Sounds like the opposing team was utterly demoralized. When do your own fans root for the other team?
Congratulations to Germán, but I must say I strongly object to 0 as a player's number. I don't think it should be permitted. Too nihilistic.Germán. HISTORY! pic.twitter.com/ktEZbxZNIo
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 29, 2023
To be fair to the fans, when Germán came out to pitch in the bottom of the 9th inning, the score was 11-0. You can understand the fans switching sides at that point. Instead of a horrible trouncing, they — by sheer force of their (traitorous) mind — could seize bragging rights. They saw a perfect game.
Posts
45 comments:
Oddly enough, I was at the prior perfect game in August 2012. A sunny afternoon game in Seattle. Family day for Boeing employees. And the shortest MLB game I’ve ever attended
Congratulations to Germán, but I must say I strongly object to 0 as a player's number
Zero is for no hitter.
One of the Joy's of baseball is that you have the possibility of seeing something unusual, even historic, in any game. Maybe you'll witness a triple play, a grand slam, a no-hitter, or even a perfect game. I think most fans recognize and appreciate that- even if it winds up hurting their own team. When it's something as incredibly rare as a perfect game, you bask in being able to see it to completion.
The Oakland team is a bargain basement roster of AAA/AAAA players put together to fulfill the contractual obligation of providing opposition for the rest of the league while they await their new stadium to be built in Las Vegas. Despite this, any perfect game is a slice of perfection ruined by too much analysis.
Congratulations to young Mr. German. Most of those in the stands were probably bay area Yankees fans.
There was nothing unusual about the fans' response in that last inning- it occurs every time an opposing pitcher is going for just a run-of-the-mill no-hitter, not to mention a perfect game.
Every fan in America would have been pulling for the perfect game if it got to be the ninth inning. That's so hard to do, and so rare. It'd be worth cheering for. In the case of the Oakland A's, they've sucked for so long, their ownership refuses to spend a dime on them, they have an old, decrepit stadium, and they're leaving Oakland. They had multiple reasons to cheer for the perfect game. It's the best thing they'll see all year and maybe the best memory some of the younger ones will have of that franchise. (the older ones will recall the great A's teams of the past).
BTW, the 'A's" organization is emulating the film Major League, fielding a crappy team as they want to follow the Raiders to Lost Wages.
The Oakland fans have been protesting against team ownership all season long. The team is playing in the worst stadium in MLB, have traditionally refused to invest money in players, and are openly talking about moving the team out of Oakland.
This year the A's average 8,500 in attendance for their home games. Many of the people attending last night's game were Yankees fans. The A's owner, John Fisher, has tanked the team so he can move it to Las Vegas.
From ESPN:
"The A's won 97 games in 2019 and made the postseason again in 2020 before Fisher began stripping the team of its young stars, reducing payroll to the lowest in baseball. The team raised ticket prices and did little to nothing to improve the fan experience as the wins dwindled, then used poor attendance and the condition of the ballpark to justify its decision to seek a new home."
"Zero is for no hitter."
I agree that 0 is more acceptable for a pitcher than for another player, but I formed my opinion watching basketball and am being hardcore about it. And don't try to tell me that in basketball the 0 stands for the ball or the hoop or whatever.
You need a positive number.
The A's weeknight attendance has usually been under 10,000. Those cheering would have included quite a few Yankee fans.
Was going to bed but saw German was perfect through 5 innings. Stayed up and watched the rest of the gem.
German was throwing freely, it was the Yankee fielders who were tight and nervous.
I must say I strongly object to 0 as a player's number. I don't think it should be permitted. Too nihilistic.
ha ha
I was "00."
Twice as nihilistic!
(Inspired by the Chief).
Zero is huge, Althouse. HUGE!
And don't try to tell me that in basketball the 0 stands for the ball or the hoop or whatever.
Zero in basketball is a disgrace.
Robert Parish, longtime Celtics Center wore a double zero jersey "00" .. according to wikipedia "Parish started wearing his uniform No. 00; on the day they passed out the uniforms in junior high school, it was the only jersey left" I guess he must have liked it if he kept the number all the way to the pros
I agree that 0 is more acceptable for a pitcher than for another player
0 coming for you!
Zero! Zero!
The atheists are terrified...
Woody Allen is screaming in fear...
nothingness
the void
you cannot avoid the dark hole of zero!
Zero!
Zero!
oh my God he has two of them
Most fans will cheer for a great athletic performance no matter the team that benefits.
Something like only 24 perfect games in all of MLB history.
"but I must say I strongly object to 0 as a player's number"
Agree, but in the case of this game it was quite appropriate. He held them to no runs and no hits.
I attended many California Angels home games when I was younger (20-25 games/year). When the opponent was the Yankees or Red Sox, fans very loudly rooting for the visiting team comprised half or more of the crowd. Lots of East Coast transplants retain their original loyalties. To be fair, the Angels teams weren't very good in those days, and excellent seats were very available and affordable.
