On April 2, 2013, Yu Darvish was almost perfect. The talented pitcher for baseball’s Texas Rangers took the mound for his first start of the season and proceeded to retire batters with remarkable efficiency. Through eight innings, Darvish had not allowed a single hit, and he hadn’t allowed anyone to get to base by means of a walk or a hit batter. There have only been 23 perfect games in the whole history of Major League Baseball. It takes 27 batters out to pitch a perfect game, and Darvish had already retired 24.
Anticipation was high going into the ninth inning. Players stopped talking to Darvish in the dugout between innings, as is the custom when a pitcher is working on a no-hitter. His pitch count was high for early in the season, but the manager let him keep going. Darvish was developing a blister on his hand, but he wasn’t going to stop pitching.
Read Full Article »