SEATTLE — Rangers radio broadcaster Matt Hicks nodded as he pondered the question, repeating the premise to ensure that he understood.
“What I’m saying,” he said slowly, considering every word, “is that I hate that you have made me consider this scenario. Not that I hate you, but it’s a scenario that shouldn’t exist.”
This is precisely the type of chaos I had hoped to sow.
The Texas Rangers are 66-89 and mired in their sixth consecutive losing season. The season has been long and full of horrors, and many people are at the end of their patience. So it seemed to me the perfect time to give everyone something to fight about. The last time I did something like this, I attempted to get a consensus on what it meant to strike out the side, and people argued about it for months.
It’s time to get back to that energy. So here’s the hypothetical premise:
A starting pitcher carries a perfect game through nine innings, but the score is tied 0-0 and the game goes to extra innings. With MLB’s extra-innings rule that places a runner at second base to start the inning, our dilemma begins to grow legs. The first hitter of the inning grounds out to second base, and the runner advances to third. The second batter of the inning then hits a long fly ball to center field. He’s out, but it’s a sacrifice fly — the run scores. The third batter strikes out, but the damage is done. The pitcher’s team doesn’t score in the bottom of the inning, and the pitcher — despite going 30 up, 30 down, with no hits, no walks, no errors, no hit-by-pitches, no passed balls or wild pitches — is tagged with the loss.
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