As it always does, Sunday’s almost no-hitter by Dodger left-hander Chris Capuano once again brought up the spirited (but tongue-in-cheek) debate among the regulars on the ThinkBlueLA.com forum about uttering the words “no-hitter” when one is in progress, thereby jinxing it. (The no-hitter non-talk begins on page-3 of the game chat). I say spirited because I thoroughly enjoy getting everybody all cranked up over something so ridiculously silly.

…or is it?

Being an old-school guy and knowing how screwy baseball players are when it comes to tradition and superstition, you will never… ever… ever hear me utter the words “no-hitter” when a Dodger pitcher has one going. No sir, not me, no way. Never will it be said that I jinxed a guy’s bid for a no-hitter – ain’t gonna happen (unless it’s the opposing pitcher, of course). After all, it’s written right there in The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca. (They even have their own blog site with some pretty interesting article on the subject).

It’s right there in The Baseball Codes, talking about a no-no is a no-no.

Heck, even Jon Weisman has it in his commenting guidelines on his popular Dodger Thoughts blog site – it’s right there… rule number 9.

During Capuano’s pitching gem and during our silly no-hitter banter, Kevin Sparkuhl, one of the founding members of the TBLA forum and an occasional contributor to this blog site (and a guy who also enjoys sticking his tongue into his cheek), was quick to pull up an old L.A. Times article (Kevin is also very good with a keyboard) which gives Vin Scully’s interpretation of the No-Hit/No-Talk unwritten rule:

“It’s insulting to the listeners to make them think they’re silly and superstitious enough to believe my telling them that a no-hitter is going will affect the game. 

“You see, no one expects a listener to hang on to every word for three hours. They leave the radio from time to time and this service must be rendered.”

What I find interesting about this article is that, according to Kevin, it was written on July 9, 1960, which was prior to all four of Sandy Koufax’s no-hitters. I wonder what Vinnie thinks about this today?

Had Chris Capuano completed his no-hitter, it would have been the first by a Dodger since Hideo Nomo in 1996. (Photo credit – Sarah Glenn)

I know what Duane Kuiper thinks. Kuiper was in the booth at AT&T Park in San Francisco with Jon Miller and Dave Flemming during Matt Cain’s perfect game no-hitter on Friday, July 13, 2012 (yes, Friday the 13th – yet another superstition):

“I don’t know how that all started, but if there’s any way you can help that guy on the mound, you do it. I have no problem with the way anyone calls a game. Personally, I just would not be comfortable saying ‘no-hitter’ or ‘perfect game.’ “

Yet Kuiper’s broadcast partners had a completely different take on it:

Dave Flemming:

“I said ‘perfect game’ over and over again during that broadcast. I just think to myself, what if someone’s just tuning in, doesn’t know anything except that the Giants have a 10-0 lead, and then they turn it off, only to wake up the next morning completely disappointed? I want to make sure people know exactly what’s going on.”

Jon Miller:

“I’m not superstitious in that way, and I really don’t understand it. You can say ‘he hasn’t allowed a hit’ but not ‘no-hitter’? Is it a jinx if the Astros’ guy says it? What if our engineer says it in the back of the booth? I just don’t get how it actually works. What will the gods allow?”

Seattle Mariners play-by-play announcer and former DodgerTalk Radio co-host Ken Levine, who I had the pleasure of meeting in Boston in 2010 when the Dodgers played the Red Sox during interleague play and who is a very funny man (he wrote several M.A.S.H. and Cheers episodes) had this to say when asked “Should announcers say there’s a no-hitter going on?”

“YES!!

Announcers can’t “jinx” the outcome of a baseball game. That responsibility is YOURS. If you’re watching a no-hitter and get up from the couch to get a beer you alone will cost the pitcher his one chance at immortality. If you scratch your nose during warm-up tosses or answer an odd number of emails during an even numbered inning the entire game will change. 

“So don’t blame us announcers. It’s not our fault.  Nor is it the players who play the game. Or the umpires whose decisions control the game. Nor is it the official scorer who must rule on judgment calls. It’s YOU. All YOU. Especially you who ate mixed nuts during the game and didn’t eat all the cashews last. How could you do that to your team?”

So there you have it – the answer to the no-hitter jinx – clear as mud. Let your conscience be your guide as to whether you talk about a no-hitter in progress or not… just don’t talk to me about it.