Yu almost pitched a perfect game?

No, I didn't.

Of course not, Yu did.

Soon Right Away: That's every game, I'd imagine :)

Serious answer -- not really.  Young pitchers often try to be cocky (confused with "confident") and get burned for it.  Smart starting pitchers understand the game's a lot like poker.  You'll face the same hitters 4-5 times a game and no fastball is unhittable in the MLB, so if given a lead (which is usually the case if you're working a shutout*), the crafty ones will often deliberately let a hitter get on base to set them up in future duels or walk a hitter on a streak.  Greg Maddux, in particular, sometimes let hitters beat him on purpose to set them up for at-bats weeks or months in the future.

*Unless you're the Mariners, in which case a King Felix shutout means a 0-0 tie (sob)

Iceman208481: Is it hard to climb into the head of a pitcher dragonchild?  I'd imagine it's snug in there...

Really depends on the pitcher.  The head of Greg Maddux would be a library the size of the Superdome so stuffed with books and supercomputers it'd make a hoarder blush, but that's Greg effin' Maddux.  I've tracked the careers of a number of prospects who burned out because they tried to throw their 90mph heat past everyone without ever learning the finer points of pitching.  Only a small percentage of the population can throw 90mph, but in the majors it's mediocre so attrition is cruel to the idiots.  In my experience, the more snug craniums tend to be the relievers who get away with throwing 95-96 a couple innings a game.  One guy who drove me insane was Arthur Rhodes.  He probably didn't inject 'riods in his arm so much as liquid lightning, but god what an idiot.  He had a nice ERA mainly because 80% of major leaguers found his stuff completely unhittable, but he didn't have two brain cells to rub together to use against playoff-caliber lineups.  When he lost even a couple ticks off his fastball he quickly washed out.

HaywoodJablonski: In before the stay geeks threadshiat about the irrelevance of perfect games and no-hitters

Interestingly, there is a disparate number of perfect games broken up with 2 outs in the 9th.  Batters have an OBP of ~.500 in that situation, which is remarkable by itself, but even moreso considering we already know the pitcher has his stuff that day, and he's facing the #9 hitter in the line-up.

You're the jerk... jerk: HaywoodJablonski: In before the stay geeks threadshiat about the irrelevance of perfect games and no-hitters

As a noted stat geek, I love wonky things like perfect games and no hitters.

Not a stat geek but I like looking at them, having been to a no hitter there is nothing that compares in sports. (Can't imagine a perfect game)

dragonchild: In my experience, the more snug empty craniums tend to be the relievers who get away with throwing 95-96 a couple innings a game.

FTFM.  Apparently my own head has a lot of vacancy.

Did Jim Joyce fark something up again?

Yeah, I'm still bitter.

Lost Thought 00: To paraphrase the Astros announcers, maybe this will teach him to learn English

/No, I don't get it either.

They said that? Really... really?

to be fair, since it was against the Astros it wouldn't have really counted anyway.

Lost Thought 00: To paraphrase the Astros announcers, maybe this will teach him to learn English

/No, I don't get it either.

I think the implication was that he'd be learning a bunch of brand new swear words.

dragonchild: One guy who drove me insane was Arthur Rhodes. He probably didn't inject 'riods in his arm so much as liquid lightning, but god what an idiot. He had a nice ERA mainly because 80% of major leaguers found his stuff completely unhittable, but he didn't have two brain cells to rub together to use against playoff-caliber lineups. When he lost even a couple ticks off his fastball he quickly washed out.

He washed out so quickly he was still in the bigs at the age of 42.

machoprogrammer: HaywoodJablonski: In before the stay geeks threadshiat about the irrelevance of perfect games and no-hitters

Considering more man have gone to the moon than thrown a perfect game, I doubt they will about a perfect game. No hitters, one can make the argument (walk 9 guys and allow no hits? Still a no hitter), yet I do not agree with that.

It's close. 24 men have orbited the moon, 23 1/2 have thrown perfect games.

balki1867: HaywoodJablonski: In before the stay geeks threadshiat about the irrelevance of perfect games and no-hitters

Interestingly, there is a disparate number of perfect games broken up with 2 outs in the 9th.  Batters have an OBP of ~.500 in that situation, which is remarkable by itself, but even moreso considering we already know the pitcher has his stuff that day, and he's facing the #9 hitter in the line-up.

Nope. Eleven perfect games have been broken up by the 27th batter. If you include the two un-perfect games that were lost in extra innings, when pitchers have gone 26 up, 26 down, they are 25-for-36 in shutting down the 27th, so an OBP of .306.

dragonchild: Soon Right Away: That's every game, I'd imagine :)

Serious answer -- not really.  Young pitchers often try to be cocky (confused with "confident") and get burned for it.  Smart starting pitchers understand the game's a lot like poker.  You'll face the same hitters 4-5 times a game and no fastball is unhittable in the MLB, so if given a lead (which is usually the case if you're working a shutout*), the crafty ones will often deliberately let a hitter get on base to set them up in future duels or walk a hitter on a streak.  Greg Maddux, in particular, sometimes let hitters beat him on purpose to set them up for at-bats weeks or months in the future.

