Pittsburgh writer tries, succeeds in jinxing JA Happ’s no-hitter

How much power does one sports media mogul have? A lot, evidently.

Look, of course we’re joking. There is no such thing as a baseball jinx, as much as we like to mess around about it. Yet, just moments before JA Happ’s no-hit bid was ended by Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Kevin Stallings, it was the Steel City’s own Dejan Kovacevic who tried with all his might (sarcastically, I might add) to provide backstop a small advantage.

Happ was removed after allowing his first hit, as Rocco Baldelli wasn’t screwing around with this Pirates team, especially when holding just a two-run lead. Minnesota would get out of the inning a few batters later with a strikeout of Adam Frazier.

JA Happ’s storyline is an unlikely one if he succeeds

Happ struggled with the Yankees, and was happily let go by general manager Brian Cashman. At 38 years old, he’s hoping for a career revival in Minnesota on a one-year prove-it deal. He’d be an unlikely selection to throw a no-hitter, and evidently 7.1 innings of no-hit ball was enough to prove himself on Friday night.

His no-hit bid nearly ended in the fifth inning, as Wilmer Difo lined a comebacker which deflected off Happ’s glove. Happ tracked down the baseball and threw it wide of first base in what should’ve been an error, but the umpire called Difo out as he was apparently outside the basepaths.

Nonetheless, ball don’t lie, and Kovacevic helped put some bad juju into the universe.