Of Time and No-Hitters

My local baseball announcers, commenting on Ubaldo Jimenez’ no-hitter the other day, opined that “fluke” no-hitters are more likely in April when the hitters are lagging behind pitchers than they are later in the season. Sounded plausible to me so I checked. Turns out that there are “fluke” no- hitters throughout the season, and that mediocre pitchers have thrown no-nos in August just like they have in April. To clarify, by “fluke” no hitters we mean no hitters thrown by pitchers who seem to have had a lucky day but generally unspectacular careers.

But almost every no hitter, no matter how great the pitcher, seems to have at least one terrific play, a diving catch in the outfield or a shortstop going deep in the hole and making a strong throw to first, which saves the day. Chris Bosio is an example of most of this. A career .500 pitcher with an ERA just below 4.00, Bosio pitched a no hitter in April of 1993 against the Boston Red Sox. The no hitter was “saved” with two outs in the ninth inning by Omar Vizquel who made a fantastic bare-handed grab at shortstop and threw over to first to record the last out.

Bosio was a good but not great pitcher. But two Cardinal rookies, Bud Smith and Jose Jimenez, define the term fluke no hitter. Bud Smith threw a no hitter against the Padres in September 2001 in his rookie season. The next year, his ERA was almost 7.00 and he quickly disappeared from major league baseball. His total won-loss record was 7-8. It’s hard to decide whether Smith or the other Cardinal rookie, Jose Jimenez, who threw a no hitter against the Diamondbacks in June of 1999, is flukier. Jimenez had a 24-44 record in five major league seasons with an ERA of just below 5.00. Yet he ended up as a decent closer with Colorado and his no hitter was against a lineup that featured Matt Williams, Steve Finley and Luis Gonzales, all terrific hitters.

Some days the baseball gods just shine their light on you.

Of no-hitters and hitters who can't hit

Two remarkable performances took place yesterday in baseball. Ubaldo Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies history with his fastball reaching 97 mph against the Braves in their final at bat. Jimenez is the type of pitcher who you expected would one day pitch a no hitter. Not only does he have terrific stuff but, at least when I’ve seen him, the competitive fires burn bright. He looks like someone who cares about winning. Perhaps with this latest accomplishment the TV baseball mavens will carry a Colorado game every now and then. But only if Ubaldo is pitching, of course.

The Mets-Cardinals marathon, which I confess to watching on Fox yesterday was the flip side. Sure, there was some good pitching, especially the starters for both clubs. But mostly the no-hits, no-runs were the result of awful at bats. Usually a shut-out brings admiration for the pitching performance; this one brought groans as the hitters struggled no matter who was on the mound. Each team had only one hitter the other team feared. The Mets walked Albert Pujols four straight times to get to Matt Holiday. It worked each time. The Cardinals worked around David Wright to get to Jason Bay who is slumping even worse than Holiday.

And so it went until La Russa had used up all his available pitchers with his incessant lefty-righty mix and matches and stuck with Cotton Mather’s boy Joe, his center fielder, third basemen, emergency pitcher. Mather, has obviously seen someone pitch before. He knew where the mound was and how to stand on it. And then he aimed. Mostly his heaves were nowhere near the plate. Occasionally someone swung and missed. What was really amazing was that the Mets only scored one run in each of poor Joe’s innings. Seven hours of sheer futility.

Year of the Old Guy

In Washington D.C., home of the Washington (we’re not as bad as you thought) Nationals this season has been the year of the old guy. The battery on Friday was Pudge Rodriguez, the 38 year old catcher and pitcher Livan Hernandez, listed as 35. They took the youngsters to school. Livan threw a shutout against the Brewers, working his 48th career complete game with ease. He’s allowed exactly zero runs in his two starts this season. His fastball never breaks 90 but he’s a pitcher, not a thrower and so it doesn’t have to. You only hope the young guys watch how relaxed he seems and how often the first pitch is strike one.

His battery mate, now in his 21st season, is simply amazing. Having the chance to see him play almost every day is a lesson in passion for the game. Pudge has nothing left to prove. He’s a no-doubt Hall of Famer, with accomplishments to die for. During one ten-year stretch, in addition to being the game’s premier catcher he batted .300 for nine of the ten years. The tenth year he only hit .297! So there he was at age 38, playing for a team that was the worst in the majors last year and catching a day game after a night game, hitting over .400 and driving in the winning runs. Did I mention that he stole a base? Pudge is making baseball fun around here.

