Jon Lester took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, eventually losing it on an infield single from Jhonny Peralta. Some people are blaming Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant, who could have thrown Peralta out if he fielded the hard-hit ball cleanly. Others have taken aim at Cubs broadcaster Len Casper.
Casper, the Cubs’ television play-by-play announcer, mentioned in the sixth inning that Lester had a “no-hitter” going through six. Naturally, fans accused him of jinxing Lester. Casper took to Twitter to defend himself.
Send as many tweets as u want ripping me. I don't EVER want ONE that says "I turned off game cuz I didn't know!" I HAVE TO TELL THE AUDIENCE
— Len Kasper (@LenKasper) July 7, 2015
My bosses should take me to task during no-hitter if I avoid it. We want eyeballs & ears on the game. Not everybody knows. Why we tell them
— Len Kasper (@LenKasper) July 7, 2015
Also, I said the same thing during Zambrano's NO-HITTER.
— Len Kasper (@LenKasper) July 7, 2015
Typically, the rule is you can’t say the phrase “no-hitter.” Most superstitious people won’t consider it a jinx if you say something like “Lester hasn’t allowed a hit” through six.
Casper has a point about wanting people to tune in for higher ratings, but he should know that he’s going to get ripped if he uses the phrase “no-hitter” or something close to that. Didn’t he see what happened to ESPN’s Kaylee Hartung during the College World Series? That should tell you all you need to know.
Photo via Len Casper/Twitter
