CF,
I just posted this on Charles' post:

Good Afternoon Charles,
Hope you enjoyed the gorgeous day. Don't have any comment per se but just want to tell Sloggers that Chicago White Sox pitcher, Phil Humber just threw a perfect game against the Mariners. Ouch! Just 21 of them have been thrown in all of MLB history.

I'm a White Sox Fan.

You can put it on the board......YESSSS!!!

Wasn't at game, but next best thing....long drive on a glorious spring day and glued to the radio from first pitch to last.

What a game.

pitching against these mariners is like being spotted 9 outs.

@4 Still gotta get 18 more.

I always want it to be Felix, but I will unabashedly root for the opposing pitcher in these cases. Sucks to be on the wrong side of a record, but nothing beats the moment when the pitcher realizes what he has done, and the next moment, he is in the catcher's arms, his teammates flooding to the mound, and a pro like Rick Rizz is screaming like it was a home team feat. Everybody loves a perfect game.

Look, I'm a serious White Sox fan but what business does my shitty team have in having pitched one seventh of all perfect games in Major League history? Fucking White Sox, indeed.

Good lord - check out the outfit on Lee Richmond, who in 1880 hurled the first perfect game in the majors. He would fit right in one of Timothy Rysdyke's "What You're Not Wearing" hilllebrity photo reels.

This Cap:
http://legendsrevealed.com/sports/2010/0…

Give the plate ump an assist. No way Brendan Ryan went around on that last pitch. Ball four. Make-up call for Armando Galarraga, I suppose.

MLB 2012 Attendance report:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

Mariners 2nd from the bottom.

For whatever reason, the White Sox have our number here, that's for sure...

Before I was a former FIB - now in Seattle - I was a Sox fan growing up in Chicago. Old Comiskey was a great place to see a game, without today's modern amenities to be sure, but with a charm all its own. The new Comiskey (or whatever the hell it's called) is sterile & uninvolving - the worst of the new parks by far, and i've been to a bunch of them. I remember that the first row of the upper deck in the new Comiskey is father away than the last row in the old one. That's because Jerry Reinsdorf - don't get me going about him - built it with high priority views for the upper crust & corporations (whoops ...who are people too!).

In contrast to imperial Reinsdorf (who treated Carlton Fisk like shit every year before finally re-signing him again & again), Bill Veeck was a peoples' owner. His name was in the phone book, and he drank beer all night & shot the shit with fans in pubs in the loop. One of my prized possessions is a letter Veeck sent me, that arrived four days after I wrote him a letter thanking him for buying the White Sox & keeping them in Chicago & now commiserating with him as he had to sell the team. Could you ever imagine Reinsdorf responding personally to a life-long fan, or sharing a beer with the common man? That's why I'm no longer a Sox fan.

For better & for worse, after '95 I became a diehard M's fan ...one of these years we will win it all, and with our young talent i think it will be soon.

The game would have been far more perfect had it been a match between the White Sox & the Oklahoma City Mariners. Out with the millionaire welfare queens!

Wait, so the Mariners lost so hard even the Mariners fans were cheering for the loss? Baseball culture is fuckin' weird.

@ 13, a perfect game is something to respect. That's not weird, that's class.

@5: you know what i'm sayin. it ain't easy, but it's easier against a team with poor offense.

@15 The Yankee perfectos of Wells & Cone in 98 & 99 were against the dying-on-the-vine Twins & Expos. Then as now, it is OK to note the level of competition.

@ 16, Randy Johnson's came against the Atlanta Braves, who were still in the midst of their run of 14 consecutive NL East titles, and when he was 40. Dallas Braden's was against the Tampa Bay Rays, who were en route to an AL East title.

We could go on like that, but it doesn't matter. Even terrible MLB teams are still MLB teams, comprised of some of the very best ballplayers in the world. Getting a no-hitter is virtually impossible, never mind a perfect game.

Heard some interesting stuff on NPR this morning--not sure if it was the local or the national broadcast. The interviewee said there's a greater likelihood for perfect games now in part because there are more teams--30 major league teams as opposed to 16 at some point, doubling the opportunities. He also pointed out that the Mariners are the likeliest victims, because they have the lowest on-base percentage, and Safeco is a good locale because of the huge outfield.

Still, like @17 said, Major League teams are still filled with the best ballplayers there are, and moreover, a hitter is a hitter. About a week ago Matt Cain of the Giants allowed a single baserunner and retired the other 27 against the Pirates. The lone hit, which I think was a solid hit, came from the opposing pitcher, traditionally the least effective batter in the Major League lineup, around the sixth inning.

@Blackbook: right on. Veeck used to sit in the first row of the Center Field Bleachers at Wrigley, and fans would buy him beers and pass 'em up. He'd thank whoever sent it up, and if he was empty, he'd drink it, but if he had a full one, he'd pass it along to whoever was nearby and dry. He'd smoke and use the ashtray built into his wooden leg (lost in the Pacific in WWII). When his father, Bill Veeck, Sr. was GM for the dominant Cubs (four NL pennants in 10 years between 1929 and 1938) Veeck Jr worked on the groundscrew, and he planted the freakin' ivy on the bleacher walls at Wrigley. After Reinsdorf bought the Sox, Veeck boycotted Comiskey and went to games regularly at Wrigley. He'd talk with anyone who was polite and interested in baseball (I'd just listen and learn), and he'd gently get rid of drunk asshats. Though we didn't have asshats back then, our slang was not fully enough developed.

As for all of the Perfecto stuff, note how many of the 21 guys who've done it are either HoFers (Koufax, Young, etc.) or journeymen (Robertson, or Larsen). It really is a feat as much of luck as skill, something that gets attached to the individual pitcher but is really a defensive team accomplishment (with occasional assists from the men in blue but the same can be said for every game). And its rarity is exceeded by only two baseball events: four-homer games and unassisted triple plays. Will do a full-scale post on this later today or tomorrow.

@19 CF,
Fascinating. Agree it's a rare feat.

& @9 DOUG,
Turns out it was a genuine SO. Ryan did swing not check, the Seattle Times confirmed it on replay which I saw:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/st…

This was an extraordinary effort by Humber. I'm keeping the box score.

Thanks for the reminder, Lark. I'll be sure and clip that along with the Sunday coupons.

Today also happens to be the anniversary of Chris Bosio's no hitter, one of the better days to watch the Ems in the old concrete hamburger.

@9, Ryan was burned on checked-swing calls by this umpiring crew all weekend. Friday night he was called out for twisting out of the way of a high'n'tight fastball Timlin threw at him.

@20: Steve Kelley's a moron.

@23 Well we can all agree on that. I was dubious of the call as well.