Sometimes a story lies hidden in the shadows of the obvious. Such was the case last Sunday night in the final baseball game prior to the All Star break. The Giant’s Madison Bumgarner’s dominant one hitter was the headline as San Francisco defeated Arizona 4-0. Bumgarner hurled a no hitter through seven innings before yielding a hit with one out in the eighth. It was the pitching exploits of Bumgarner that understandably captivated the crowd at AT&T Park. However, there were two moments that revealed more than any statistical analysis could ever show.

First there was Bumgarner’s reaction to losing his bid to pitch his first no hitter. When Jake Lamb slapped a solid single to right, Bumgarner gave a halfhearted slap of his left fist into his glove. He was obviously disappointed but it would have been easy to miss that emotion. He climbed on the mound, refocused and coaxed a double play ground ball to end the inning.

In the bottom of eighth, while waiting in the on deck circle, a ball was fouled to the backstop. In a move uncharacteristic of player preparing to hit, Bumgarner left the on deck circle and picked up the ball. I can’t remember the last time I saw a ballplayer do that. Then Madison flipped the ball to the batboy and gave him an affirming soft tap to the backside, with the end of his bat, as he headed to the dugout.

A no hitter is a rare event that takes both great skill and some good luck. Many things must fall into place in this game of inches to accomplish holding another team hitless through nine innings. When Bumgarner lost another bid to add a no hitter to his illustrious resume, (he has four one hitters) he showed his humanness; who would not be disappointed, yet he was not devastated. He went back to work without letting personal loss interfere with the greater goal of winning the game. In the following half inning, he demonstrated an ability to step outside himself, chase down a foul ball and acknowledge the efforts of the batboy. Pitching a baseball game at any level calls for intense focus and is certainly an excuse for self-absorption. Losing a no hitter is reason enough to focus on one’s self and take a deep dive into what might have been. Instead, Madison Bumgarner showed that he was not too big to pick up a foul ball, and that the unsung work of that batboy merited a friendly pat on the back.

Bumgarner was indeed spectacular on the mound last Sunday evening. That was obvious. What didn’t show up in the box score was there to see if you were watching. Way to go Mad Bum!