It's more fun if you're afraid of jinxing a no-hitter

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 21: Sean Manaea #55 of the Oakland Athletics gets showered with gatorade and water by teammates after he threw a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox at the Oakland Alameda Coliseum on April 21, 2018 in Oakland, California. The Athletics won the game 3-0. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Welcome to In Short Order, a weekly look at all the baseball that I like and can't stop obsessing over. We'll mostly live at the edges of the game; at the intersection of the weird, the fun and the esoteric. Oh yeah, and hair.

Every time a pitcher enters the seventh, eighth and ninth inning of a game in which he's allowed zero hits, a hush falls in the dugout as the hurler is left to his own thoughts. At the same time, a cheer cascades around the park as fans see the scoreboard and decide, "I can wait for this hot dog."