Twins Blog: No Jinxing!
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The WCCO-TV Newsroom is more superstitious than most baseball teams.
On Tuesday night, I ended up at the station doing a few odds and ends. The whiff of Francisco Liriano possibly pitching a no-no kept me here quite a bit longer.
By the sixth inning my boss would reprimand anyone who moved from their desk. He said it "disrupts the baseball balance."
The no-no clincher was Danny Valencia's throw from behind third base to get out Carlos Quentin out in the seventh. That was THE saver. Everyone knew something special was real close.
The no-no lucker was the missed tag on Beckman in the eighth that was called an out.
Then we had a dilemma pop up. How should we cover the possible no-no? We wanted to send a camera to Smalley's Bar by Target Field to get fan reactions watching the sloppy fun. The issue was we didn't want to show up with a camera in the ninth inning and jinx the whole shebang. I was adamant that we have the crew stand outside the bar and wait until the final pitch. Our boss wanted the real time fan reaction. Now he was disrupting the baseball balance!
The crew went into the bar and the newsroom sat, waited and watched.
Rosen was yelled at for getting up with two out in the ninth and quickly sat back down at his desk.
And then it happened. Liriano completed the first no-hitter of the 2011 baseball season.
Then, the first Associated Press News Alert which crossed the wire seemed more appropriate … for me.
"CHICAGO (AP) -- Nelson Liriano of the Minnesota Twins throws no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. (Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)"
Nelson Liriano? I suspect this was NO honest mistake considering my last name. The AP is finally recognizing all the ridiculous cheering and yelling I've made at my TV this young, rough season. This was my no-no too.
The crew got to the bar. How many people were there watching the fifth no hitter in Twins History?
Five.
Is that a sad sign of the current Twins season or just a regular Tuesday night during a rough stretch of baseball?
Either way, it's not just a regular Tuesday night anymore -- thanks to Frankie.
Now here's hoping this is not just a regular season anymore and turns out to be something a little more special.
No jinxing.
