It’s a perfect game
Pitcher Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants pitched a perfect game yesterday, only the 22nd in baseball history. And baseball’s got a lot of history.
A perfect game is mostly the pitcher’s doing, but still he needs a lot of help. Yesterday Cain got that help from his fielders, particularly in two spectacular plays in the outfield that saved the game for him.
Despite the fact that perfect games are so very rare, we’ve seen two this season already. And no-hitters are running way ahead of average so far as well. Why? Has the prowess of the hitters declined, or the strength of the pitchers increased, or is it all just a statistical fluke? Another thing baseball’s got a lot of is statistics.
I was a rabid baseball fan during the 90s and early 2000s, until the Red Sox finally won the whole thing after the protracted drought. Then I figured I could relax. But I still think that baseball is the perfect spectator sport, although I know many people consider it slow. I see it as suspenseful, a game of building tension punctuated by flashes of drama, where every kinetic moment is highlighted, crystal clear and individual, graceful and powerful.
And you don’t need a perfect game to see that.
Baseball is still the quintessential American team sport. It is the most intellectual of sports (though the intellectually challenged have and do play it) where intellect is placed in service to athletics. It’s relaxed pace makes it ideal for spectators who either never had or who have grown past, the juvenile need for constant stimulation.
Sadly, the influx of money, drugs and general lessening of civility has resulted in boorish behavior from the players, owners and fans.
IMO, spring training is however still close to the purity of yesteryear, where for the most part, status and money are set aside among those of the greatest athleticism.The relaxed play at small venues is reminiscent of the mythic “field of dreams” to which baseball aspires.
As for the Red Sox having finally put to rest the dreaded ‘curse of the Bambino’ forget not that the Cubs still keep alive that tradition.
When I was a child, and Don Larsen pitched a perfect game in the World Series, that one was the first perfect game in the Major Leagues — regular season -or- post season — in 34 years.
They are more commonplace now, and two in one season is definitely flukey.
I can’t stand watching baseball. Highlight reels, sure, but the rest, nope, it’s too mind-numbingly boring.
Give me volleyball any day.
Still, I respect that achievement. Well played, guys!
Geoffrey Britain refers to “the relaxed play at small venues.”
I will take this opportunity to recommend, for “relaxed play at small venues,” -Minor- League baseball.
Three things about pitching. Expansion, I believe ten teams have been added to the major leagues in the last forty years, greatly diminished team pitching depth. Assuming an eleven man pitching roster, that’s over a thousand additional players required to play one unique position. Then too, the additional players were then made to pitch to steroid enhanced batters. Having cleaned up, for the most part, the enhancing drugs has helped no little bit. Finally, pitchers are on pitch counts, and for it, last longer.
Oh, and finally finally, college baseball has improved, perhaps not particularly but generally — I mean little, unassuming, Stony Brook has made the college world series field.
“I was a rabid baseball fan during the 90s and early 2000s, until the Red Sox finally won the whole thing after the protracted drought. Then I figured I could relax.”
I had a similar experience after the Phillies won in 1980. In fact, it kind of ruined all sports for me for a while. After the impossible happens, what else is there?
Saw the Dennis Martinez perfecto with my own eyes on July 28, 1991 at Dodger Stadium. By the end of the 6th inning, the home crowd was definitely on his side cheering him on. It hurt rooting against my own team, but I knew I was watching something special and very rare.
Re: George Pal’s comment – The 2012 College World Series kicks off today, with the first game beginning Friday at 4pm Central on ESPN2.
Cindy (long-time lurker from Omaha, home of the CWS)
Neo-Neocon must have a little Japanese in her. They love the sport especially if it runs into extra innings and the score is tied zero-zero.
I can’t stand watching baseball. Highlight reels, sure, but the rest, nope, it’s too mind-numbingly boring.
Often that reaction arises from not knowing the game all that well, in particular, what a batter is trying to do in a given situation, what the pitcher is trying to do to counter that, and where the fielders are playing in view of the pitcher’s approach.
Example: runner of first, RH pull hitter at the plate, nobody out. SS shades toward third, 2B toward second, both at double play depth. Pitcher works hitter down and away, hoping he’ll try to pull the ball and hit into a double play.
Runner steals second. Batter’s now attempts to hit to the right side, to advance the runner to third. Pitcher works the batter inside (and a lot of off-speed pitches) so that he will hit to the left side, so that the runner cannot advance on a ground ball to that side.
SS returns to his normal position, 2B shades more toward first, 1B shades toward second, but 3B shades toward the line to cut off an extra base hit. The logic is that SS and (especially) 3B are defensing against the batter pulling the ball, as he often does but shouldn’t in this case, while 2B is defensing against the alternative possibility that the batter will, against his proclivities, hit the ball to the right side. If he does, as a pull hitter he’ll probably hit the ball weakly, and the defense wants to make sure they keep the ball in the infield.
Batter turns on an inside pitch, hits a rocket to 3B, who throws the batter out at first, runner stays at second. Boring? Yep – if you don’t appreciate what just happened.
