2021 MLB No-Hitter Pace Cheapens Stories, But Not Memories

Seeing an MLB no-hitter has become less of a deal in 2021, but that’s only true if you saw one in 2021.

In case you missed it, there have been no shortage of no-hitters in MLB this season.

Consequently, the achievement has been a bit cheapened as of late. What was once just about the coolest and most sacred thing you could hope to see on a baseball diamond has become almost…routine. Two happened last week, just as many as happened during the entire 2020 season. Six have happened so far this year, as many as 2019 and 2020 combined. Not a good look for MLB.

Now, the fact that this is a situation all of MLB’s own making…we can discuss that another time. How tampering with baseballs like crazy might not be the best idea. How this might have been a solution that created more problems than answers. How there might have been bigger problems in the game to begin with. How commissioner Rob Manfred might be….

Well, I did say we’d discuss all that another time, didn’t I?

No, what I want to discuss here is just the magic of the no-hitter itself. Without question, the experience of watching one this season has gotten a little stale. Oversaturation is very much a problem right now.

But do fans of the Padres, White Sox, Orioles, Reds, Tigers, and Yankees feel that way? Probably not. Do fans of the Rangers, Indians, and Mariners feel that way? Okay, maybe a little bit.

Point being, the experience of watching- from beginning to end- an MLB no-hitter is pure baseball magic. Game slows down, Field of Dreams style magic. Anyone who has ever watched a baseball game knows the wide array of happenstance that can come into play to keep that from happening. One bloop single, one dying quail, one random bounce. One tiny lapse in concentration on the part of the pitcher. One quarter of an inch difference in the placement of a pitch. That’s all it takes for something that at least used to be perceived as borderline miraculous to become just another start on just another day of just another season.

As you might have guessed, or previously read if you are one of my two avid readers (shouts to Mom), I have been to a no-hitter. I would have to say it just edges out being there for Game 7 of the 1997 World Series as the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed live in a sporting event. I mean, Anibal Sanchez didn’t have to throw that no-hitter on September 6th, 2006. Someone was going to win that Game 7. Watching everyone slowly figure out what was happening, or not figuring out what was happening (shouts to Dad) and how they reacted to it, it was something very special. Talk about, don’t talk about it. Can you get up? Is this happening because you did get up? No sport brings out the superstitions like MLB, and never more so than during a no-hitter.

Watching one on tv? Certainly, that’s pretty special too. A.J. Burnett’s no-hitter back in 2001 ranks very high on the baseball memory list. Even if you’re not a fan of the team and pitcher making that bid at history, every baseball fan can immediately buy in and find themselves glued to the set. It’s why we all get alerts from our various sports apps once someone makes it the second time through the batting order.

Admittedly, the fun of telling someone you’ve seen a no-hitter while talking baseball at the bar, has taken a bit of hit. And if these changes to the ball, and the skillset of present day pitchers stick around, what were once looks of respect will be shifting to looks of what’s so special about that.

So yeah, you might have lost a story there. But seeing one, start to finish, and especially doing so live at the ballpark? Still pretty close to a once in a lifetime experience for a baseball fan.