Still the case that Angels games bring large contingents of Yankees fans. I'll be attending next month as one.
I hope German has changed his habits when it comes to how he treats women.
Yankee fans ( and a few team’s fans) pay so much for their season tickets that flying to a stadium like Oakland with lower, casting tickets is not a big expense. Also, the local fanbase is demoralized by the Oakland organizations’ frugality and efforts to move away.
Funny you should ask. I was a 9 year old at Shea Stadium when the Phillies Jim Bunning pitched a perfect game against the Mets. My strongest memory of the game is the Mets fans cheering on Bunning. I was stunned.
0 as a number is a point of balance in infinty, between infinities, and is different from the mere nullity used in the digital pair (0,1) to define charge states of a transistor
And a perfect game is a wonderful event.
The number 0 is the only single-digit uniform number left for the Yankees. Uniforms 1 through 9 have been retired.
There is a famous clip of the Atlanta Hawks bench laughing in astonishment at what Larry Bird was doing that day, and a couple of them fell off the bench in amazement at one particular play. Coach fined them.
I was fortunate enough to be at the perfect games of the White Sox's Philip Humber and Seattle's Felix Martinez 12 years ago.
In the 8th inning of Humber's game, I began to switch from being a Mariners' fan to a Humber fan, and by the 9th, I was rooting for the extremely rare event of a perfect game.
I didn't become a White Sox fan; I became a Humber fan.
It was easier, of course, later that summer to be both a Felix and a Mariner fan.
Linc Wolverton
TO Raptors #1 draft pick has the last name of "Dick". His number choice - 1 - and if you don't think that was chosen as in biggest or best, you didn't see the suit he wore for the draft.
It's called good sportsmanship to cheer a great accomplishment even when it is the opposing side.
I'm sure the A's were of mixed feelings, both hoping they would deny the perfect game and hoping that he would get it.
"Yankees Pitcher Throws M.L.B.’s First Perfect Game Since 2012"
Vander Meer, Allie Reynolds (in 1951), Virgil Trucks (in 1952), Ryan (in 1973), and Max Scherzer (in 2015) were the only major leaguers to throw two no-hitters during the same regular season.
Something's not adding up here...
"I agree that 0 is more acceptable for a pitcher than for another player, but I formed my opinion watching basketball and am being hardcore about it. And don't try to tell me that in basketball the 0 stands for the ball or the hoop or whatever.
You need a positive number."
There are few things on Earth more appalling that a wholenumberist.
No-hitters are rare enough that it is the norm for home crowds to cheer for visiting pitchers who manage the feat, especially when it is a perfect game. I think it is one of the particular charms about baseball.
>>>You need a positive number.<<<<<
How about uniform number 1/8 for Eddie Gaedel of the St. Louis Browns. He stood 3'7". Just one plate appearance and he walked on four balls when the pitcher couldn't find a strike zone.
Probably more amusing in 1951 than it would be today.
"TO Raptors #1 draft pick has the last name of "Dick". His number choice - 1 - and if you don't think that was chosen as in biggest or best, you didn't see the suit he wore for the draft."
Good Kansas boy. Rock Chalk.
[A few people don't seem to understand the difference between a "no hitter" and a "perfect game".]
The Oakland Pathetics organization has been screwing the fans over for years, maybe decades. This year's team is especially pathetic. At one time, they were 10-40, or .200, aka the Mendoza Line. After yesterday's game, they were 21-62 or .253. This is the worst record in both the NL and the AL. If there's one team you'd want to pitch against for a perfect game, it would be the Pathetics.
A perfect game is 0 walks, 0 hits, 0 runs, nada, zip, zilch, zero!
Ann Althouse said...
["Zero is for no hitter."]
"I agree that 0 is more acceptable for a pitcher than for another player, but I formed my opinion watching basketball and am being hardcore about it. And don't try to tell me that in basketball the 0 stands for the ball or the hoop or whatever.
You need a positive number."
Brings to mind a line from "When Harry Met Sally:" One of the movers removing Jarry's soon-to-be-ex's belongings wore a shirt emblazoned with "Don't F*** With Mr. Zero."
Contrariwise, why not an imaginary number? "i"
"Congratulations to Germán, but I must say I strongly object to 0 as a player's number. I don't think it should be permitted. Too nihilistic."
I disagree. Zero is an underrated, but very important, math concept.
Schoolhouse Rock My Hero Zero
You ALWAYS root for the pitcher on the verge of a perfect game, even if it's against your team. Always.
Zero, my hero?
I wasn't there last night at the Oakland Coliseum, but I did attend this afternoons match up of the Yankees and the A's. If last night's crowd was anything like it was today then I bet about half the people in the stands were Yankees fans.
12K's a ton of people at that POS stadium, which is perfect for Monster Truck jams and nothing else. The dropouts who run Oakland chased baseball out of town. If they had any sense, they'd allow their kids to stage those midnight sideshows there instead of on city streets.
Post a Comment