Verlander Tosses His Second No Hitter

Justin Verlander faced 27 batters on his way to pitching a no hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Verlander was perfect through seven and a third innings when he gave up a close outside call for ball four and walked Arencibia to wreck the perfect game.


Arencibia doesn't bite on ball 4



But you know – you might ask yourself – if you’re pitching a perfect game, and find yourself 5 outs away from being perfect – and you have a 3-2 full count, do you throw just off the plate to get the hitter to swing?

That was the pitch to make – and Justin had the guts to make it.

Arencibia didn’t bite. And he got first base.

And Verlander’s bid for perfection ended. But not the no hitter.

The last time we saw a 28 batter no hitter by a Tiger pitcher was of course Armando Gallaraga’s perfect game spoiled by Umpire Jim Joyce’s bad call.

But no such call came today.

Last week at this time, Brad Penny was working on a no hitter when a hard hit ball behind third snagged by Brandon Inge resulted in a not so perfect throw right of the first base bag and in the dirt that Miguel Cabrera could not hang onto to tag the runner. The dispute was that Inge was not given an error for the poor throw, and it stood as the hit the broke up Penny’s no-hit bid.

But Penny was noticeably getting weaker – and his control was getting away from him. Watching the game, you really didn’t think Penny was going to last the rest of the game.

But we never got a chance to find out.

But Justin Verlander left us no doubt – from the third inning through the ninth.

In fact he was breaching the 100 MPH threshold throughout all nine innings.

This was Verlander’s second no hitter – the first in 2007 against Milwaukee.

And the Toronto fans, the same fans that threw garbage at the Tigers in last year’s opening series, well, this time they all stood up and cheered Verlander on.

And they cheered when he beat their Blue Jays.

He stepped off the mound – subtly pumping a fist – and unless you knew what was happening - Verlander’s reaction might suggest he won the game. Nothing more.

Now that’s command.

That’s How The Ball Bounces

Galarraga responds to Joyce's blown call.
Photo Credit - AP

We all know what happened with Armando Galarraga 's 28 out perfect game.

We all know Armando showed more poise and class in those immediate moments after the blown call than most of us will exhibit in a lifetime.

We all know that Jim Joyce is incredibly sorry for his admitted mistake.

It stunk, it was incredibly sad, and even though the Tigers won the game, no one really won last night.

But what now?

Bud Selig, Major League Baseball's Commissioner, has declined to overthrow the call and give Galarraga his perfect game. And you know – I agree.

I do not want the commissioner to overthrow a judgment call in a game.

Perfect game or not.

A lot of people are calling for instant replay in baseball to be extended past the review of a homeruns - to see if it did fly out of the park inside the foul pole or hit the fence high enough to be a home run based on the rules of that park.

Instant replays on close bang-bang plays at first?

Instant replays on close throws by the catcher to second to get the get the runner stealing second?

Instant replays to see if an outfielder - diving for a ball – trapped it or caught it?

How would that work?

The problem is that you do not want every close play at first to be subject to instant replay. So the first thought is to do something like the NFL. A manager would through a flag or give a signal to state they want the play reviewed. They would only get one or two opportunities to do so in a game, and there would be a penalty if the review showed the umpires call to be correct.

A penalty? What kind of penalty. An out? An out taken away if you're in the field? An out added if you're at bat?

That's not baseball.

That's not fair to your pitcher struggling to get out of an inning.

You have to earn an out.

If instant replay were to work – it would have to be one of the umpires on the crew who realizes they better see that play over again, In slow motion.

Joyce himself went into the clubhouse and reviewed the play at his first opportunity.

The mindset has to be that the call being right is more important the umpire being right.

And it should never be used for balls and strikes.

But that's not really baseball.

The other option is that some sort of technology is employed like in professional tennis.

Yeah, I said tennis.

John McEnroe inspired a device that sounds an audible beep when a serve is out. And a visual replay that shows where a ball landed on the court.

But that's not really baseball either.

Here is the reality of what will result from last night's blown call.

Armando's perfect game in 28 outs will live in infamy. It will be recalled and debated for decades to come.

Every time the statistic of twenty perfect games since 1901 is discussed, or the two perfect games thrown in a two week span in 2010 is mentioned – it will always be followed up with the fact that there was this one amazing incident that that should be added to that count.

And every time a person smiles and accepts a poorly deserved fate with poise and class and forgiveness – Armando will be remembered.

Immortalized.

The legacy and legend of baseball was enriched by this horribly blown call last night.

