Sabathia's perfect game was broken up

I hope my post had nothing to do with the perfect game and no hitter being broken up.

Hey Bud Black... Harang was pitching well

When a guy is throwing a no hitter after 6 innings, I'd leave him in the game.
Maybe it's just me.

When you have two dead from the neck up franchises playing each other in a "Let's stay out of the cellar" game, why not have the guy come out for the 7th?

When it is a 33 year old guy who could be throwing the game of his 10 year career... why not give him a chance?

Yes, I know he was hurt recently.
I know it was hot.
I know he was fresh off a rehab assignment.

But why have the "Could he have thrown a no hitter?" question linger over his career?
Seriously how many more years does Aaron Harang have?
2?
3?

You can't push pitchers when they are in their early 20s and you can't push them in their early 30s I guess.

Let him throw until he lets up a hit.
Wouldn't a no hitter from a likable veteran make a down San Diego year a little better?
Especially seeing it would have been the first no hitter in Padres history.

I would have let him pitch the 7th.
Not sure if this qualifies as babying pitchers, but I am going to link the video anyway!

Cliff Lee's no hitter was broken up

I can't help but feel partially responsible.

I should NEVER have mentioned he was throwing a no hitter in my last post.

It would be a shame if Cliff Lee lost the game.

(Am I pushing it?)

CLIFF LEE IS THROWING A NO HITTER!!! RIGHT NOW!

I'm not one for superstition... but just in case, I am going to scream the fact that CLIFF LEE IS THROWING A NO HITTER over and over again.

I will be happy to be the man who jinxed THIS one!!!

Liriano's best game of the year

It may sound strange to say that Liriano could have thrown his best game when he had a no hitter in May. Hell, he didn't even throw a complete game today.

But in the no hitter, he was all over the place, walked a bunch and struggled his way through it.

Today? He had a perfect game for a while, retiring the first 19 batters, and kept a no hitter into the 8th. He was dominating.

And I am glad the borderline call in the 7th was called an error. A no hitter should be broken up with a clean hit.

I call that the "Sabathia Rule" based on C.C.'s no hitter bid while he was with the Brewers.

Either way, good game today Liriano.
Your best one of the year.

Don't blame me for blowing Anibal Sanchez's no hitter

OK, I feel a LITTLE bad about writing a post about Anibal Sanchez and pitchers throwing no hitters while he had a no no after 6.

But in the post I NEVER said that Sanchez was throwing a no hitter. I just said there were a lot of pitchers throwing no hitters late into the game and had a picture of Sanchez.

Alas almost EXACTLY after I posted it, Laynce Nix of the Nationals hit a low line drive that Mike Stanton couldn't catch, ending the no hitter.

I DIDN'T DO IT!
I didn't jinx anything!

(Then why do I feel badly?)

I am liking this post steroid baseball

Doesn't it seem like every day there is a pitcher taking a no hitter into the late innings? I think it is pretty cool.

Why am I including a picture of Marlins pitcher Anibal Sanchez?
No reason.

(I didn't jinx anything!)

GET A HIT, GIANTS!

I love you Derek Lowe... but I do NOT want you throwing a no hitter tonight.

The way the Giants bats have been all year, it is almost startling to realize that they haven't been no hit yet.

It's a clinching game, Giants.
Bat on the ball... let's go!

I am getting in my car to go home now. By the time I get home, I expect to see a few hits on the board.

You are safe Gambler

It REALLY looked like the Rangers were going to have a combined no hitter tonight. But Joe Mauer got a 2 strike single in the ninth off of Neftali Perez.

No shame in letting up a hit to Joe Mauer.

But I had already written the piece in my head and was going to update the "Most Recent No Hitter" tally.

I don't take the blame myself. I think Joe Mauer's ability was more relevant than my writing a blog post.

So Kenny Rogers's perfect game is STILL the most recent Rangers no hitter.

Padres and Mets remain on the clock.

Kenny Rogers' Perfect Game: The Old School Edition from Luis Alicea on Vimeo.

Someone will say Brandon Morrow's game was a bad one, I'm sure

The Blue Jays Brandon Morrow just completed his against the Blue Jays.

His line was pretty amazing.

9 innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 17 strikeouts, a complete game shutout and a complete of a sweep.

And he did it against the second best team in baseball (but evidently the easiest team to no hit in baseball). And it was a pressure packed 1-0 game to boot.

