We have talked all semester about the narrative in baseball and how most of the time a game is not a game without a story behind it. Story-lines add drama to the game and are often the main focus throughout the nine innings. A perfect game is the ideal game to be filled with drama and to offer up an appealing narrative.
This past week the Chicago White Sox's pitcher Philip Humber pitched a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners but it wasn't just his performance during the game that created an interesting narrative. Coming into this season Humber, the 29 year-old, was coming off of Tommy John surgery, which is one of the toughest injuries/surgeries to come back from. Going into the game last week against the Mariners, Humber had yet to win a decision this season and nobody saw his perfecto coming due to his previous outings.
Nonetheless, Humber took all the story-lines and wrote a new narrative by pitching the 27th perfect game in MLB history. The ending of his game also contained some drama as his final pitch bounced in the dirt but was called a swinging strike by the home umpire. A blog featured on BBTF's primer newsblog written by Allan Barra calls the strike into question and asks how "perfect" his perfect game was. Narrative never stops with baseball and even after a game has been completed the talking and storylines continue.
It was a memorable game for Humber and something that he will never forget. To pitch one of only 27 perfect games ever to be thrown is something special. He will never forget but what about the public? There are several other "no-name" pitchers to throw a perfect game but I'm guessing that the majority of people could not name the last 10. So that brings me to the question of how long can a narrative be carried on?
In this specific case, certain fans and experts will remember Humber's game at the end of the season but the casual fan might forget his name by year's end. Basically, the point I'm trying to make is that a narrative is only effective or memorable if it continues well past the event.
I agree with you that a story is only as effective, or special maybe, as it's legacy is long. If no one remembers the moment anymore, well then it wasn't that memorable. But this particular story feels like a memorable one to me. Maybe not as memorable as a no-hitter during the play-offs or even the World Series itself. But America loves its underdogs, and in this situation, as you pointed out, Humber could be looked at as an unlikely hero of sorts. Against all odds, he came back from surgery and threw a no-hitter during a rough patch. It's the kind of no-hitter that's going to be brought up every time we get a no-hitter form an unlikely pitcher, don't you think?
ReplyDeleteas ^^^ said, I think the narrative will exist and be brought up everytime something similar happens. I heard an radio host bring up Anibel Sanchez's unlikely no-no and that brought back that narrative which I hadn't thought about in forever.
ReplyDeleteLast blog post I had a very similar outlook on the forgetfulness of people in terms of narrative for historical moments. While mine was about Jamie Moyer and him being the oldest person ever to win a game, yet prior to that I bet very few people knew the guy who held the record before, it still holds the same merit. It's unfortunate, but we live in a changing world and sometimes even big stories like this in the baseball world get lost in the next story that captivates our attention. I, quite frankly, couldn't list more than a handful of people who've had a piece of the 27 perfect game pie and I consider myself a pretty huge fan. I guess what I am getting at is eventually most of these huge narratives will become forgotten because there is always transition to the next thing. It is unfair in my opinion for the guys who do become lost in the old news.
ReplyDeleteI agree, and I find it kindof sad that although Humber will never forget his perfect game, it will eventually fall out of headlines and be forgotten by the public. It seems that in some cases success is so subjective; people will only rembember something if it is meaningful or fresh in their minds. Similar to KONY 2012, everybody was hyped up about spreading the news for a week on the internet, but nobody actually followed through on the campaign. How long does an even or subject truly stay relevant or important in somebody's (or the public's) mind
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