Yesterday, we told you about Michael Kay being under fire from some baseball fans for jinxing Hiroki Kuroda's no hit bid for the Yankees. The notion of an announcer jinxing a no-hitter or perfect game is preposterous, superstitious lunacy, and yet it still exists. Felix Hernandez just happened to pitch a perfect game yesterday in spite of Mariners announcer Dave Sims firing pins into the proverbial no-hit voodoo doll throughout the telecast by repeatedly making it known that Hernandez was on the verge of history. And yet somehow, miraculously, King Felix pitched a perfect game in spite of any announcer's jinx.
The greatest baseball announcer who has ever lived, Vin Scully, won't have any of this silliness either. (If you haven't listened to Vin's podcast with Jimmy Traina, do it… now… or at least after you listen to our podcast with Michelle Beadle.) In fact, Vin Scully answered the question of announcers jinxing no-hitters all the way back in 1960. 1960! And it was still dumb then even before sabermetrics, the internet, and Breaking The Magician's Code! Thanks to reader Brian Pickett for passing along this retro column that appeared on the LA Times website a couple years ago…
That's it. The debate is closed. Vin Scully has spoken. So to baseball announcers everywhere, please tell us there's a no-hitter or perfect game happening because what you say has no impact whatsoever on the play on the field. Sorry, it's true. After all, anything otherwise would be insulting to listeners.
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