That's baseball.

Baseball is 162 games in a season.

Baseball is ball parks of inconsistent dimensions . Shadows in the evenings and winds that blow in or out to help or deter balls leaving the park.

Baseball is the second or shortstop in the vicinity of second base when turning the double play.

Honest ball players and cheaters.

And umpires that are blind as a bat.

Every game is different.

Every game is unique.

And every game is special.

That's baseball.

The English have for hundreds of years described things that are not proper as not being "cricket".

In North America we have a different slant on life:

"That's how the ball bounces".

That's baseball.

It has been for the last one hundred and fifty years.

It doesn't need instant replay. It doesn't need buzzers or beeps or animated figures detailing the event that unfolded in slow motion.

It's baseball.

And baseball needs umpires like Jim Joyce – honest human beings of integrity that feel horrible when they get it wrong.

That's baseball.

And that's just how the ball bounces.

Tigers Starting Rotation Success Ends With Scherzer, Bonderman, and Somebody else

At the fifty thousand feet view – baseball is a simple game.

You throw the ball, you catch the ball, and you hit the ball.

If you're Justin Verlander – he has already cemented his status as the Tigers ace and first spot in the rotation holder.

Or Rick Porcello – who sure smells like the next Verlander – as he seems to be the easy second spot holder and ready to assume the title of ace should Verlander … falter.

Same for Max Scherzer – the new acquirement from Arizona – who threw great yesterday.

But once you drop down a little lower in the stratosphere – the game gets a bit more complicated.

At least that's how it must seem to a large contingent of pitchers vying for the Tigers remaining three starting rotation spots.

It's damned complicated if you're Dontrelle Willis – who seems to battle himself harder than the guy at the plate.

It's damned frustrating if you're Jeremy Bonderman – the man who was heralded as the Tiger's ace before Justin Verlander broke out with a no-hitter in early 2007, then succumbed to injury and the recovery to former form since.

It's a distant memory if you're Nate Robertson – who just seemed to fall off the cliff of great pitching hopefuls to rise through the Tigers bullpen back to the starting rotation.

It's a goal just out of reach of Zack Minor – who has only proved to date to be a marginal fifth spotter in the rotation.

Armando Galarraga was such a bright spot in a dismal 2008. The rookie who became our rotation rock of Gibraltar – but stumbled back down to mediocrity last season.

And Jarrod Washburn – who since arriving with the Tigers in mid-season last year – did little so far to endear fans to him.

So far, there is some encouragement glimmering from Jeremy Bonderman. A good outing yesterday should the hard throwing righty to have some real nasty making his slider snap at the plate.

That would be so great to have the Bonderman of past days back in the Tigers rotation. A great thing in deed.

And Dontrelle Willis also had a really good outing yesterday – seemingly in spite of how he says he felt out there on the mound. Stating even though he didn't feel good, and he couldn't find his rhythm – he still got the job done very well.

But what does that really mean? It sounds good at first for Dontrelle – but his problem is really a lack of confidence – and that didn't sound very confident yesterday.

So to me, with three weeks left to go – so far the starting rotation to me looks likes like this:

1.Verlander
2. Porcello
3. Scherzer
4. Bonderman
5. Willis

Of course a lot can change over the next three weeks. And Willis is in there despite his own self.

So my list may very well change.

As for the bullpen, the old springtime distraction is back. Joel Zumaya is back and throwing nearly a hundred miles and hour again.

And this distraction is taking the spot light off of the other bullpen pitchers.

In my personal opinion, a Zumaya who is throwing fastballs a hundred miles an hour is a Joel Zumaya who isn't throwing anything else but fastballs. And if you're a hitter – a big league professional – and you know you're gonna get a hundred mile an hour fastball flying at you as the next pitch – I'll bet you're gonna hit that ball – and probably hit it hard.

So I don't want to waste a lot of time on Joel Zumaya this year – unless he is seriously looking to add some new dimensions to his pitching artillery.

The one pitcher I haven't had a chance to see yet that I am really anxious to see – is Jose Valverde – the closer we picked up this winter. He has pitched four innings – given up four hits four walks and four strike outs – and not yet given up a run.

So I think we have upgraded considerably our closing spot from Fernando Rodney to Jose Valverde.

Great pitching beats great hitting. It's a law of baseball physics that even the baseball gods can do little about.

And so far our starting rotation looks pretty darn good.

Especially if Bonderman comes back to his old form.

Watch out American League Central.