Today I was blessed with the opportunity to watch one of the rarest occurrences in baseball, the perfect game. Today was supposed to be a day where I could sit down and watch my favorite team, the Seattle Mariners, for the first time all season and enjoy watching as some of my favorite young players showed off what they could do. Instead I watched as my favorite team failed to reach first base at any time during the game.
Now let me make it clear that watching the Mariners lose stinks no matter what, but what I saw more then made up for it. In my life I have never seen a perfect game live in person or on TV and I’ve only been a part of one no-hitter in my life, so being able to watch only the 21st perfect game in MLB history was an amazing thing for me as a baseball fan.
The Mariners are not the best offensive team in the MLB, in fact they might be the worst offense team once again, but that doesn’t make the perfect game any less impressive. A pitcher must have complete focus with each batter, each defender must be flawless with every ball in play, and a little bit of luck is needed as well. Philip Humber made things easy for his defense by getting most of his outs with fly balls. It was a sunny day in Seattle but a fly ball is still the easiest out for a fielder to make.
Now this perfect game may not be as famous as Don Larsen’s perfect game but that makes it no less amazing. To Philip Humber I say congratulations.
Side Note
For the Mariners I think it may be time that they step back and realize that there are a few players on the roster that just shouldn’t be there. Miguel Olivo is no longer a major league catcher. His defense has always been bad and now his offense is just as bad. Free John Jaso and let him play on a regular basis.
Also why not give guys who still have a chance to be a part of the Mariners future some playing time. Casper Wells has sat out almost every game despite being a strong defender and a good power bat, and sitting in left field has been Chone Figgins who will have no future with the Mariners after this season and hopefully sooner. Yes I know Figgins started off okay but give it a few more weeks and he will be right back to where he has been the last two years. That is why the M’s should trade him now while his value is at least above zero.