Afterward, as Stats settled into his field-level seat for the game, he was so happy to finally see Billee Orbitt scratching up the mound and going through his pregame rituals. Even if most fans had tired of the show—that is, they had tired of Billee’s focus ritual not being connected to, say, ten straight wins for a pennant contender, as he had done during one stretch in 2011—Stats still loved to watch Billee Orbitt slip into his O-Zone, as some fans still called it. During the game, however, he slipped even further—into the “Oh, no!” zone. As painful as it was to watch, Stats did find comfort in at least something. Billee had done his best. He had worked as hard as Stats had ever seen him work. He hit his targets, he changed speeds, he worked the corners, he held runners close, even picking off a guy on first. But he only lasted three and two-thirds innings. And three of those were struggles. Why? Pure, unadulterated bad-luck runs. The two errors to begin the fourth were only the final examples.