Suppose that instead the runner advances to third on, say, a passed ball. Now the hitter is trying to hit a sacrifice fly to score the run, so the pitcher is likely to throw him pitches that break downward (curves, sliders, splitters) trying to get the hitter to top the ball and pound it into the ground.
In a close game the infield plays up, to cut off the run at the plate if possible, and so does the outfield (so that they can throw out the runner if the batter hits a short fly ball). If the batter crushes a long fly ball or other hit, the run will score in any case.
So there’s a lot of strategy going on, and while baseball players are often pretty dumb, at the pro level they know all this. To look only at the highlights reel of a baseball game is rather like looking only at the captures of pieces in a chess game.
Well, well, well…Didn’t know you’re a baseball girl, N-Neocon. While I love the game, I’m married to the baseball nutcase of the new century. For years now she’s been shamelessly using the Cuteness & Adorability Factor on Big Leaguers for their autographs on baseballs. Our study now has slightly north of 500-signed balls, all in UV Resistant cases anally organized according to teams, dates, etc. So, whether it was Dodger Stadium(we then lived 15-minutes away)or our adopted Tropicana Field in St.Pete(2-hrs)–GO Rays!!–I’ve watched Big League Millionaires, both NL & AL, fold like cheap suits to her dazzling smile and 4’11″/95-lb Sicilian Minx intimidation. Best movie in town. A lucky, blessed amigo is what I am.
Oh, and MY treasured baseball..? It sits proudly on my childhood rolltop desk in the same study: David H. Petraeus, ****. Yep, after I’d met him at a ballgame and thanked him for his great service and The Queen had observed this…Well, she marched over to his box and got the great Warrior’s signature on an AL Ball. He was grinning from ear-to-ear.
To me, the greatest story of a perfect game involved one played way back on June 23, 1917, featuring the Boston Red Sox versus the Washington Senators, but which today is no longer counted as a perfect game because of a MLB rule change in 1991. The rule clarified that none of the pitchers of the winning side of a perfect game could allow anyone to reach base. Yes, it is entirely possible (though for rather obvious reasons, it has never happened) that a perfect game could be pitched by two or more pitchers.
That particular game was begun by famed Boston pitcher, George Herman Ruth, Jr., who, apparently still a bit in his cups from the previous night, walked the first batter (some guy named Morgan) on four pitches, and then picked a verbal fight with the umpire. Heated words were exchanged, and, according to the Boston Globe account, the Babe was tossed, whereupon he took a couple of swings at the umpire, Brick Owens, one of which actually connected near the officials left ear! That resulted in Ruth being dragged off the field, and he earned himself a 10 day suspension.
Ernie Shore, known to Boston fans as as the “Prof,” came in in relief. Morgan was picked off attempting to steal second, and Shore proceeded to also retire the next 26 batters in a row. Though frequently accompanied by an asterisk, that game was still considered a perfect game for decades.
But no more.
I think it was right up there with Larsen’s World Series game, & the only other pitching feat that outdid it for drama, was Harvey Haddix once pitching 12 perfect innings of baseball for Pittsburgh, only to finally lose the game in the 13th, after the Pirates failed to score.
Baseball seems slow if you don’t understand it. I once sat through a 14-inning game with my 4 1/2 year old nephew who found it fascinating because I kept teaching him things and pointing out stuff for him to watch.
OK, OK, fair enough. 🙂 Still, I’ll take something where the strategy doesn’t have quite such a stately pace. I think it’s a physical thing. I expect sports to have active strategy on the fly, but chess is by nature more sedate, so it doesn’t bother me at all that it’s not just a “highlight” reel. Even American football is pretty boring for me because of the dead time between plays. Golfing is like watching paint dry. That doesn’t mean I don’t think they are strategic or skill-free, rather, that I’m more interested in more active sports like hockey or volleyball.
I also have a strong preference for playing rather than watching, so that’s part of it. *shrug*
“But I still think that baseball is the perfect spectator sport, although I know many people consider it slow. I see it as suspenseful, a game of building tension punctuated by flashes of drama, where every kinetic moment is highlighted, crystal clear and individual, graceful and powerful.”
Neo, You sound like a cricket fan.
I also have a strong preference for playing rather than watching, so that’s part of it.
Same here, actually. Regulars here may recall that I still play competitve baseball in my geezerhood, and play on several tournament teams that compete nationally. I don’t follow any MLB teams, and have no idea of the standings, but enjoy watching games (when time permits) at any level from Little League to MLB to study the biomechanics of the players to improve my own play. How do they throw? (E.g., relative use of arms vs. legs, posture at ball delivery, timing of hip rotation wrt shoulders, trajectory of balance point during delivery.) How do they swing? (Stride length, head position, timing of hip rotation, use of top hand, approach to various pitches.) How do they run? (Stride length vs. stride rate, running posture, long in front or long in back, arm motion.) Interestingly, it’s more instructive to study players with flaws because (to paraphrase Dostoevsky in Anna Karenina, all natural athletes are alike, but each flawed athlete is flawed in his own way.
Neo, You sound like a cricket fan.