But with all the new ways to measure stats and a pitchers effectiveness, I am sure there is some blogger out there who will write about how bad this game was.

There will be some measurement that I've never heard of that will be flung and me to show that this game was actually a poor start.

"He nearly threw a no hitter!"
"Yeah but did you check his "NOBOGH" percentage?"
"His WHAT?"
"His Number Of Bounces Of Grounders Hit percentage. The more bounces a ground ball takes, the more likely the ball will be picked up. His grounders have a low NOBOGH, which is bad."

Think I am joking? When Edwin Jackson threw his labored no hitter earlier this year (against the Rays) I heard people call in to shows and write on their blogs "Was it even an effect start?"

Um... He threw 9 innings, let up no runs and no hits.

So YES!!!
I don't care how many ways you bend the stats and how much origami you do with the numbers... throwing 9 innings, giving up 0 runs and 0 hits and getting a 1-0 victory IS A GOOD START!

Maybe it isn't a glamorous perfect game, but shouldn't he get CREDIT for working out of tense jams?

So prepare yourself for the craziness.
There will be someone out there shaking their head at any adulation of Morrow's performance.

We'll be looking at the runs, the hits and the results... yet someone will be counting the bounces and saying "Tsk tsk tsk... too many."

It's my fault that Lester lost his perfect game.

I was going to write a quick blog post to say "HEY! SOX FANS! JON LESTER IS THROWING A PERFECT GAME!"

I had no thoughts about me spoiling it because... well... I don't believe that I affect the game being played in Seattle while sitting in my kitchen in South Pasadena, California.

Just as I was typing, center fielder Eric Patterson dropped a fly ball to spoil the perfect game.

Then Michael Saunders hit a 2 run homer to spoil the no hitter, the shutout AND the lead.

Maybe I do have some effect.

I apologize to Jon and his family.

Last night I did the unthinkable... I went to bed without knowing the final score of a Red Sox game

When I left work after pulling a late night last night, I heard that John Lackey had a no hitter going into the 8th.

I admit, I perked up. I had a good 30 minute drive home and I thought "Could I hear yet ANOTHER Red Sox no hitter?" Since 2001, we've had Hideo Nomo, Derek Lowe, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester all throwing no nos.

Why not Lackey?

Then I started thinking "Wait a second! With Beckett and Buchholz both coming back from the DL and Dice K throwing well and Lackey on the verge of a no no... maybe THIS could be the rallying point for the Red Sox!"

He coughed up a hit with 2 outs and 2 strikes in the 8th. And with the Sox up by 5 in the 9th, I was thinking while driving in the car "Have Lackey finish the game. He's had an up and down year and finishing a complete game shutdown could boost his confidence with the Sox. Plus with Beckett coming off the DL, who knows how many relievers you will need? So have a rested and ready bullpen."

When I heard DelCarmen was in the game, I swear I yelled at my XM Radio NO! NO!

When the 6-1 lead turned into a 6-3 lead before you could say "teeth grinder" I knew we were in trouble. By the time I got home, it was a 6-4 lead, and Papelbon, who no doubt was taking a nap when the game was 6-1, was thrown into the game.

I heard the Mariners tie the game. And I turned off the XM.
I didn't check the sports ticker.

There was no way I was going to either

a) Watch them lose in the bottom of the 9th

or

b) sit through extra innings.

Wifey and I watched an episode of Mad Men and went to bed.

You understand I NEVER do that. I NEVER go to bed without knowing how the Red Sox game ended. It's easy on the West Coast because many times the games start around 4PM out there. But I always like to check to see how my boys did... even when they are out of it... before I call it a night.

Not this night.
Even if they won, I felt like they lost.
A team that has playoff aspirations doesn't let a team like the Mariners score 5 runs in the bottom of the 9th.

Evidently the Red Sox won. Instead of having a rested bullpen, they have a pen that had to throw 5 innings.

I saw that they won and didn't feel elation. I just felt like they didn't lose.

BUT it is worth it to update the tally.

