UPDATED: Barstool After Dark: 27 Up, 27 Down

UPDATE:

Take TWO! After weather halted Barstool After Dark's attempt at perfection roughly a month ago the Barstool crew is back for vengeance! Below is the previous write up(with some updates of course on the lineup changes) on the 27 up, 27 down stream, the only thing to change would be the lineup card, otherwise all the terms stay the same!

Perfection is on the line tonight for Barstool After Dark. As Ohio's Tate and his band of buddies are headed back to the diamond. The challenge in front of them? Complete a perfect game.

For those who are not aware of the “perfect game,” it’s when a baseball team does not allow a single runner to reach base for all 27 outs. Also just to give you a little context before you dive in, over 150+ years of Major League Baseball (in which the majority of seasons have been 162 games)... there have been only 24 pitched perfect games.

Now of course, tonight we won’t be seeing Ronald Acuña Jr. in the batter’s box, or a prime Ricky Henderson flying down the line as Max charges a dribbler off the bat. Fair point.

But counterpoint… lets just watch this Mintzy fly ball challenge real quick:

Yeah. He’s starting… at catcher, and according to Tate, each “new game” must begin with a successful pitch & catch.

So how does the rest go? Well, fungo hitters (basically coaches hitting balls wherever they want) will fire shots to the fielders, and then a runner takes off down the line. That leaves it all up to the starting 9(and potential bench players! TJ!) to protect their pitcher’s coveted and elusive perfect game.

Right away, let’s take a look at the strengths of this lineup. 3B & SS have the most baseball experience with Max & Ebo, so expectations for them to hold down that side of the infield will be high.

To me, Big T is a big unknown. As we know from Moneyball… first base is extremely difficult. Though being tall does help him and his fielders a lot, that may be the difference maker in saving an out when it matters.

As for Tate’s outfield… it’s, it’s, it’s… an outfield. Let’s just say this one won’t have any angels around center field. With Nicky Smokes holding down CF, he is in the high pressure zone, as that position is typically expected to go gap-to-gap to save perfect games. If these fungo hitters are dangerous... Smokes could be in for a long night.

On either side of him, you’ve got Chief and White Sox Dave. You gotta hope they can catch. With the sky turning to night... these outfielders could be in hell early on.

Let’s also not forget one other major twist… the umpire: Will it still be Danny Conrad? Yep, that’s right, Comrades, our guy once again possibly wields all the power in the After dark universe. Now it is not confirmed, but us Comrades are hoping for his appearance.

Whatever lies ahead for the team, the office & internet are VERY low on confidence in the squad. Coming off a bye week, the consensus heading into Tuesday is: expect a long stream. Which is fair...baseball is freakin hard people. Again with no pros out there, being perfect could prove to be impossible?

Now I really believe it’s going to come down to the fungo hitters, as they can truly dictate how mean they want to be. Second factor? Big T at first base, he really needs to be a vacuum in order to keep perfection alive.

Whether they’re perfect from the jump, or playing till sunrise, this will be must-see.

Mintzy at catcher, WSD reliving the glory days, and Smokes in CF as the chat goes live(prime off of Gators & Dolphins losses)… come on Lucas, pump us into those stadium speakers! We know you want too!

Don’t forget stoolies, Barstool After Dark is back Tuesday!

Let’s play ball!