Baseball Twitter showed up like an angry mob after Clayton Kershaw was pulled from Wednesday’s game against the Twins despite holding a perfect game with just 80 pitches logged on the afternoon.
One notable name that was particularly unhappy was Yankee legend Reggie Jackson.
“What the?!” Jackson tweeted in shock. “What’s the game coming to? One of the era’s best, and you take him out with a perfect game in the seventh…this is baseball please people that have never played get out of its way!”
To be fair, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts did indeed play baseball at the major league level, and likely had a major part in deciding to remove Kershaw despite his bid at history. Between Kershaw’s injury history and the shortened spring training as a result of the MLB lockout, Kershaw was on a strict pitch limit this early in the season, and it came at the worst possible time.
But many shared Jackson’s frustrations, noting that a chance at a once-in-a-lifetime moment being taken away due to pitch count concerns is the kind of thing that doesn’t help grow the game of baseball. But just six outs away from a perfecto in his season debut, Kershaw was pulled, and many around baseball can’t believe it.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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