Winning Sure Beats Losing

Accidents of geography are conspiring to keep me writing about losing. I’m an Astros fan who lives in the mid-Atlantic region, making the Nats and the Orioles my new home teams. Not fun. All three are off to miserable starts this year. And despite finding different ways to lose almost every day, losing is getting pretty boring. The Orioles and Astros simply don’t hit while the Nats hit but can’t hold a lead. Having the jolly giant, Adam Dunn, at first base doesn’t help. He pretty much just watches the balls go by him and his power production has been limited to drawing walks with no one on base.

Nobody’s Watching

Here are some attendance figures from last night:

In Seattle: 15, 978. This is a team that’s been in the conversation for winning the AL West playing the team that is leading the AL West.

At Florida Marlins: 14,390. Guess the fans only show up when the Mets are in town.

At Toronto: 10,610. Still hockey season.

At Baltimore: 10,248. Beautiful day and at least the Rays are fun to watch.

Point being, in a lot of ballparks there are a lot of empty seats.


And finally, Michael Gonzales, ace reliever of the Baltimore Orioles, took his 18.00 ERA and his blown saves and headed for the D.L.

The Early Days

The season is barely a week old and a few teams are struggling mightily. The Astros and the Orioles have combined for a total of one win, the result of bats that are largely silent and pitching that’s been well below par. To be fair, both have faced stiff competition in teams like the Phillies, Giants and Rays but it already feels like a long season if you live in Houston or Baltimore.

On the other hand, there have been some pleasant surprises, especially in the American league. Leading in the AL East, at least for now, are the Toronto Blue Jays, widely assumed to be cellar dwellers this year. I’m afraid the Orioles will have a lock on that position. In the West, the Oakland A’s are leading the pack with a 6-2 record. That’s the mirror image of the rival Seattle Mariners who are expected to contend but for now are in last place in the West.

In the Central Division, Minnesota is ahead. There’s something unique about that team. They always find a way to compete, whether constrained by payroll or injuries. Joe Nathan goes down and Jon Rauch steps in and already has five saves. There’s also something very appealing about the way they play the game, without fanfare or false drama and with a sense of calm confidence. Yesterday they played for the first time in their new, small, baseball-only, outdoor stadium. Even the grand opening –with ESPN coverage, hall of famers and the Commish in attendance seemed understated. The Twins played well, beat the Red Sox and finally, after years of playing in that oversized baggie, had a new home.

Two Debuts

Today two promising young pitchers make their debuts. One is Stephen Strasburg of the Nats, drafted number 1 last year. His club received seventy five requests for press passes for the game this afternoon. The other is twenty-two year old Mike Leake, also a first-round pick in last June’s draft selected by the Cincinnati Reds. There’s just one difference. Strasburg’s start is in Altoona, Pennsylvania for the Nats Double A affiliate while Leake is starting on the big stage, on the mound in Great American Ballpark facing the Cubs.

The Reds decided that Leake was ready for the majors without any minor league experience, a rare move even in these days of instant gratification. No player, let alone a pitcher, has done it in ten years. And of the 20 players in baseball history who have tried, I’ll bet you haven’t heard of quite a few. And one or two whose names are familiar (think David Clyde who the Texas Rangers rushed to the majors) are known for flaming out.

Today’s games will tell us nothing about the future of these two pitchers. But it will be interesting to see whether the risk the Reds are taking in rushing Leake to the majors or the patience the Nats are showing in sending their young phenom to the minors works best. Perhaps both are right but if you had to bet, the safer bet is on the Nationals.

This and that

The Houston Astros: celebrating 45 years of futility. The Astros started their 45th year by losing three straight at home to the Giants and one last night to the Phillies. While it’s still very early, many of their pitchers sport double digit ERAs. During spring training they announced that their starting catcher would be J.R. Towles, who I thought had proven that he didn’t belong in the majors last year. I know nothing about young J.R. except that he cannot hit major league pitching. Rod Barajas a veteran catcher with a good track record was available until late this spring when the Mets picked him up. Considering that the Astros lost Pudge Rodriguez in the off season, getting Barajas would have made sense. Last night Barajas blasted two home runs and called a great game for the Mets. Last night J.R. Towles was batting .083 as the Stros lost 8-0 to Philadelphia.