DODGED A BULLET GAMES - 29

April 4 - 9-7 win against Yankees (On Opening Night, the Red Sox overcome a 5-1 Yankee lead with a game tying HR by Pedroia and a go ahead passed ball.)
April 10 - 8-3 win against Kansas City (Beckett out pitches Zack Greinke and nearly gets decapitated by a line drive.)
April 14 - 6-3 win in Minnesota. (Okajima gets Morneau to pop up with the bases loaded in the 7th and Papelbon wiggled out of a 9th inning jam.)
April 20 - 7-6 win against Texas. (Darnell McDonald introduces himself to Boston with an 8th inning game tying homer and a walk off hit in the 9th.)
April 21 - 8-7 win against Texas. (The Red Sox were down 4-0 early only to win it on Youk's 2 out 11th inning double.)
April 23 - 4-3 win against Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 3-0 lead but win it on Adrian Beltre's bases loaded walk.)

April 24 - 7-6 win against Baltimore. (The Red Sox score 6 in the 7th and hold off a late Baltimore comeback attempt.)
April 26 - 13-12 win at Toronto. (The Sox blow an early 5-0 lead but hang on for dear life in a slugfest.)
April 27 - 2-1 win at Toronto. (Buchholz holds the Jays down for 8 but it takes a bases loaded walk in the 8th to go ahead.)
April 28 - 2-0 win at Toronto. (Daniel Bard wiggles out of trouble in the 8th to help Lester shut down the Blue Jays and finish the sweep.)
May 4 - 5-1 win against the Angels. (Juan Rivera misplays Jeremy Hermedia's 2 out flyball into a 3 run game winning double)
May 5 - 3-1 win against the Angels. (Papi and Beltre homer and the Sox hang on despite squandering many potential rallies.)
May 6 - 11-6 win against the Angels. (Dice-K puts the Red Sox in a 4-0 hole before they even bat. The Sox bats respond.)
May 10 - 7-6 win against the Blue Jays. (Sox blow an early 2-0 lead, take advantage of some errors and hang on.)
May 18 - 7-5 win in New York. (Sox climb back from a 5-1 hole. A day after hitting a walk off homer, Marcus Thames drops a fly ball to start the winning rally for the Sox.)
May 25 - 2-0 win in Tampa. (Big Papi supplies all the offense as Papelbon wiggles out of a 9th inning jam.)
May 29 - 1-0 win against Kansas City. (Zack Greinke holds the Sox to one run, but they make it stick)

June 1 - 9-4 win against Oakland. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 4-0 hole but Victor Martinez goes 5-5 and the Sox score 9 runs late.)
June 2 - 6-4 win against Oakland. (Dice-K puts the Sox in a 3-0 hole before they come to bat, but come back thanks to Papi's homer.)

June 8 - 3-2 win at Cleveland. (With Papelbon unavailable, Okajima, Ramirez and Bard hang on to make a winner out of Wakefield.)

June 19 - 5-4 win against the Dodgers. (Sox make 4 errors, blow a late lead and let Manny homer, but they win it in the bottom of the 9th on a Pedroia single.)
June 20 - 2-0 win against the Dodgers. (Dodgers blow an early bases loaded scoring opportunity and allow Buchholz to settle down for the win.)

June 24 - 13-11 win in Colorado. (The bullpen lets up 9 runs in 5 innings, but Pedroia homers 3 times including with 2 outs in the 10th to win a wild and stupid game.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in San Francisco. (An injury running the bases takes Buchholz out in the second, but the bullpen and Mike Cameron's bat and glove win the game.)
July 2 - 3-2 win against the Orioles. (Wakefield gets the win and J.D. Drew homers twice, but it is Nava's 2 out 8th inning bloop that landed between three fielders that breaks the tie.)

July 11 - 3-2 win in Toronto. (Jesse Litch took a no hitter into the 6th but back to back homers by McDonald and Big Papi win the game.)
July 17 - 3-2 win against Texas. (Youk ties the game in the 9th off of Cliff Lee and wins it in the 11th with a sacrifuce fly)
July 19 - 2-1 win at Oakland. (Beltre homers and Dice-K holds on to the win.)
July 22 - 8-6 win at Seattle. (Lackey lost a no hit bid in the 8th and the Mariners scored 5 in the 9th to tie before the Sox won in 13)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 29

