Yakety Sax and Perfect Catch
The last decade of Major League Baseball has been fun and exciting. There have been many wonderful accomplishments, and historic records broken. Great athletes have produced amazing feats, that we could only dream of duplicating. However, I thought the perfect way to start this list off was with probably the most embarrassing moment by a group of professionals over the last 10 years. On August 7th, 2012 the Astros were hosting the Nationals. It was just about the most meaningless of meaningless games for Houston, who were in the middle of a 107 loss season. For the Nationals it was a quite a bit more important, they were 3 games up in the division with a little less than 2 months to go. With the game tied in the 11th at 4-4 Washington had Roger Bernadina on first, Kurt Suzuki laid down a simple sac bunt. From there all hell broke loose. 2 Astros infielders ran into each other, with a third hopping over them for his own protection. The ball was finally retrieved by first baseman Steve Pearce, but when trying to throw to first he heaved it deep into the outfield. Right fielder Brian Bogusevic grabbed the ball, with the chance at a bang-bang play at the plate, and threw it 5 feet of catcher Chris Snyder’s head. Roger Bernadina scored the go-ahead run, and the Nationals rolled into the playoffs. For one magical play a group of Major Leaguers made us all feel like we could be out there competing with them.
Number 99 on our list is much more of traditional moment. There are a lot people, I would call them killjoys but that’s just me, who claim that Perfect Games and No-Hitters are just a series of chance that played out in the right order. Those people may be right, but I have watched numerous Perfect Games live and nothing beats the tension of the moment. That game will stand out for every player in the game, and every fan watching in the stands or at home. Mark Buerhle had his special day on July 23rd, 2009. He went 27 up and 27 down against the Rays, and as a matter of fact set a Major League record by retiring 45 consecutive batters over a multi-game span. Gabe Kapler came up to start the 9th, just about the most intense moment possible in a midsummer baseball game. Kapler blasted a pitch Buerhle hung over the plate. Dwyane Wise crashes into Billy Pierce’s picture in left center, leaps over the wall, and robs Kapler of a home run. In one great play he saved the Perfect Game, the No-Hitter, and the shutout.
