The 25-year-old rookie sat inside a dugout in Minneapolis, stretching his right arm and plucking mud from his spikes. He was three outs from baseball lore, and as customary per baseball superstition, he was left virtually alone.
The mind wanders.
Several hours earlier, Royals pitcher Jorge Lopez had called home to check on Mikael, his 5-year-old son. Mikael was supposed to be in attendance for this game, supposed to watch his father pitch, but a rare illness required a last-minute quarantine.
Mikael has been unwell since birth, a child afflicted with two chronic diseases. He is constantly on Lopez’s mind, even Saturday night in Minnesota as he moved within three outs of the 24th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.