April 6 - 6-4 loss against the Yankees. (Scutaro's error leads to the winning run.)
April 7 - 3-1 loss against the Yankees. (Sox leave the winning run on in the 9th only to lose on Granderson's 10th inning homer)
April 9 - 4-3 loss in Kansas City. (Bard coughs up the lead, denying Wakefield a win.)
April 17 - 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Sox can't score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 11th... lost it in the 12th.)
April 17 - 6-5 loss to Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox comeback falls a run short, leaving two on in the 8th)
April 25 - 7-6 loss to Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 4-1 lead, leave the winning run on second in the 9th, let up 3 in the 10th and could only score 2 in the bottom of the 10th)
April 30 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (Tejada ties the game with a 2 out 8th inning homer and wins it with a bloop in the 10th)
May 1 - 12-9 loss in Baltimore. (Dice-K and Wakes get pounded, wasting 2 homers from Ortiz and an early 4-1 lead.)
May 2 - 3-2 loss in Baltimore. (Varitek is thrown at home trying to score with 2 outs in the 8th. Sox get swept in the 10th.
May 12 - 3-2 loss against the Blue Jays. (The Sox rally in the 9th comes up a run short and Kevin Gregg gets an ugly save.)
May 15 - 7-6 loss in Detroit. (The Sox blow a 6-1 lead and lose it on a 2 out bases loaded walk in the 12th.)
May 17 - 11-9 loss in New York. (The Sox come all the way back from a 5-0 first inning hole to take a 9-7 lead in the 9th... but Papelbon lets up a 2 run game tying shot to A-Rod and a 2 run walk off shot to Marcus Thames.)
May 21 - 5-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Big Papi's bid for a game tying 9th inning grand slam is caught at the warning track.)
May 27 - 4-3 loss to Kansas City. (Dice-K walks the go ahead run in and lets another score on a wild pitch as the Royals no name bullpen shut down the Hot Sox.)
May 28 - 12-5 loss to Kansas City. (Sox blow a 3-0 first inning lead to be blown out in Fenway.)
June 3 - 9-8 loss to Oakland. (Sox lose a slugfest where two Boston runners are thrown out at home.)

June 6 - 4-3 loss in Baltimore. (Sox rally to tie the game in the 9th only to lose it on a small ball rally in the 11th.)
June 10 - 8-7 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow an early 5-0 lead and then after rallying in the 9th to take the lead coughed it up with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th)
June 13 - 5-3 loss to Philadelphia. (Sox 9th inning rally comes up short)
June 22 - 2-1 loss in Colorado. (The Sox waste a solid Lester start and twice leave the bases loaded.)
June 23 - 8-6 loss in Colorado. (The Sox batter Ubaldo Jimenez around but Papelbon lets up 2 homers in the 9th to lose it.)
June 25 - 5-4 loss in San Francisco. (The Sox strand 11 runners in the last 4 innings wasting a solid Wakefield performance.)
July 5 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox spoil a 5-1 lead and 2 homers by Eric Patterson when Dice-K and the bullpen couldn't hold down the Rays.)
July 6 - 3-2 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox bats go dead and Kevin Youkilis goes down to injury.)
July 7 - 6-4 loss in Tampa Bay. (Matt Garza comes out of the pen, shuts down a late rally as the Rays sweep the Sox.)
July 10 - 9-5 loss in Toronto. (The Sox give Lackey an early 5-3 lead that he couldn't hold.)
July 18 - 4-2 loss to the Rangers. (Lester loses a rare game at home that included a Rangers steal of home.)

July 20 - 5-4 loss in Oakland. (The Sox go up 4-0 after 2 but don't score again and lose it in the 10th)
July 21 - 6-4 loss in Oakland. (Buchholz can't hold on to an early lead as the Sox lose the series.)


Back to break even and may that is appropriate.
The team won... and technically it means the same in the standings as a no hitter. It just doesn't feel like it.

It feels like they barely snuck by a team that has already called it quits for the year.

Beckett tonight... buckle up.

Armando Galarraga should be the S.I. Sportsman of the Year

Oh I am sure there will be some record breaker in football or basketball. Probably there will be a hero in the World Cup.

Or perhaps Phil Mickelson's Masters win will get people all weepy.

But how could there be a better example of class, excellence and sportsmanship than what Galarraga displayed over the last few days?

He showed excellence with the perfect game... and then overwhelming calm when the call was blown, and he just gave a laugh.

That night he had the dignity to comfort umpire Jim Joyce after the game.

And then came the next day. Everyone screaming bloody murder. I wrote about 4,392 blog posts about it.

Airwaves were jammed.

Columnists wrote about it.

Bud Selig mulled over it!

