In passing I heard the Mets' team talking about Matt Belisle's no-hitter through six innings. Then I heard the following comment from their play-by-play guy:
"Baseball has had a lot of no-hitters in the last week of the season when minor league players have been called up and the games don't mean anything."
I thought, "A lot? Really?" So I looked it up, which would be too much to ask of a guy charged with, you know, calling the actual game.
The most recent final-week no-hitter: Mike Scott, Houston, 1986.
In the past 100 years, there have been 178 no-hitters. 10 of those came during the season's final week. That's more than a basic average, but it's not standing out garishly.
Perhaps it's because I've been watching more baseball of late, but I've heard so many nice-sounding platitudes pumped out, my head might blow off.
Heard any good ones lately?