Can’t anyone around here spell? After last season’s embarrassing spelling error which saw several Washington Nationals walking around with “Natinals” on their chests (including third basemen Ryan Zimmerman who was educated at the University of Virginia) this season was two days old when it happened again. A young San Francisco Giant paraded around in a uniform sporting “San Francsico”. I’m not a great speller either, but I usually get my name right.


There’s been a lot of talk about how slow the games are. Games involving the Yankees and the Red Sox are the slowest. One reason that’s been documented is that Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia are among the very slowest pitchers, taking much longer than others between each pitch. One reason that I’ve observed in Yankee games is that every time A-Rod so much as sneezes manager Joe Girardi jogs out to check on him, usually bring a trainer or two with him. The Yankees don’t have players, they have investments.

Opening Day 3

The third and last opening day unfolded last night featuring an exciting game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles. It was played at the Trop, the last indoor domed stadium in major league baseball. During the player introductions the home team set off fireworks, which lingered in the outfield as smoke for most of the game. Indoor baseball, there’s nothing like it.

They’ve only played one game but it’s already clear that the Orioles have some real problems and here I am ready to solve them. The Orioles lost the game because they didn’t do the little things – e.g. failing to score with runners on second and third with nobody out. The batters who stranded those runners were Garrett Atkins and Cesar Izturis, both of whom looked over anxious and impatient at the plate. It was relatively early in the game, they had James Shield, the Rays starting pitcher on the ropes and they let him off the hook.

Exhibit B is Felix Pie, the left fielder who couldn’t make a decent throw to the plate to cut down a slow runner. The runner scored and the game was closer than it should have been. Pie also looked terrible at the plate, letting pitches go by as he stood with the bat on his shoulders. I swear this guy sometimes looks like he isn’t sure what game he’s playing. What is he doing in an outfield with Nick Markakis and Adam Jones?

And finally, the alleged closer. After some very good work by the middle relievers, Matt Albers and Jim Johnson, Mike Gonzales was brought in to finish the game. He imploded in a matter of minutes. Ever watch a pitcher who is throwing crap, getting hit hard and doesn’t seem to know it? Mike Gonzales. Oriole fans will be very nervous next time he’s trotted out there and given the ball. I would be happy if that never happened.

So here’s my prescription: get rid of Pie and Gonzales. Teach Atkins and Izturis how to sacrifice and let Jones, Millwood and Markakis win the games.

Spring Training and Opening Day

It’s finally here. Opening Day, that is. Only this season it’s been spread over three days beginning with the Yankees-Red Sox teaser, continuing all day yesterday and concluding with a few “opening day” games today. Thanks to ESPN we saw a few teams who were absent from the spring training coverage and who we will seldom see again –Cincinnati, Houston, the White Sox.

But before we get to the opening day splashes, let’s say a few words about spring training. I made a brief trip to Arizona which has turned into baseball paradise every March. I saw teams only a mother could love-- the Royals, the Oakland A’s. What caught me up short was the fans: completely thrilled to be there. Maybe it was the harsh winter many of us had, or the general nastiness of what passes for political debate. But whatever the reason, there was, it seemed to me, a palpable sense of relief at work among the fans. They were just happy to be watching a game. The fact that it was a split squad or that the players wore numbers more appropriate for football and that half of them would be sent down next week didn’t seem to matter. It was warm, it was sunny, it was baseball.

Back at home we were treated to a spring training game on ESPN every afternoon which seemed like fun until it became clear that virtually every game featured a team with the words “New York” in its name. A crew of new ESPN color commentators were initiated and headed back to Bristol. Thank goodness for the Gary Thorne’s of this world who simply know how to call a good game and don’t start every sentence with “when I was playing…”

Day 2 of opening day(s) featured some terrific starting pitching, --Lincecum, Buehrle, Halliday and Buehrle’s acrobatic between the legs flip that will doubtless become part of baseball lore, some hitting heroics by the amazing Albert and Braves phenom Jason Heywood and some abysmal pitching out of the bullpen. No matter. It’s a long season and it’s here.