How a Weather Delay Cheated a Pitcher Out of Half a Million Dollars

You might be of the opinion that given his $8 million base salary — plus a pair of $250,000 bonuses this season — Minnesota Twins pitcher Phil Hughes doesn't need another half million bucks in his bank account.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Phil Hughes throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014, in Minneapolis. (Image source: AP/Jim Mone)

But it's hard to not feel a little twinge of pain for how tantalizingly close the hurler came to earning another $500,000 from his club Wednesday night in Minneapolis.

Hughes' contract stipulates that he earns a $500K bonus after completing 210 innings pitched — and Hughes likely ended his season Wednesday after pitching 209 2/3 innings.

He missed the magic number by one out.

But the kicker is how it happened.

Hughes completed eight innings in his final start of the year, walking off the mound with a 2-1 lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks — then the skies opened up.

The rain delay lasted 66 minutes, ESPN reported.

As is typical after lengthy delays, a different Twins pitcher took over when play resumed in the ninth inning.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said after the game that he won't use Hughes out of the bullpen this weekend, ESPN added.

How did Hughes take the expensive shortfall? "I was very aware of it, but some things aren't meant to be," Hughes said, ESPN reported, citing MLB.com.

Hughes did manage to set a major league record for a single-season strikeout-to-walk ratio; he finished 2014 with 186 strikeouts and only 16 walks, an 11.63 ratio, the sports network reported.

(H/T: Bleacher Report)