In lieu of actual baseball, I’ll be posting snippets that were cut from The Baseball Codes as a way of amusing myself and, hopefully, you. Today’s theme: Talking during a no-hitter.

After Johnny Vander Meer threw back-to-back no-hitters in 1938, his next start was against the Boston Bees. After he went three innings without giving up a hit, Bees manager tried to mix things up by shifting from coaching third base to coaching first. En route between innings, he passed in front of Vander Meer on the mound and said, “John, we’re not trying to beat you, we’re just trying to get a base hit.” It was enough. Two batters later, Boston third baseman Debs Garms bounced a ball straight up the middle for a clean single.