NO-HAN.

[soupcan]

This is the first chance I've had to upload all of this stuff.

So I was at the game just by chance on Friday and it was just great. Lots of fun as you can all well imagine.

Here's a really bad video I took of the last pitch:

tl2WW8Ytkl4

Here's a picture of drunken me and my fat drunken friends:



And here's my scorecard (that I bought after the game was over and filled in the next day...):




I know that you can all relate when I say that as a boy I really, really wanted to be at the game when a Met threw the first no-hitter. It had been a few years since I thought about that but it was really a big deal to me as a youngster. I remember whenever Craig Swan - and later Gooden - were scheduled to pitch I tried as hard as I could to get to those games on the chance that it might happen. The fact that I had tickets to Friday's game was just pure luck and I was this close to giving them to a client.

We were cocktailing fairly strongly and didn't notice that he had a no-no until about the 5th. People were paying attention but I was confident it wasn't going to happen - as I'm sure all of you were. The game got incredibly exciting in the 7th and when Baxter made that catch I thought - well.....maybe. But honestly, I didn't really. Even in the ninth inning I was making bets that it wouldn't happen. Yes I paid out $60 as a result but hey, best $60 I ever spent right?

[metirish]

Very cool, good for you that you were there....

read after that while Cohen openly mentioned the no no Howie refrained from it......

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm with Gary on this one.

I want my announcers to tell me what's going on. I don't want them to be coy.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Didn't hear the radio broadcast but I'm sure Howie made it clear to listeners what was happening. I'm sure he played up the "no mention" thing as schtick even it was schtick he believed in.

[Edgy MD]

Yup. Plenty of honest and illuminating ways to play that game for an old pro like Gary. And he was dead on.

The last two innings, Duquette barely said a dozen words.

[Centerfield]

This could never happen to me. If I tuned into a Mets game, I immediately looked to see if a hit had been given up. Until one was given, I was definitely aware of it. If not in the forefront, but somewhere in the back of my mind. I never realized how much this affected the way I watch a game.

I wonder if this will continue to happen. Most likely it will, and when the first hit is given up, I'll say "Well at least we have the one." If so, this means I will think about Friday's game EVERY GAME I WATCH.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Didn't hear the radio broadcast but I'm sure Howie made it clear to listeners what was happening. I'm sure he played up the "no mention" thing as schtick even it was schtick he believed in.

yes, I should have said Howie didn't use the term no-hitter according to Neil Best

Cohen spoke openly during the game about the unfolding no-hitter; Rose opted to avoid using that term for fear of jinxing Santana.

[Ceetar]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Didn't hear the radio broadcast but I'm sure Howie made it clear to listeners what was happening. I'm sure he played up the "no mention" thing as schtick even it was schtick he believed in.

First thing he said when I turned on the radio in the top of the ninth "The Mets have all 8 hits in this game"

[Benjamin Grimm]

Coyness. Ugh!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I've seen it several hundred times* since Friday, and your video of that just gave me chills, Soups.

Letting the idea of a jinx influence your job performance is stupid if you're a ballplayer; it's just plain embarrassing if you're a broadcaster.

*No hyperbole.

[Edgy MD]

You had to be there.

[Gwreck]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Letting the idea of a jinx influence your job performance is stupid if you're a ballplayer; it's just plain embarrassing if you're a broadcaster. *No hyperbole.

But did Howie Rose let it affect his job performance? Of course not.

If the radio listeners are too stupid to figure it out with Howie saying it eight different ways OTHER than the exact phrase "no-hitter," then, well, too bad.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I think being coy does affect his job performance. He's supposed to clearly describe what is going on to his audience. If he's doing otherwise out of some silly superstition, I think he's wrong.

[Fman99]

I watched the first five innings on television and listened to innings 6 and 9 on the radio. I did not realize it was a no hitter until the sixth.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think being coy does affect his job performance. He's supposed to clearly describe what is going on to his audience. If he's doing otherwise out of some silly superstition, I think he's wrong.

he's telling a story, and a large portion of the audience is invested in the jinx/don't mention it story.

There are plenty of fans that get on Gary for jinxing things.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Ceetar wrote: he's telling a story, and a large portion of the audience is invested in the jinx/don't mention it story.

That's their problem.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Ceetar wrote: he's telling a story, and a large portion of the audience is invested in the jinx/don't mention it story. That's their problem.

they're the client.

[Benjamin Grimm]

So am I. And I prefer not to be served the lowest-common-denominator stuff.

[soupcan]

Doesn't the fact that Gary said it and yet it STILL happened sort of dispel the whole jinx notion from here on out anyway...?

[Gwreck]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I think being coy does affect his job performance. He's supposed to clearly describe what is going on to his audience.

What exactly is unclear about the following?

"The Cardinals haven't had a hit today."
"The Mets have all eight hits in the game."
"The only Cardinal baserunners were from Santana's four walks."

It's not "coyness." It's using a variety of different phrasings. Howie's not the Gameday app.

[nymr83]

soupcan wrote: Doesn't the fact that Gary said it and yet it STILL happened sort of dispel the whole jinx notion from here on out anyway...?

Obviously Beltran's "hit" was a result of Gary jinxing it on the air and we were simply fortunate the umpire missed it.

[Edgy MD]

There certainly wasn't lack of clarity.

Not to be coy, but whether you believe in a superstition or not, there's an upside to honoring them.

[Frayed Knot]

The fact that he's doing all that verbal gymnastics simply to avoid the 'N-H' word is silly.
And the whole stupid thing about this so-called 'Jinx' is that it's supposed to apply to mentioning it to the pitcher himself for fear of reminding him or heaping on extra pressure. That it somehow morphed into announcers not being allowed to say it to listeners or you not saying it to your buddy on the next barstool is a bit mind-bending.

[metirish]

Frayed Knot wrote: The fact that he's doing all that verbal gymnastics simply to avoid the 'N-H' word is silly. And the whole stupid thing about this so-called 'Jinx' is that it's supposed to apply to mentioning it to the pitcher himself for fear of reminding him or heaping on extra pressure. That it somehow morphed into announcers not being allowed to say it to listeners or you not saying it to your buddy on the next barstool is a bit mind-bending.

Yes ,and now we can add twitter to the list outlets where saying no-hitter can cause a jinx , pretty sure Heyman got abuse for mentioning the no-hitter in progress.

[Edgy MD]

There was no verbal gymnastics. It was clean, neat, and clear.

Silly? Sure. It's baseball. No animals were harmed however.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Especially since, for every no-hitter EVER, there was somebody, somewhere, who mentioned it. To think that the whole world is honoring this nonsense is absurd.

And I'm not saying it's harmful, or that I'm angered or upset about it. I'm just saying that I'm on "Team Gary" on this issue. I want my announcers to say the words "no-hitter" or "perfect game" when they're applicable.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy DC wrote: Not to be coy, but whether you believe in a superstition or not, there's an upside to honoring them.

Not that I can see.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: There was no verbal gymnastics.

When there's a no-hitter going on and the announcer paid to tell you what's going on avoids saying that there's a no-hitter going on then, yeah, that's verbal gymnastics.

[Edgy MD]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Not to be coy, but whether you believe in a superstition or not, there's an upside to honoring them. Not that I can see.

Seriously.

When there's a no-hitter going on and the announcer paid to tell you what's going on avoids saying that there's a no-hitter going on then, yeah, that's verbal gymnastics.

Come on. Is this really an issue of him not earning his pay?

[Benjamin Grimm]

Well, if there are web pages that say that superstition is good, then it must be true.