CC's Near No-No

Any chance I have of watching the Brewers on television is one I jump at. I love them as much as I love the Twins and wish I could have both teams every game at my disposal. Alas, I can't justify spending more money on sports television when I already pay extra for the Fox Soccer Channel. Being able to watch nearly 14o of the Twins games is pretty good. On Sunday, Laura and I went to Menomonie to do some preparing for our upcoming nuptials. If you didn't know, now you know. We are engaged. After checking out the church and possible reception areas, I stopped at a computer on the UW-Stout campus to check the Brewers game. It was in the bottom of the sixth and CC Sabathia was throwing a one hitter. Laura graciously let me check out of further wedding planning and return to her parents house to watch CC pitch against the Pirates. He ended up pitching a gem. A complete game shutout with eleven strikeouts and one measly hit. Or was it a hit?

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Andy LaRoche led off the inning with a little dribbler back to CC. What should have been a routine play for CC ended with him missing the ball as he went to barehand it. LaRoche made it to first and the decision was now up to the official scorer to call it a hit or an error. Not surprisingly, the play was called a hit and CC lost his no-hitter in the fifth inning. The home team almost always gets the benefit of the doubt on close plays. After extensive replays showed CC most likely would have been able to throw out LaRoche if he had fielded the ball cleanly, the announcers became increasingly agitated throughout the game as CC finished off his complete game without allowing another hit. The cameras even showed the official scorer in his booth while the announcers lambasted him. I felt a little bit bad for the scorer as everyone makes mistakes, especially in baseball scoring. Thankfully CC took it all in stride during his post game interview as he was just happy to win the game for his team.

In hindsight, yes, the play probably should have been ruled an error. The replays seem to show that LaRoche was a long ways away from first base when CC was attempting to pick up the ball. If the pick was made cleanly, CC would have thrown him out. The Brewers are attempting to have the ruling overturned and give CC a retroactive no-hitter. This would be the wrong decision. The problem with going back and giving him a no-hitter is when the play in question occurred. The bottom of the fifth is only half way through a ballgame. Who knows how the Pirates would have approached late inning at bats if they knew CC was on a no-hitter. By the final two innings, the Pirates were well out of the game. With a hit on the board, they didn't have much to play for. Everything would have been different in the last two innings if CC had a no-hitter going. No team wants to be no-hit. The Pirates could have easily put forth extra effort in those last two innings just to deny the Brewers having only their second no-hitter in their existence.

It would be the wrong decision for MLB to award CC with a no-hitter. CC was phenomenal on Sunday and it would have been a great exclamation point to add to this already wonderful Brewers season. A retroactive no-hitter would seem hollow and make the Brewers out to be whiners. Milwaukee should take the disappointment in stride and focus on making the playoffs for the first time in 25 years. That would be the ultimate exclamation point to finish the season.

Twins Update: 5-6 so far on 14 game road trip. Starting the final leg tonight in Toronto, the Twins need to win two of three to finish 7-7 on the trip, exactly what I hoped for. Currently tied with the Sox for first in the Central, the last month is going to be a nail biter. Every game is crucial.