No Hitter, No Brainer

I awoke this morning to find that the great game of baseball had delivered a shocking disappointment out of the American League. There was yet another pitcher attempting to make history this season by throwing a no-hitter only to see it fall short.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey was on the mound to face the visiting Oakland Athletics at Target Field for the final game of the three game set. Although Slowey got off to a rough start walking two batters in the first three innings, he managed to pull through in order to deliver another solid start for the Twins. Slowey had kept his bid for the no-hitter alive through seven innings when he got Rajai Davis to ground into the inning ending double play. Fans at Target Field were buzzing with anticipation for the first no-hitter at the newly built stadium. Upon arrival to the dugout Slowey receives the congratulatory handshake from manager Ron Gardenhire, at which point he is told that his night has come to an end. The stunned Slowey did not complain or argue but rather accepted his manager's decision with a sense of professionalism.

The Twins faithful went from giving a standing ovation to a resounding boo when Slowey did not return to the hill for the eighth inning. This put reliever Jon Rauch in a rather awkward position entering the game with his home fans so adamant in their boos. Fans briefly turned in his favor when he struck out the first batter he faced. Fans quickly went back to their booing when Oakland's Cliff Pennington doubled to the wall in right-center field. The no-hitter was not meant to be, but still leaves fans with a bad taste in their mouth.

Now personally I feel that this is a travesty, I mean the man is working very hard and has achieved something phenomenal but yet the manager will just tear it away from him? I fully understand that he is the Twins ace and he just recovered from tendinitis in his elbow but still he had a chance at history. The reason given for taking Slowey out of the game was said to be his pitch count. I mean sure one hundred and six pitches is getting up there but not once did he complain about pain in his elbow and he never requested to be taken out of the game. In contrast to the recent no-hitter by Diamondbacks starter Edwin Jackson, he threw one hundred and forty-nine pitches in nine innings.

I'm all for protecting the top players, but if a pitcher is going to make history I say let him pitch!