was in 1990 when andy hawkins allowed no hits in a game against the white sox. however, he and the yankees lost 4-0 in chicago, so hawkins only pitched 8 innings. hawkins got credit for a complete game and a no-hitter initially, but a year or so later, the rule was changed to require teams to be held hitless for a full nine innings and hawkins lost his no-hit game. he kept the complete game, however.
as baseball continues to look for rule tweaks - 7 inning double headers as one example - i think they may have to reconsider some of their rules such as this one regarding no-hitters. if a game can be deemed official after five/four-and-a-half innings, and if some games are designed to only go seven innings, why shouldn't no-hitters mirror those official lengths? and as fate would have it, there was such a game in late april when madison bumgarner didn't allow a hit in the second game of a scheduled double header (and therefore a seven inning game), so he was credited with a complete game but not a no-hitter. dumb.
Wow, interesting rule that I had no idea about. It does sound like an ambiguous rule to me.
ReplyDeletei am kind of starting to think that rob manfred isn't really a fan of the game.
Delete7-inning games? Yikes.
ReplyDeleteok for high school, not for mlb.
DeleteMLB can't even figure out why it's probably not a good idea to change rules on pitchers in midseason, why checking them on the field in front of everyone is not a good look, and why everyone is mad at them for ruining one of the coolest traditions of the All-Star Game. I wouldn't hold my breath.
ReplyDeletejust flat out stupid to make all-stars wear matching uniforms during the game.
DeleteI agree with you 100 percent. If a guy throws a complete game, and doesn't give up a hit, it should be considered...wait for it...a no-hitter! Seems logical to me, but then again, MLB hasn't shown itself to be huge on logic lately.
ReplyDeletei don't know who is advising manfred, but i don't think they are fans either.
DeleteInteresting day in baseball history. I remember the Hawkins game... but not the Weaver. I wonder how many other pitchers got screwed by this rule.
ReplyDeletematt young suffered the same fate as hawkins and the angel pitchers, but there are a bunch of others who threw no-hitters in games shortened due to rain or other causes.
DeleteWhat makes this rule especially bad is that if you DO hold the opposition hitless for 9 innings, but then the game goes into extra innings, THAT is not an official no-hitter, either. At the very least, one or the other should be! I can understand why a rain-shortened game isn't a no-hitter, but if you don't get to pitch the ninth because your team lost, you pitched a no-hitter.
ReplyDeleteA perverse part of me is hoping someone pitches a perfect game and loses because of the free runner in extra innings rule!
bob costas pitched this scenario on a game telecast the other night. i hadn't thought of it before, but that would be crazy and unfortunate if it were to happen!
DeleteOh yeah I hate that extra innings runner more than anything. Would be a great way to stick it to the man.
DeleteIf you are credited with a complete game (regardless if that game is 7, 8, or 9 innings), and allow no hits, it should be a no-hitter. The pitcher has zero control when the game ends.
ReplyDeletemakes sense to me!
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