Johan Santana's recent career-threatening shoulder surgery brings up a very valid question: if indeed his career is over, how will he be remembered? At his best he was the most dominating pitcher in the game, winning two of three Cy Youngs while being robbed of a third. In more recent years, he has been one of the biggest question marks in baseball, averaging just 161 innings between '09, '10, and '12, and missing all of '11 and '13. This paradox brings to mind the abrupt ending to another lefty's career, Sandy Koufax.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Best Pitchers' Duels of the 1980s, Part 1
Here is a list of the best pitchers' duels of the early 1980s, one for each year:
April 10th, 1980: The aces of their respective teams, former Cy Young winner Ron Guidry of the Yankees and Jon Matlack of the Rangers hooked up for a great early-season match-up. Both pitched 9 shutout innings, with Guidry giving up just 2 hits to Matlack's 3. Neither allowed a walk, although neither struck out a lot of batters either (Guidry - 5, Matlack - 4). The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 12th, when closer Goose Gossage of New York uncorked a wild pitch to score ex-Yankee Mickey Rivers from third base.
September 21, 1981: In a game I've already chronicled, Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies failed to pick up a victory despite 10 shutout innings against Ray Burris and the Expos. The game ended on a 17th inning walk-off single by Andre Dawson.
October 1, 1982: Both John Denny of the Phillies and Terry Leach of the Mets allowed just 1 hit, but Leach went 10 to pick up a shutout victory. Leach did walk 6, although the only hit was a Luis Aguayo triple in the 5th inning. Hubie Brooks's sac fly off reliever Porfi Altamirano in the 10th would be all the Mets would need in this one.
July 31, 1983: Both Mike Torrez of the Mets and Jose DeLeon of the Pirates pitched the games of their lives in this one, but ultimately it would be decided by the bullpens. DeLeon allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks against 11 strikeouts, pitching 9 innings of shutout ball. He carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the 9th before it was broken up by Hubie Brooks. Torrez, on the other hand, kept bending but did not break, allowing 8 hits, and getting out of jams in the 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th. He went 11 shutout innings. The turning point of the game may have come in the 7th, when Tony Pena of the Pirates was caught stealing home with two outs. George Foster drove home the winning run from second in the 12th inning off of Manny Sarmiento.
April 10th, 1980: The aces of their respective teams, former Cy Young winner Ron Guidry of the Yankees and Jon Matlack of the Rangers hooked up for a great early-season match-up. Both pitched 9 shutout innings, with Guidry giving up just 2 hits to Matlack's 3. Neither allowed a walk, although neither struck out a lot of batters either (Guidry - 5, Matlack - 4). The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 12th, when closer Goose Gossage of New York uncorked a wild pitch to score ex-Yankee Mickey Rivers from third base.
September 21, 1981: In a game I've already chronicled, Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies failed to pick up a victory despite 10 shutout innings against Ray Burris and the Expos. The game ended on a 17th inning walk-off single by Andre Dawson.
October 1, 1982: Both John Denny of the Phillies and Terry Leach of the Mets allowed just 1 hit, but Leach went 10 to pick up a shutout victory. Leach did walk 6, although the only hit was a Luis Aguayo triple in the 5th inning. Hubie Brooks's sac fly off reliever Porfi Altamirano in the 10th would be all the Mets would need in this one.
July 31, 1983: Both Mike Torrez of the Mets and Jose DeLeon of the Pirates pitched the games of their lives in this one, but ultimately it would be decided by the bullpens. DeLeon allowed just 1 hit and 3 walks against 11 strikeouts, pitching 9 innings of shutout ball. He carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the 9th before it was broken up by Hubie Brooks. Torrez, on the other hand, kept bending but did not break, allowing 8 hits, and getting out of jams in the 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th. He went 11 shutout innings. The turning point of the game may have come in the 7th, when Tony Pena of the Pirates was caught stealing home with two outs. George Foster drove home the winning run from second in the 12th inning off of Manny Sarmiento.
What's Up Doc?
Earlier today, Roy Halladay made his season debut against the Braves. Halladay struggled last year, posting an ERA of 4.49 in just 25 starts, missing several due to injury. Tonight, he went just 3.1 innings, allowing 5 earned runs but striking out 9. This made Halladay just the 3rd known pitcher to strike out 9 in less than 4 innings while allowing 5 or more earned runs. Here are the other two:
This also marks the third game in the last two seasons in which Halladay failed to make it out of the fourth inning; he had done so just once in the previous four seasons:
| Rk | Player | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | GSc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Cone | 1990-04-25 | NYM | ATL | W 8-5 | GS-4 | 3.2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 31 |
| 2 | Jim Beattie | 1982-08-09 | SEA | OAK | L 4-9 | GS-4 ,L | 3.2 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 29 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 4/4/2013.
| Rk | Date ▾ | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | Pit | Str | GSc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2012-09-22 | PHI | ATL | L 2-8 | GS-2 ,L | 1.2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 51 | 33 | 17 |
| 3 | 2012-05-27 | PHI | STL | L 3-8 | GS-2 ,L | 2.0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 23 | 31 |
| 4 | 2009-06-12 | TOR | FLA | L 3-7 | GS-3 | 3.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 29 | 45 |
| 5 | 2007-06-05 | TOR | TBD | W 12-11 | GS-4 | 3.1 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 77 | 48 | 6 |
| 6 | 2006-09-20 | TOR | NYY | W 3-2 | GS-4 | 3.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 28 | 50 |
| 7 | 2006-09-10 | TOR | LAA | L 3-4 | GS-1 | 0.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 10 | 48 |
| 8 | 2005-07-08 | TOR | TEX | L 6-7 | GS-3 | 2.2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 48 | 36 | 40 |
| 9 | 2004-09-27 | TOR | BAL | W 4-1 | GS-3 | 3.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 70 | 44 | 47 |
| 10 | 2003-08-17 | TOR | OAK | L 3-7 | GS-3 ,L | 3.0 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 72 | 47 | 17 |
| 11 | 2000-09-23 | TOR | TBD | W 7-6 | GS-3 | 3.0 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 65 | 38 | 25 |
| 12 | 2000-07-21 | TOR | BAL | L 5-9 | GS-4 ,L | 3.1 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 73 | 47 | 25 |
| 13 | 2000-06-30 | TOR | BAL | L 3-8 | GS-3 ,L | 2.2 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 79 | 41 | 19 |
| 14 | 2000-05-05 | TOR | CLE | W 11-10 | GS-4 | 3.2 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 103 | 56 | 9 |
| 15 | 1999-05-09 | TOR | TEX | L 6-11 | GS-2 | 2.0 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 51 | 27 | 22 |
| 16 | 1999-04-29 | TOR | ANA | L 1-17 | GS-3 ,L | 2.1 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 68 | 35 | -7 |
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