Comments on: Thursday before Memorial Day Weekend Reading

By: melissa

melissa — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:49:41 +0000

Sarah, I’m with you except for the part about Tek having five no-nos if Schilling had thrown the pitch he called. There is no way of knowing what the outcome of that pitch would have been. How can you assume that there would have been a different outcome if a curve ball was thrown? It’s possible it could have worked, then again it may not have, we’ll never know.

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By: Ernie

Ernie — Fri, 23 May 2008 00:22:52 +0000

Its the whole coulda shoulda woulda theory. If I remember correctly, Schilling had Stewart at an 0-2 count, so most likely stewart was thinking he would waste a pitch. So why not try to fool him with a fastball over the plate? Pedro, in my mind, from 99-00, was the greatest pitcher in baseball history. Its a shame that Greg Vaughn and John Flaherty (it was flaherty that broke up the no no, right? And Vaughn, for some odd reason, always seemed to hit him hard) had his number, otherwise he would have had that no hitter. Although, I agree with joe. 27 outs is 27 outs.

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By: Sarah Green

Sarah Green — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:29:57 +0000

Yes, Melissa, I agree. There were cases, for instance, in the Schilling game where he did shake of Varitek—i think they said maybe five or six pitches Schilling had already shaken off. The Pedro game, I don’t remember. I wasn’t trying to make the case that those near-no-nos should count for Tek, just that when you start fudging, it’s hard to stop. The ol’ slippery slope, in other words. Like, just as Posnanski would like to say, damn the record books and give Pedro his perfect game, I would be tempted to say, damn the record books and give Varitek at least one more no-hitter. I admit these are not quite the same, but I think they are pretty close. After all, if Curt Schilling had thrown the pitch that Tek had called for, Tek would have five no-nos. And if Pedro’s teammates had scored even ONE RUN, he would have his perfect game. I think a perfect nine innings is not a perfect game, if the game is not over after nine innings. It’s a team game, and it’s a game that’s designed to break your heart.

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By: melissa

melissa — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:09:28 +0000

Sarah, I don’t think you can assume Pedro and Schilling would have thrown no hitters if they had just thrown the pitch Varitek called. What if they had thrown the curve that had been called and hung it? If a pitcher is not confident in his ability to throw the pitch called he doesn’t have the best chance to succeed. I would imagine later in a game a pitcher may feel they have better control of their fastball. The other thing no one mentions is that there were probably signs given earlier in the game the pitcher shook off and the pitch was successful. It’s always easy in hindsight to say what if and that’s why it’s so special when a guy actually does get the no hitter.

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By: Lyndsay

Lyndsay — Fri, 02 May 2008 21:25:46 +0000

I am telling you, Footsteps in the Sand was written for him too.

his next haiku is going to be about daily hug therapy with Dustin Pedroia.

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