The Fifth No-hitter of the Year

Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks Pitched the fifth no-hitter of the 2010 baseball season yesterday. He blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0. It was not exactly a gem, however. Jackson walked eight and threw a whopping (for these days) 149 pitches in his accomplishment. It was a very ugly game, but the record books will show it to be the no-hitter it in fact is.

Amrmando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers pitched the third no-hitter of the season, a gem of a perfect game which baseball's powers steadfastly refuse to formally recognize on the grounds of integrity. You simply can't overturn a ruling on the field, they claim.

That isn't integrity, it's obstinacy. It's based on an archaic view of integrity which will not allow truth to get in the way of principle, even when the truth is totally obvious to any and all observers. Bud Selig knows Galarraga threw a perfect game; either that, or he's complete idiot. He needs to correct the official record book.

This is not to disparage Edwin Jackson. His might not have been the prettiest no-hitter, but a no-hitter it was just the same. He merits the recognition of a no-hitter no less than Galarraga deserves proper citation for his perfect game. That Bud Selig and baseball will now recognize Jackson while steadfastly and stupidly refusing to hail Armando Galarraga for a greater feat is insulting to the, yes, integrity of the game as well as to the integrity of the players, and even Jim Joyce.

Bravo Edwin Jackson: you are getting what you deserve. Bravo Armando Galarraga: you pitched a perfect game and will always have that feat in your history. Yet boo to the Major League Baseball dinosaurs in New York. You do not have integrity on your side, but, rather, the foolish inconsistency which is the hobgoblin of small minds.