No Hits. Complete Game Win. Yet It's...


 ...not a no-hitter, at least according to then-Commissioner Fay Vincent's 1991 rules update.

In the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader in Atlanta, Madison Bumgarner worked all seven innings, holding the Braves without a hit. His Diamondbacks teammates did their part, scoring five in the top of the first before the veteran lefty even reached the mound, en route to a 7-0 victory. 

The only baserunner, Ozzie Albies, reached on Nick Ahmed's 2nd inning fielding error and was quickly erased on a double play. That was it. Otherwise, the other 20 Atlanta batters  were retired. Plain and simple.

These rules for a no-hitter were clearly drawn up not anticipating baseball being played during a pandemic.

It makes me pivot to another onetime Giant, Mike McCormick, who was also affected by the 1991 decision: on June 12th, 1959, he threw five official innings of no-hit ball, and a 6th inning single by Richie Ashburn was erased when the inning couldn't be completed due to a rain storm. The game was never completed, reverting back to its final full inning and, for the next 32 years, McCormick had a no-hitter.

This was different. Bumgarner knew before the game started that it was penciled in for seven innings. His teammates scored, so there was no way he could work an eighth and ninth inning. He followed the rules.

A borderline Hall of Famer who ranks among the most dominating pitchers in World Series history, Bumgarner is the kind of player the game needs to honor.

Why is there any waffling in the commissioner's office? This isn't an Armando Gallarraga situation, where Bud Selig had the chance to overrule a bad umpiring call to declare a perfect game -- but didn't. This time, everything went by the book. 

The book was simply updated for life in 2021.

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