It’s obvious that in every era of baseball, you have your great pitchers and future Hall of Famers. Ten years ago, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine were at or near the primes of their career. Today it’s more of the same. CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, and Justin Verlander continue to put up fantastic numbers and Tim Lincecum could also be on his way to Cooperstown. But it’s the 2nd tier of pitchers that are also dominating nowadays. Currently 22 pitchers have an ERA below 3.00, and while some of this year’s pitchers may be having just a good start to a season i.e. Jeff Karstens, Jhoulys Chacin, Alexi Ogando, most of the pitchers are names that we have come to know and appreciate. Josh Beckett, Jair Jurjjens, Jered Weaver, Clayton Kershaw, James Shields, Cole Hamels, Tommy Hanson, Cliff Lee and Anibal Sanchez are all-star caliber pitchers and can throw no hitters on any given night. It is these guys who have helped America appreciate pitching again. We still like to see the tape measure blasts. Carlos Beltran just hit one that went something like 460 feet. However, those 2-1 pitchers duels such as Tim Lincecum vs Clayton Kershaw on Opening Day is what baseball is all about. Those pitcher’s duels keep the strategy in baseball. You follow the game as if a manager, do we pinch hit here? Do they bunt? Should we warm up the lefty? All of this is a result of great pitching. While the homerun may have saved the game of baseball in the past, Babe Ruth or Bic Mac and Sammy Sosa for example, it’s pitching that keeps baseball what it should be, a thinking man’s game at its purest. Long live the first pitch fastball, the 3-2 back door curve, the Trevor Hoffman change up, the Mariano Rivera cutter, no hitters, brush back pitches and in the name of Sandy Koufax, long live the complete game.
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Monday, June 27, 2011
Chicks Dig the Pitchers too
Think back ten years ago, June 25, 2001. Barry Lamar Bonds was in the midst of an unprecedented season, crushing long ball after long ball. On this day he had 40 homeruns, well ahead of Mark McGwire’s record pace just three years earlier, and embarrassing the pace of Roger Maris back in 1961. Fast forward ten years to June 25, 2011 and the homerun leader in the clubhouse is Jose Bautista with 23, still a nice big number but nowhere near 40. Not even close to 30. What’s that big, pink elephant in the room? Oh yeah, steroids. It has become apparent this season and the last that steroids have been all but eliminated from the game. In 2010, Bautista finished with 54 homeruns, far ahead of anyone else in the game. 2nd was Albert Pujols with 42. Those were the only two players who hit above 40. Flash back to 2001, Bonds finished with a record breaking 73 homeruns. 2nd was Sammy Sosa with 64. Can you imagine hitting 64 homeruns and finishing nine behind the leader? In all, twelve players hit at least 41 round trippers. Among those were Richie Sexson, Phil Nevin, Shawn Green and Luis Gonzalez. Gonzalez finished 3rd in the MLB, with 57!!! In 2010, Paul Konerko finished 3rd in homeruns, with 39. However, it’s not just the elimination of steroids. It’s the guys these homerun hitters are now facing. In 2001, only two pitchers finished with an ERA below three runs, and not surprising to see that it was Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Even the great Greg Maddux had an ERA of 3.05. In 2010, R.A Dickey was tenth in the MLB in ERA with a 2.84 mark. Other names in the top 10 of earned run average were Jaime Garcia, Adam Wainwright and Clay Buchholz.
It’s obvious that in every era of baseball, you have your great pitchers and future Hall of Famers. Ten years ago, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine were at or near the primes of their career. Today it’s more of the same. CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, and Justin Verlander continue to put up fantastic numbers and Tim Lincecum could also be on his way to Cooperstown. But it’s the 2nd tier of pitchers that are also dominating nowadays. Currently 22 pitchers have an ERA below 3.00, and while some of this year’s pitchers may be having just a good start to a season i.e. Jeff Karstens, Jhoulys Chacin, Alexi Ogando, most of the pitchers are names that we have come to know and appreciate. Josh Beckett, Jair Jurjjens, Jered Weaver, Clayton Kershaw, James Shields, Cole Hamels, Tommy Hanson, Cliff Lee and Anibal Sanchez are all-star caliber pitchers and can throw no hitters on any given night. It is these guys who have helped America appreciate pitching again. We still like to see the tape measure blasts. Carlos Beltran just hit one that went something like 460 feet. However, those 2-1 pitchers duels such as Tim Lincecum vs Clayton Kershaw on Opening Day is what baseball is all about. Those pitcher’s duels keep the strategy in baseball. You follow the game as if a manager, do we pinch hit here? Do they bunt? Should we warm up the lefty? All of this is a result of great pitching. While the homerun may have saved the game of baseball in the past, Babe Ruth or Bic Mac and Sammy Sosa for example, it’s pitching that keeps baseball what it should be, a thinking man’s game at its purest. Long live the first pitch fastball, the 3-2 back door curve, the Trevor Hoffman change up, the Mariano Rivera cutter, no hitters, brush back pitches and in the name of Sandy Koufax, long live the complete game.
It’s obvious that in every era of baseball, you have your great pitchers and future Hall of Famers. Ten years ago, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Tom Glavine were at or near the primes of their career. Today it’s more of the same. CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, and Justin Verlander continue to put up fantastic numbers and Tim Lincecum could also be on his way to Cooperstown. But it’s the 2nd tier of pitchers that are also dominating nowadays. Currently 22 pitchers have an ERA below 3.00, and while some of this year’s pitchers may be having just a good start to a season i.e. Jeff Karstens, Jhoulys Chacin, Alexi Ogando, most of the pitchers are names that we have come to know and appreciate. Josh Beckett, Jair Jurjjens, Jered Weaver, Clayton Kershaw, James Shields, Cole Hamels, Tommy Hanson, Cliff Lee and Anibal Sanchez are all-star caliber pitchers and can throw no hitters on any given night. It is these guys who have helped America appreciate pitching again. We still like to see the tape measure blasts. Carlos Beltran just hit one that went something like 460 feet. However, those 2-1 pitchers duels such as Tim Lincecum vs Clayton Kershaw on Opening Day is what baseball is all about. Those pitcher’s duels keep the strategy in baseball. You follow the game as if a manager, do we pinch hit here? Do they bunt? Should we warm up the lefty? All of this is a result of great pitching. While the homerun may have saved the game of baseball in the past, Babe Ruth or Bic Mac and Sammy Sosa for example, it’s pitching that keeps baseball what it should be, a thinking man’s game at its purest. Long live the first pitch fastball, the 3-2 back door curve, the Trevor Hoffman change up, the Mariano Rivera cutter, no hitters, brush back pitches and in the name of Sandy Koufax, long live the complete game.
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No argument here. A game that moves along as a nice pitchers' duel with solid pace, few walks, great defense, and crucial managerial decisions is one that leaves me on the edge of my seat, reminding me why the pureness of the sport should always appeal to us. Unfortunately, it may be a dwindling interest as younger generations are more focused on obvious action, not the subtle action baseball allows you to follow, such as the left fielder taking two steps towards the gap when a fastball is on the way. Hopefully, this great crop of pitchers will renew widespread interest in the subtlety that often wins or loses these tight contests.
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