Baseball Journal 4-3-13

I was actually listening to Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks call Yu Darvish’s near perfect game last night in Rangers victory over the Astros. Unfortunately, the radio signal was kind of weak and going in and out. I heard cheering, but then found out a minute later that the perfect game had been broken up. From the broadcasters’ description, Yu didn’t seem too upset and left the field smiling.

In the post-game interview, Pierzynski seemed a little peeved, but said he’ll put in perspective later. He’s got nothing to complain about; he’s already caught a perfect game. By odd coincidence, the pitcher of that game was there in the opposing dugout. Let’s really hope that this isn’t Yu’s career apex and from here he implodes and ends up on Astros with Phil Humber next season. Or worse, he ends up wherever the previous near perfect game pitcher, Armando Galarraga, ended up. Minor league baseball? High school coach? Detailing cars in Orange County? The real question is: How many other pitchers this season are going to throw a no-hitter or perfect game versus the Houston Astros?

I did get to watch the White Sox beat the Royals, 5 to 2. I was rooting for the Royals, but that’s really hard to do with Hawk and Stone cheerleading for Sox for the whole game. The Sox essentially won in spite of themselves with three errors during the game. It was a bad sign that every ball hit to Left Field was accompanied by circus music and a clown car. Including their Opening Day win, all of the Sox runs have come off of homers. The real news was that Southpaw did not make an appearance during the game. Don’t tell me I’ve gotten used to seeing the costumed mascot at every White Sox home game.