[外電] What are the odds of seeing a perfecto
What are the odds of seeing a perfecto in both of your first two Major League
games?
April 21 would have been a special day for Paul Dockal anyway.
The White Sox were in town for their only Seattle trip this season. Paul and
his wife, Jennifer -- both Chicago transplants -- had plans to bring their
9-month-old son, Bode, to Safeco Field for the first time. Plus, Paul had
purchased first-row seats behind the opposing dugout.
“It’s kind of been a dream of mine to have those seats just once,” Dockal
said. “We made it like a big deal. I was so excited to take Bode to his first
game -- it was really important to me, even if he doesn’t remember a thing.”
Decked out in black and white, Paul, Jennifer and Bode arrived at their seats
well before the first pitch. Several White Sox players tossed them balls
during
batting practice. Paul Konerko homered in the second inning, and a perfect day
was off to a perfect start.
At the end of the sixth inning, Paul looked up at the scoreboard to check
Philip Humber’s pitch count and realized just how perfect a day the White Sox
starter was having.
“I turned to my wife, because it was a warm day and she didn’t know how long
we should keep Bode out there,” Paul said. “I was like, ‘Hey, is everybody
good?’ She asked why and I said, ‘Something really interesting is happening
here. I can’t talk about it, but I think it’s happened less than 20 times in
the whole history of baseball.”
As the outs piled up and tension mounted in the stands, Paul felt a shift
among
the Mariners faithful. Some continued heckling Humber, but others appeared to
be subtly rooting for the visiting starter. Everyone watched with rapt
attention as the innings ticked by. Paul, who attended several games during
the
White Sox 2005 World Series run, likened the final outs to a playoff
atmosphere.
Two hours, 17 minutes after the first pitch, Humber completed his masterpiece
with a strikeout of Brendan Ryan. Dockal high-fived nearby White Sox fans and
accepted congratulations from several Mariners supporters. But it was Bode,
who
quietly watched the entire spectacle unfold, who he was thinking about most.
“It’s one of those things that, I don’t think he could understand how
important it was for me to be with him until he has a son of his own,” Paul
said. “The first thing I said to my wife was, ‘This is the best day I’ve
ever had with my son.’”
That sentiment still holds true. But Aug.15 has emerged as a solid No. 2.
Paul’s brother, Pete, was visiting from Texas with his girlfriend, Rosa. A
big
baseball fan, Pete was looking forward to his first game at Safeco -- and his
first with Bode. Paul had mapped out the Mariners’ schedule a few weeks
before
and decided that the Wednesday matinee would be best for his son’s second
trip
to the ballpark. Plus, barring a rotation shuffle, Felix Hernandez was
scheduled to take the hill.
“If you’re coming in for one game, that’s the guy you want to see,” Paul
said.
Dockal said he pulls for his hometown Mariners, just without the same
emotional
conviction he has for the White Sox. So he was wearing neutral colors – a
Sonics shirt, actually -- in the 10th row behind first base as the M’s took
the field against the Rays. Even in the early frames, Paul had an inkling the
day might be another special one.
“This time, I talked about it the whole time,” he said. “By the third
inning
I was like, ‘Hey, he’s got a no-hitter going.’”
Once again, the intensity rose with every at-bat. The White Sox led, 3-0,
after
the third inning of Humber’s perfecto, but Hernandez and the Mariners were
perpetually just one pitch from losing not only a chance at immortality, but
also the lead. Paul found himself rooting for Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson
to
retire the Mariners quickly just so Felix could get back to work.
When Hernandez kicked one leg in the air and raised his hands skyward after
striking out Sean Rodriguez to end the ninth, Paul witnessed history once
again.
There have been only 23 perfect games thrown in nearly a century and a half of
Major League history. Two of them were the first two games Bode Dockal ever
attended in person. Paul said that, in a way, he wishes his son would never
attend another game – nothing could top what he’s already seen. But he knows
Bode will have to relive the magic of Humber and Felix through photos and
stories rather than actual recollections. Plus, someday decades from now, Bode
might walk through the gates of a stadium with a son of his own.
And on that day, perfection just might strike a third time.
http://ppt.cc/dAM1
生涯的頭兩場球賽 都是PG
OMG!
--
◣ ◣
▏ ◢ ▆▅▄ ◢▆▅ ▅▆▇ ▅▆▇ ◢◤ ◢
▍◢◤ ▊ ◥ ▊ ◥▂◤ ◢▆◣ ◥▂◤ ◢▆◣ ▎ ▉
▎█◣ ▋ ▌ ◢ ◣ ▍ ▋ ◢ ◣ ▍ ▋ ▍▂▃█◢
▏ ◥▍ ▊ ▍ ◥▂◤ ▏ ▉ ◥▂◤ ▏ ▉ ▉
◤ ◥ ▂▃▄ ◥ ◣▃◢ ◣▃◢ ◥
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 140.113.63.53
→
08/18 23:12, , 1F
08/18 23:12, 1F
推
08/18 23:16, , 2F
08/18 23:16, 2F
推
08/18 23:51, , 3F
08/18 23:51, 3F
→
08/19 00:40, , 4F
08/19 00:40, 4F