One of the greater pitching feats ever preformed was by a guy most of us have never heard of. In today’s world where the only baseball highlight reels are ALL homeruns and a pitcher’s duel is considered “bad for business”, it is less likely that people will hear or appreciate what a man named Harvey Haddix did in 1959. Not any of the million-dollar names, not any of the legendary names. Just some guy.
On May 26, 1959 the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing the Milwaukee Braves and the game was a 0-0 tie. It went into extra innings and in the top of the 13th inning, a home run broke the tie, Pittsburgh didn’t score in the bottom and Harvey Haddix added one to his “L” column. So if he was the losing pitcher that night, what was so astounding? Until the 3rd batter in the 13th inning, he had a perfect game.
38 up, 38 down. No hits, just outs. He’s only the 9th pitcher to lose a no-hitter. A perfect game is rare and something to celebrate. This was the longest perfect game on record yet few have heard his name. Baseball fans know Don Larsen because his perfect game came in a World Series (1956). I guess you’ve got to have the right PR guy on your payroll… 12.2 innings perfect and his name meant nothing more to me than the local convenience store clerk.
That’s another thing, I don’t much care for the way we record innings. 12, 12.1, 12.2, 13. WTF!!?!?! If you’re counting by outs it should be 12, 12.33, 12.66, 13. Why not count by batters?
Relief pitcher stats can be misleading that way. We’re both pitchers and we both pitch 1.1 innings. I faced 4 batters while you faced 20. See, misleading. It forces another stat (like ERA or something) to verify the first stat and soon, you sound like a freaking almanac…
And why not count by time? Suppose a pitcher is brought in to face one hitter and that guy foul tips balls for 20 minutes? Huh? What about that? See, something should be done. When I’m Emperor of Earth… (see separate rant) I’m going to change it to counting by the number of times the guy scratches (adjusts) his cup. 3 and you’re out!
This guy doesn’t remember pitching his no-hitter, or where he parked his car, or how many…
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