Let's rememer this about Johnson too; he actually has a legitimate shot to throw another perfect game. Tom Browning is the only guy to ever come close to a 2nd one(got to one out in the ninth a year later).
Farley and Belushi are taken away in their prime yet Moore's heart continues to pump bacon grease in and out. God has a brutal sense of humor sometimes.- Barbwire Mike
This is the real beauty of baseball sometimes. Aside from, as mentioned earlier, it being one of the few times you can cheer the opposition and not feel bad about it, it seems very karma-esque that we get events like these just when baseball is facing something wrong with the game. We had (and still have) a lot of steroid controversy surrounding batters, yet out of nowhere, 40 years young, Randy Johnson pitches a perfect game. It reminds me of Cal Ripken breaking the iron man mark shortly after baseball had reached the lowest of lows and didn't have a World Series in 1994. Amazing how that's happened for baseball at the right time, but not as amazing as Johnson's performance. He can probably pitch until he's 60.
Originally posted by JayJayDeanI find it just as amazing that he went FOURTEEN YEARS between no-hitters. Randy Johnson is incredible.
While it is a feat to have have fourteen years between no-hitters, there are some even more incredible year feats than that.
Nolan Ryan pitched no-hitters. 18-yers apart(first no-no in 1973, last in 1991).
Actually, what's more impressive is that in the span of a few days over two years, Ryan thre FOUR no-hitters: 5-15-73: California 3, Kansas City 0 7-15-73: California 6, Detroit 0 9-28-74: California 4, Minnesota 0 6-01-75: California 1, Baltimore 0
Sandy Koufax also pitched a no-no in '62,'63,'64 and '65, with he last one a Perfect Game.
Johnson, Koufax, and Senator Jim Bunning all threw a perfect game after previously pitching a no-hitter. Bunning and Johnson both had their no-no in the AL and the perfect game in the NL.
Cy Young and Addie Joss are the only pitchers to throw additional no-nos, though Mike Witt did pitched the last two innings of a combined no-no with Mark Langston in 1990.
(edited by Grimis on 19.5.04 1139) Farley and Belushi are taken away in their prime yet Moore's heart continues to pump bacon grease in and out. God has a brutal sense of humor sometimes.- Barbwire Mike
The most impressive thing about that Perfect Game was how he closed it out. There was no ball that required a saving play in the last three innings, since I think all anyone could do was hit it RIGHT at the second baseman for easy outs. Otherwise, he was throwing his slider in compliments with his fastball beautifully and getting guys out at the plate.
Someone should have bunted to get on base. Maybe that would have thrown Johnson off his game, and allowed Atlanta to generate some offense. They were only down by 2.
Screw that "can't bunt to break up a no-hitter/perfect game" stuff. You're out there to win, not placate the opposing pitcher's feelings.
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffSomeone should have bunted to get on base. Maybe that would have thrown Johnson off his game, and allowed Atlanta to generate some offense. They were only down by 2.
Screw that "can't bunt to break up a no-hitter/perfect game" stuff. You're out there to win, not placate the opposing pitcher's feelings.
Hey hey hey....calm down, man.
Someone mentioned earlier that Johnson has now locked in a HOF entry. I personally think he did that awhile ago. And while he may have been slowed by INJURY the past couple seasons, the guy's on pace for about 270 IP, ~350 Ks, ~65 BBs, and an ERA below 2.50. Sure it's early, but I don't think AGE is slowing this guy down much right now. I mean, the guy hit 98 on the last pitch.
98!!!
Poor Schmidt, who went old-school with his 144 pitch one-hitter.
He's been a slam dunk HOFer for a few yeras now. Rememer, he is 48 strikeouts away from reaching 4,000...
Farley and Belushi are taken away in their prime yet Moore's heart continues to pump bacon grease in and out. God has a brutal sense of humor sometimes.- Barbwire Mike
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffSomeone should have bunted to get on base. Maybe that would have thrown Johnson off his game, and allowed Atlanta to generate some offense. They were only down by 2.
Screw that "can't bunt to break up a no-hitter/perfect game" stuff. You're out there to win, not placate the opposing pitcher's feelings.
Hey hey hey....calm down, man.
Someone mentioned earlier that Johnson has now locked in a HOF entry. I personally think he did that awhile ago. And while he may have been slowed by INJURY the past couple seasons, the guy's on pace for about 270 IP, ~350 Ks, ~65 BBs, and an ERA below 2.50. Sure it's early, but I don't think AGE is slowing this guy down much right now. I mean, the guy hit 98 on the last pitch.
98!!!
Poor Schmidt, who went old-school with his 144 pitch one-hitter.
I'm not a Braves fan, I just hate it when the "unwritten rules" come into play (this situation, can't steal if you're up by a certain number of runs, etc.). Until the final out is recorded, players should be doing whatever they can to win the game.
Hell, if it was impossible to get caught, (more) guys would be corking bats, scuffing the ball, etc. - but in this case they're concerned w/ getting a "real hit" to break it up. A bunt *is* a real hit.
