Quick, what’s the first rule of a pitcher throwing a perfect game? DON’T TALK ABOUT IT.
Heck, don’t even stop there–don’t talk about it, think about it and for heaven’s sake don’t let a police escort take you down to the field so you can witness the magic closer and celebrate. That’s precisely what Yusmeiro Petit’s wife made the mistake of doing.
Call it silly old school baseball superstition, but this is one time where I’m kind of a believer. Perfect games are extremely delicate things, getting too high emotionally will only send you crashing down.
Now, there’s serious doubt that Petit knew his wife was taken down after he recorded two outs in the 9th, but immediately after…it was done.
A 3-2 pitch in the 9th saw him give up a base hit to Eric Chavez (who for some reason isn’t retired) and perfection fell short. Consider this a lesson learned to all wives whose husbands have perfect games in the works.
Guess we’ll have to keep on waiting for that stubborn 24th perfect game.
H/T: Larry Brown Sports