Without question the biggest disappointment for Dodger fans around the world in 2014 was the fact that their beloved team, a team that was pegged by most baseball experts to go all the way, could manage only one win in the first round of the 2014 playoffs before retiring to their respective couches to watch their most hated rivals win it all… again. But while Dodger fans continue to lick their wounds over a ‘what could have been’ season, there was another painful moment that will stick in the craw of the most passionate of Dodger fans.

It occurred on an otherwise meaningless Wednesday night game at Dodger Stadium against the Colorado Rockies on June 18, 2014; a date that those aforementioned most passionate of Dodger fans will never forget – especially for the 46,069 who were there that night. It was, of course, the night that three-time Cy-Young award winner and 2014 NL MVP Clayton Kershaw tossed his first career no-hitter.

How is it possible that witnessing a no-hitter could be considered even remotely disappointing, you ask? Because for those most passionate of Dodger fans it should have been the 24th perfect game in MLB history but for a seventh-inning throwing error by Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez – his 10th such error of the season at the time.

Although it may seem a bit harsh to jump on Ramirez for his chronic throwing errors when he brought so much to the table offensively for the Dodgers in his two-plus seasons in L.A., it’s hard not to look at his error on this night as anything but among the worst in Dodgers history.

But just as you would expect from the greatest pitcher to come along since Sandy Koufax, Kershaw was quick to dismiss the significance of Hanley’s crucial error that cost him his shot at perfection.

“That was a really tough play,” Kershaw said. “I think under normal circumstances that’s pretty close to a hit. [Corey] Dickerson’s really fast and Hanley did all he could, he made a great play and just throws a little wide, so there’s nothing you can do with that. It was a tough play.”

Even though Kershaw gave Hanley a pass on his costly throwing error, it was a play that even a mediocre shortstop makes. (Video capture courtesy of MLB.com)

In spite of Kershaw’s characteristic humility and generosity, most will agree that Dickerson’s chopper over Kershaw’s head wasn’t really all that difficult of a play, and once Ramirez gloved the ball he had a relatively short throw to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez that should have easily erased Dickerson. Additionally, had Hanley’s throw been even relatively close to the Dodgers Gold Glove first baseman, AGon undoubtedly would have made the pick. Keep in mind that Ramirez’s .961 fielding percentage was the worst in the National League among all shortstops playing at least 108 games at the position.

All of this bring ups yet another point – why was Hanley Ramirez still in the game at that point? Ramirez had made the second out in the bottom of the sixth inning and with Kershaw having already retired 18 consecutive Rockies batters and the Dodgers up 8-0, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly absolutely should have replaced Ramirez with Carlos Triunfel in the top of the seventh inning instead of waiting until the top of the eighth inning. While Triunfel is nowhere near the offensive threat that Ramirez is, he is a much better defender and should have already been in the game as a defensive replacement for Ramirez. As it turned out, Hanley’s spot in the batting order never came up again after the sixth inning. And though Hanley’s throwing error shall forever be remembered as the reason why Kershaw lost his bid for a perfect game, it was Mattingly who left Ramirez in a position to fail – which he did.

But alas, it’s all water under the bridge now and what’s done is done. But even if Clayton Kershaw chooses to dismiss Hanley’s extremely costly throwing error thereby denying the young left-hander yet another rung on the ladder of baseball immortality, there are undoubtedly a lot of passionate Dodger fans who are far less forgiving of and far more disappointed in Hanley Ramirez than is Kershaw.