Should announcers say there's a no-hitter going on?

YES!!

This topic always crops up whenever there’s a no-hitter in progress. The latest example was last night in Seattle where six Mariner pitchers combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers. I wasn’t watching the Dodger telecast with Eric Collins so I don’t know how he handled it. I watched the Mariners’ telecast with Dave Sims and he dutifully reported throughout the game that a no-hitter was in progress.

And as sure as the sun rises, Dave has taken a lot of flack for it.

People, let's get REAL.  

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? 

Dave Sims did a great job last night. If I were in his place I would have handled it the exact same way.

So far I’ve called two no-hitters. Amazingly, no one ever congratulated me for being responsible for these two historic accomplishments.

Congratulations to Kevin Milwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League, Tom Wilhelmsen, and YOU for combining on a seven-man no-hitter.