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffI'm not a Braves fan, I just hate it when the "unwritten rules" come into play (this situation, can't steal if you're up by a certain number of runs, etc.). Until the final out is recorded, players should be doing whatever they can to win the game.
Hell, if it was impossible to get caught, (more) guys would be corking bats, scuffing the ball, etc. - but in this case they're concerned w/ getting a "real hit" to break it up. A bunt *is* a real hit.
The problem with a lot of these "unwritten" rules is that they're rooted in tradition, something most baseball people tend to take a ridiculous amount of pride in. Still, some unwritten rules are everywhere...like running up the score, which could be sensibly be applied to a team that's stealing with a 12-run lead. Not unlike Team USA full-court pressing the poor South American team while they lead 134-48. You just don't do it.
That being said, I don't see much of a problem with the losing team doing whatever it wants/can to get back in a game. But baseball is FULL of older mind-sets that believe in tradition and will NEVER EVER bunt to break up a possible perfect game. Even in Game 7 of the World Series. Especially if said perfect game is being tossed by a certain 41 year-old ageless wonder. Even if they didn't see a problem with it, they know there would be a horrific backlash that may hurt them in the long run.
Case in point: many many many important names in baseball are not big fans of Billy Beane. Why? Cause he's bucking tradition in his GM methodology. I would imagine most managers/GM/owners would rather just play nice, by the (unwritten) book, and keep their friends.
Originally posted by Spaceman SpiffSomeone should have bunted to get on base. Maybe that would have thrown Johnson off his game, and allowed Atlanta to generate some offense. They were only down by 2.
Screw that "can't bunt to break up a no-hitter/perfect game" stuff. You're out there to win, not placate the opposing pitcher's feelings.
The Braves' very first batter, Jesse Garcia, DID bunt. He was tagged out while sliding into first. That's the closest the Braves came to a hit all night.
Also, someone earlier mentioned that they should have had Perez hit 8th and Hampton 9th. When Perez came up, they flashed his lifetime stats against Johnson and to that point, he had MURDERED Johnson. But given the nasty, nasty stuff RJ was throwing, they could have brought up Hank Aaron and it wouldn't have mattered.
He pitched a 91 mph slider. You don't do that! There are guys in the majors who don't pitch 91 mph fastballs and Randy Johnson is throwing goddamned high heat sliders.
On the question of why they wouldn't/didn't bunt late in the game: 1st: Not many guys can lay down a bunt anymore anyway. And with Johnson chucking 98 mph, if they bunt it, they'll pop it up. 2nd: If they try to bunt, either they foul it off or it works. Which means either that batter gets a fastball in the ear, or the next batter gets a fastball in the ear. And for my bringing up why Perez should have batted 8th instead of 9th: Mike Hampton has a better chance of getting a hit than the rookie in the 8 hole for the Braves. Thus, should Perez get a hit, theoretically Hampton has shown in the past the ability to knock the ball out of the park to tie the game. Either way, it would have been 2 shots at getting a hit rather than 1. As for Schmidt's 1 hitter: I'm sure Giants fans will should he develop arm problems related to Felipe having him go 144. How a pitcher gives up 1 hit and walks 1 and still throws 144 is amazing.
(edited by redsoxnation on 20.5.04 2347) RSN: 1-0 1 KO vs. current members of the United States Secret Service.
Originally posted by redsoxnation>As for Schmidt's 1 hitter: I'm sure Giants fans will should he develop arm problems related to Felipe having him go 144. How a pitcher gives up 1 hit and walks 1 and still throws 144 is amazing.
(edited by redsoxnation on 20.5.04 2347)
Not only that, but he (a) had off-season pitching-shoulder surgery, and, (b) had thrown more than 120 pitches in his last two outings. His next start, or the start after that is going to be real ugly.
EDIT: If anyone reads this, or bumps the thread after the site was down, Schmidt almost had another CG in his next game back, and he pitched well. He also had an extra two days rest after a rainout in PR and an off-day Monday. He threw around 110 pitches or so this outing, so I would still be wary.
(edited by Whitebacon on 25.5.04 2338)
(Not Bob Kohm)
In the context of baseball, the use of drugs hurts only the player. In the context of baseball, the use of alcohol hurts only the player. In the context of baseball, womanizing hurts whom? Maybe the wife of the player? In the context of baseball, felonies are crimes against society, not against baseball. In the context of baseball, gambling is the only crime against baseball.
Gambling, in the context of baseball, is a capital offense and Rose has richly earned-- hell, he agreed to-- his death sentence. Let him hang.
Bob Kohm, co-owner of Rotojunkies.com (rotojunkies.com) , and a large market kind of guy.
AL EAST 1. Boston 2. NYY (WC) 3. TB 4. Toronto 5. Baltimore AL Central 1. Minny 2. CWS 3. Cleveland 4. Detroit 5. KC AL WEST 1. LAA 2. Oakland 3. Texas 4.