Cricket has a lot going for it. With some tweaks of the rules, it could become quite a riveting game. It just needs more risk. For openers, batters should not have the option of whether or not to run when they hit the ball.
As it is, the prevailing philosophy of cricket is “get out there and don’t lose,” a very un-American concept. (But the Dems are working on that.)
I’m sure I sound like a knuckle dragger but I just don’t wanna have to think so hard to enjoy watching a bunch of guys or gals play a game.
As a result, I rarely watch any professional sports…baseball, football (either version), basketball, hocky, etc.
I do enjoy rooting for my college team in football (Texas Longhorns) but it’s more a matter of pride and loyalty than strategy, etc.
For some reason, I find track and field interesting and enjoyable…especially the Olympics.
Well, of course, that’s all evidence of man-made global warming.
From
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/tom_verducci/06/14/no.hitter.craze/index.html
So, the real question might be, why has the strike out rate increased?
So, the real question might be, why has the strike out rate increased?
My guess: pitchers now make essentially zero effort to hit. They’re not paid to hit, and by God, they don’t try to, and don’t even make any pretense of attempting to.
Second, contemporary major leaguers cannot bunt. None of them. They pathetically attempt to implement the moronic orthodoxy of the day (bat at 45 degrees – what idiot came up with that?), and routinely foul off several pitches, including a third strike, and therby strike out. For my part, I’d send down to the minors anyone who failed to bunt successfully, and wouldn’t bring him back up until he bunted 25 times. Any starting pitcher who muffed a bunt I’d send to the bullpen. The word would get out: execute the play, or pack your bags. Prepare to watch a magical restoration of bunting prowess.
My point (and I did have one), is that pitchers waving pathetically at pitches, and bunting efforts that would embarrass Jerry’s kids, both inflate the “strikeout” stats.
The first two perfect games in Major League history occurred five days apart in 1880. There wasn’t another for 24 years.
There have been five since 2009. The Phillies’ Roy Halliday came within a gnat’s eyelash of pitching two of them in 2010. In his second no-hitter of that year, he allowed only a walk in the fifth inning. No other pitcher has thrown two perfect games in a career, much less a single season.
There was almost a third perfect game this year. Back in April, a pitcher (I don’t remember who) pitched a one-hitter against the Pirates, allowing only a sixth-inning single to the opposing pitcher, but retiring everyone else.
http://www.retrosheet.org/nohit_chrono.htm
Occam’s Beard:
To look only at the highlights reel of a baseball game is rather like looking only at the captures of pieces in a chess game.
Well said. To those who know what’s going on, chess games can be filled with nail-biting tension, or rock-em, sock-em violence.
I find it annoying that baseball highlights on the TV news consist mainly of home runs.
As one who actually plays the game, I think you’d like this book:
But Didn’t We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball’s Pioneer Era, 1843-1870
It’s an interesting contrast of the early amateur era with the professional game which developed later.
It’s also kind of amusing to see major league baseball players collecting Justin Bieber trading cards:
J.J. Putz strikes gold with Bieber autograph card
Sadly…Okay, pathetically, for the Now Culture of instant everything where last years stunning crudities are retro, dudes…Baseball is an island of thought, coupled with bursts of stunning action, in a culture(cough)of Instant Everything.
No wonder me & mine love it.
Ooops…A tad redundant from Mr.T-Rex. Gotta remember the ‘preview’ thingy more.
Thanks, rickl. I’ll check it out!
I checked at baseball-reference.com, and the strike out rate has also increased significantly in the American League, in which pitchers have very few opportunities to bat.
From the early 1950s through today, I believe bunting has not been a sufficiently big part of the game so as to effect strikeout rates.
So, I think something else is going on.
Ira Says:
June 15th, 2012 at 5:15 pm
I can think of two reasons:
1. Much more widespread use of relief pitchers. At any given moment, it’s possible to bring in a fresh pitcher.
I can remember 30-40 years ago when there were just starters and relievers. A reliever might pitch several innings. Nowadays there are all sorts of relief specialists: middle relievers, setup men, and closers. Sometimes a reliever will be brought in to pitch to one specific batter. With computers, it’s possible to analyze in detail how specific pitchers fare against specific batters, and managers take that information into account.
And in the very olden days, a relief pitcher was simply a pitcher who wasn’t good enough to make the starting rotation. Starters weren’t taken out unless they were getting creamed.
2. There are too damn many batters who try to swing for the fences every time up. Whatever happened to Wee Willie Keeler’s “Hit ’em where they ain’t”?
More and more in recent years, I have come to appreciate the “dead ball era” of the early 20th century. In those days, a power hitter was one who hit lots of doubles and triples. Home runs were the rarest kind of hit, and that makes sense if you think about it.
Good points, rickl, about relief pitching and about batters willing to risk ks for HRs.
If you haven’t seen Moneyball, it gives Red Sox fans some insight into how the team finally beat the curse and won the Word Series in 2004.
Hats off to Matt Cain and the Giants. Great accomplishment! However… the Astros are playing Triple A ball in the majors this year.
It is tough to be an Astros fan. They’re fifty years old this year, and have never won the World Series. The Astros rarely even make it to post-season play.