Jose Tabata Rob Max Scherzer of a Place in MLB History? [VIDEO]

Max Scherzer has had a good career so far. He has won a Cy Young, been named to the All-Star game twice, struck out over 1400 batters and won 97 games. He is making the big money now after signing a 7-year deal for $210 million with the Washington Nationals in the off-season--but can he be counted among the greats?

He would be had he not hit Jose Tabata with a pitch during Saturday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

via Twitter

A no-hitter is nothing to sneeze at, but prior to Jose Tabata's elbow getting in the way of a pitch Max had a perfect game on the line. What would have made the deed even more impressive is that his last outing was a one-hitter. Can anyone say dominant?

A perfect game would have put him in rarified company, one of just 24 pitchers to ever throw a complete game in MLB history. Many have criticized Tabata for getting hit by the pitch and have assumed he did it on purpose. Max has assumed as much, but says he would have done the same.

Judge for yourself:

Did Jose Tabata lean his elbow in to break up Max Scherzer's perfect game with 2 outs in the 9th? You decide. WATCH: http://t.co/d0BXZG3Viy

— ESPN (@espn) June 20, 2015

I think the haters are just looking for someone to blame other than Max who has hit 46 guys during his career and walked over 400 (so he doesn't exactly have perfect control).

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