Tag: John Means

A lame MLB rule stood in the way of a perfect game for Orioles pitcher John Means

Change this, MLB.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means had himself a performance to remember on Wednesday afternoon.

Means threw the first complete-game, no-hitter for the Orioles since Jim Palmer in 1969, shutting down the Mariners with a 113-pitch, 12-strikeout effort.

But Means truly did deserve better from the ole’ MLB rulebook because that performance was calling for perfection.

The lone baserunner that Means allowed was a wild-pitch strikeout in the third inning of Sam Haggerty, and moments later, Haggerty was caught stealing. The very definition of a perfect game is allowing zero baserunners, so Means didn’t earn the perfect game. But the fact that hitters can reach first base AFTER striking out is a rule that has never made sense.

MLB rules state that a batter becomes a runner whenever the third strike is uncaught (and first base is unoccupied or occupied with two outs), but there’s never been an acceptable explanation for why this is a thing. If an out needs to be caught, then why have an infield fly rule? Why is a baserunner out if a batted ball strikes him? Those outs aren’t caught.

There’s no reason why a batter should be rewarded with a chance to reach first base after a pitcher completely owned him by drawing a swing at an uncatchable pitch.

It’s just a dumb rule that we all have seemingly accepted and learned to live with. But because of that, Means had to settle for a no-hitter when his performance called for so much more.

If MLB really wants to bring in more fans, that’s a rule that needs to go.

https://youtu.be/Rf1ugultSr8