A regular season game between Detroit and Cleveland overshadowed Game 1 of the NBA Finals between Boston and Los Angeles!

Even the White House referenced it!

And how did Galarraga, the man who was denied immortality, handle it?

Less than 18 hours after it happened and tempers simmering, he brought the line up card out to the visibly distraught Jim Joyce, shook his hand, gave him a pat on the back and it was a new day.

Try watching that clip and not get choked up.

You tell me there isn't a Little League coach or a Pop Warner, YMCA basketball league or youth hockey coach in the world worth their weight who wouldn't want their players showing that kind of sportsmanship!

When everyone talks about the selfishness of the athlete and how nobody can relate to them and how they are a bunch of spoiled cry babies, along comes Armando Galaragga. The guy who had every reason to bitch and moan showed set the new standard for playing it cool.

The S.I. Sportsman of the Year is supposed to honor not only those who play the best on the field, but dignify the sporting world (you know, like past honorees Pete Rose, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.)

Galaragga's class is something that should not just be swept under the carpet.

In an odd way, for Galaragga's legacy, the blown call was the best thing that happened to him.

Sure Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay got their moment in the sun from baseball fans. But my in box and Facebook page was filled to gills with messages from friends of mine who don't even follow baseball.

My wife even said "Now I have faith again in that stupid game."

He even got a Corvette out of it.

Give him the Award. And when future generations ask "Why was the Tigers #3 starter the Sportsman of the Year?" they can learn a little bit about class.

And hopefully by then, those kids will ask "But didn't they have instant replay then like now?"

Greg Lee's thoughts on Jim Joyce's call

My friend, the great writer, editor and Giants fan Greg Lee wrote to me after the whole Galaragga/Jim Joyce fiasco.

"Maybe they were shooting a Southwest Airlines "Want to get away?" commercial."

That's the best explanation yet.

No Cleveland fans... Galaragga didn't bobble the ball

Cleveland fans are writing on some blogs that the call against Armando Galaragga was good one because he bobbled the ball.

An interesting piece of revisionist history (right up there with Pedro Martinez ATTACKED Don Zimmer in the 2003 ALCS.)

Um, do you know who agrees with you Cleveland fans?
NOBODY!

Not even Jim Joyce used that as a lame excuse.

Here's the clip.

Point out where the bobble is and e mail me at info@sullybaseball.







I thought I told you Cleveland fans to stop watching sports this year!

Jim Joyce becomes an immortal

Seriously... I kind of feel good for Jim Joyce. Most of the times an umpire's name is not part of the story of the game.

Every once in a while an ump does something truly memorable, like Don Denkinger blowing that call in the 1985 World Series or Eric Gregg having a strike zone approximately 5 yards wide and 15 feet high in the 1997 NLCS.

But to TRULY be the story is very rare.

If the Cardinals pulled a double play on the next batter, nobody would have remembered the blown call. And the Braves could have adjusted instead of looking at those wide strikes.

But what Jim Joyce did today was extraordinary.

He blew the final play of a perfect game.

Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game. He did. That's not an opinion... that's a fact. And in real time it looked like he covered first for the final out in time.

In slow motion it looked like... um... it wasn't close.

This wasn't a blown call in the 7th. If an ump blows a call in the 7th, 8th or even the top of the 9th, you can't necessarily say the pitcher would have completed the perfect game. He could relax after letting up a hit.

But with 2 outs in the 9th... there is no other scenario other than "Perfect Game" or "Blown Call" on that grounder.

There have been only 20 perfect games thrown in baseball history (and it seems like 15 of them have been thrown since Mother's Day.) It should be 21.

Why isn't it 21?

Because of Jim Joyce.

And what is the headline for this wonderful game? Is it Armando Galarraga's game of his life?

Nope!

It's Jim Joyce!

And from this day forward when people talk about perfect games and they list perfect games, announcers will say "And remember Armando Galarraga had a perfect game, but the final call was blown by Jim Joyce."

That is epic.

That is knowing this massive bed wetting will be known among the all time bad calls.

Doesn't happen every day for an ump.

Oh and one more thing... did you see Galarraga's reaction?


He was grinning.

Jim Joyce stole his bid for immortality and he had a smile on his face.

How classy was that?
How centered is this guy?

Or maybe he knows that Joyce just got himself his own place in baseball history... and not the way he wants it.


INSTANT REPLAY ANYONE?

