For the second time in three weeks, Gavin Floyd of the Chicago White Sox knocked on the door of a no-hitter at U.S. Cellular Field, only to have the baseball gods open the door slightly and then repeatedly slam his hand in the door jamb. Not nice to covet! Not nice!

(Screenshot taken just before the ninth inning started; we still get tingles looking at it)

Floyd avoided marring the hits column for the Minnesota Twins for 8.1 innings until a Joe Mauer double near the left-center warning track took Floyd down for the count. (That count: 105 pitches.) Captain Wispy wrapped up the 7-1 White Sox win.

It’s true that it wasn’t the most impressive effort, as no-hitters go. Two White Sox errors, three walks, and one run (!) remind us that no-hitters meant more when we didn’t know about on-base percentage and the alchemy that goes into scoring an error. Still… no-hitter!

More notes from the contest:

- Hawk Harrelson and Darrin Jackson hate no-hitters. At least, this is the only explanation we can muster since they mentioned the impending feat every 45 seconds from at least the sixth inning.

While we appreciate the lack of hubris about announcers affecting game play (see: throws, free), a large chunk of the no-hitter enjoyment comes from the code words and knowing glances people share during the Special Event. (Our favorite of last night: “rhymes with low #*$%ter”.) Don’t take that away by stomping on our silly superstitions and making the event plain.

You know, like how you two ruin most other White Sox broadcasts.

- There are certain rules to observing a no-hitter. We’ve mentioned one above. The second involves waiting for the right time to contact your friends and family about The Special Event. We recommend after the sixth inning. It gives the new viewer a chance to watch enough of the game to feel like they earned their stripes without making you in a Wolf-crier.

However, the most important rule for no-hitters is to not root against one. We spoke to a Twins fan last night that contacted White Sox fans with jinx messages, kept using The Hideous Phrase to describe the event, and actively called for a hit.

After around the sixth inning, the baseball gods frown deeply upon this. Rooting against a no-hitter requires penance of no pennants. When the Twins finally exit the desert of playoff futility, it will be because someone finally made an offering to appease the baseball gods for this affront.

We’re Cubs fans, for better or worse. We have eternal dibs on wishing ill on the White Sox. And yet we rang our Cubs fan friends after the sixth and watched the last three innings together, rooting for Gavin Floyd through clenched teet, because we’re baseball fans. Sure, we’re as parochial as the rest when it comes to ‘our’ team, but no-hitters trump team loyalty. (At least for one night.)