More of THIS Dice-K please!

I don't like the Dice-K who lets up 5 Yankee runs in the first and puts the Red Sox in a desperate hole.

I like the Dice-K who throws no hitters into the 8th inning.

In his last 4 starts he is 3-0... a deceptive 3-0 because the Red Sox had to make wild comebacks against the Angels in one game and the Yankees in another to take him off the hook (and in the case of the Angels game, get him the win.)

In those his 5 starts he has had three brutal innings...

A 6 run fifth inning on May 1st in Baltimore...
A 4 run first inning on My 6th against the Angels...
And of course the 5 run first inning on May 17th in the Bronx.

In his two other games, he pitched a 7 inning 1 run win against the Blue Jays and of course the near no hitter in Philadelphia.

His ERA for the season is 5.76.
Remove the 2 2/3 innings that accounted for 15 of his earned runs and suddenly Dice-K has a 1.33 ERA.

Now yeah, I know that's a little bit like saying "Besides that, Mrs. Kennedy how was your trip to Dallas?"

But that does show you that if he can avoid a big meltdown inning, he's actually pitching quite well.

And a few more solid performances by Dice-K and if he can avoid the big inning, maybe the Sox can absorb the loss of Beckett.

(What the hell happened to the Gyroball?)

Sully Baseball Honors THE LATE JIM BIBBY

Jim Bibby passed away yesterday in Virginia.

He was only 65.

He played for several teams over his 12 year career, but none that means as much to me as the 1979 Pirates.

As anyone who has read this blog knows I have a huge spot in my hear for the 1979 We Are Family Pirates as they won the first World Series I have any memory of.

Jim Bibby started Game 7 of that World Series… yes the same game I gushed about this off season.

So in his honor, let’s list a few things about Bibby.


Bibby was originally a Met farm hand but never played in Flushing.

In yet another brilliant move by the Mets in the mid 1970s, Bibby was sent packing along with Art Shamsky and 2 others to St. Louis.

None of the players picked up by the Mets (Jim Beauchamp, Chip Coulter, Harry Parker nor Chuck Taylor) did squat with the Mets.





He threw the first no hitter in Texas Rangers history on July 30th, 1973.

He pitched it against the Oakland A’s, who were in the middle of three straight World Series titles.

A’s regulars like Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace all played that day.


The start prior to his no hitter, he threw a complete game 2 hitter against the Angels.

He out pitched Nolan Ryan, who would know a few things throwing no hitters in a Rangers uniform.

So in two starts he pitched 18 innings and let up 2 hits.

Not too shabby.




He didn't exactly wear traditional unis...

He pitched in the burgundy unis of the 1970s Indians… and the all yellow unis that the Pirates wore in the late 70s.

He made those ugly uniforms look good.






Jim was an All Star

Jim played in his lone All Star in 1980 at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Pirates.

He came into the game in the 7th inning with a 1 run led and got future Hall of Famer Robin Yount to fly out.

Willie Randolph then singled but Cecil Cooper grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Bibby was credited with a Hold. Actually he wasn’t. There were no “holds” back in 1980. But Baseball Reference gave him one retroactively.



Jim contended for the 1980 Cy Young Award.

1980 was Bibby’s best season. He won 19 games, tying his career high and finished the season with the best winning percentage based on his 19-6 record.

He finished third in the Cy Young voting behind Steve Carlton and Jerry Reuss





Jim was a Terry Harper single away from perfection

On May 19,1981 he led up a lead off single in the first inning to Atlanta’s Terry Harper.

He went on to retire the next 27 batters for the 5-0 complete game hitter.







The last batter he faced was Greg Walker

Bibby finished his career on May 26th, 1984 doing a mop up relief appearance for the Rangers against the White Sox.

The White Sox loaded the bases on him with one out, but he got Mike Squires and Greg Walker to pop up and he escaped the game (and his career) with no further damage,





He is the uncle of former Sacramento King and current Atlanta Hawk Mike Bibby

Unlike his Uncle Jim, Mike never could get that ring.






Bibby appeared on the 1990 Hall of Fame ballot. He received one vote.

I'm not saying he deserved a Hall of Fame vote... but I wonder who that one voter was.

And if that one voter is still alive, I hope the Bibby family invites him over for dinner.




So rest in peace, Jim Bibby. Know that you will always be part of the Fam-A-Lee of 1979.