*Unless you're the Mariners, in which case a King Felix shutout means a 0-0 tie (sob)

A lot of people don't understand this side of the game at all. The flip side is that a hitter can do something like swing late at a fastball because he knows the pitcher will come right after him again with another, and he can tattoo it.

Oh, and Greg Maddux was an absolute freak when it came to the thinking side of the game. Probably THE greatest thinker to ever play the game.

You're the jerk... jerk: HaywoodJablonski: In before the stay geeks threadshiat about the irrelevance of perfect games and no-hitters

As a noted stat geek, I love wonky things like perfect games and no hitters.

Seconded.

RminusQ: machoprogrammer: HaywoodJablonski: In before the stay geeks threadshiat about the irrelevance of perfect games and no-hitters

Considering more man have gone to the moon than thrown a perfect game, I doubt they will about a perfect game. No hitters, one can make the argument (walk 9 guys and allow no hits? Still a no hitter), yet I do not agree with that.

It's close. 24 men have orbited the moon, 23 1/2 have thrown perfect games

23.5? Is Buerhle a trans*?

Also, I believe the record for "most 26-ups-26-downs" is Mike Mussina with 3. That man must wake up every day and scream "FARK!" thrice at the top of his lungs before getting coffee. And not for the same reason most of us do. Also, he played for Pete "The Nazi" Angelos for a long time - that can't help his psyche.

// also, Mad Dog Maddux, armed only with his "fast"ball (slower than some changeups), could supposedly knock a baseball off a whiskey bottle from the mound without touching the bottle

Guelph35: balki1867: Interestingly, there is a disparate number of perfect games broken up with 2 outs in the 9th.  Batters have an OBP of ~.500 in that situation, which is remarkable by itself, but even moreso considering we already know the pitcher has his stuff that day, and he's facing the #9 hitter in the line-up.

In a close game (and all NL games) it will be a pinch hitter which is likely to be better than the regularly scheduled #9 hitter.

True, but NL pinch hitters in 2012 combined for a .304 OBP, which isn't great.  It was worse than the average #7 (.309) or #8 (.308) NL hitter in 2012.  The ~.500 OBP still stands out.

Also by the last out of the 9th there's a good chance the pitcher is nervous and more likely to hang a curveball or miss the corner with the fastball.

It's not necessarily all nerves.  There's a good chance the starter has already thrown 100+ pitches.

It might also be a strategy thing.  At that point, the pitcher is probably (selfishly) thinking, "there's no way I'm walking this guy" and throw everything in the zone.  (Walks are bad, but being willing to throw at the edges of the strike zone, or get batters to chase stuff is good.)  A smart batter knows this, and probably can also guess that fastballs are coming.

RminusQ: Nope. Eleven perfect games have been broken up by the 27th batter. If you include the two un-perfect games that were lost in extra innings, when pitchers have gone 26 up, 26 down, they are 25-for-36 in shutting down the 27th, so an OBP of .306.

Huh.  Nice catch.

It's right on the average pinch hitter's OBP, suggesting the pitcher's awesome day cancels out the fatigue or tendency to groove fastballs to avoid walks.  (Or that the umpire is giving a very generous strike zone at that point.)

dragonchild: One guy who drove me insane was Arthur Rhodes. He probably didn't inject 'riods in his arm so much as liquid lightning, but god what an idiot. He had a nice ERA mainly because 80% of major leaguers found his stuff completely unhittable, but he didn't have two brain cells to rub together to use against playoff-caliber lineups. When he lost even a couple ticks off his fastball he quickly washed out.

1) His career ERA as a reliever was 4.08.  Not so nice.

2) His postseason ERA (4.05) was a hair lower than his regular-season ERA (4.08).  He pitched just as well vs. "playoff-caliber lineups".

3) Exactly 22 pitchers in MLB history have appeared in more games than Arthur Rhodes.  (21 relievers and Cy Young.)  He appeared in 51 games at age 41.  "Quickly washed out" is funny.

You're trying to pass yourself off as some sort of insider scout, but you're forgetting that people write down what happens in baseball games.

IlGreven: He's only had one. The others were mere no-hitters broken up by the last batter.



// my mistake
// fun fact for you: google searching "you are correct sir" returns Ed McMahon's wiki page

IlGreven: Had Darvish sealed the deal, his would have been the earliest no-hitter in a calendar year, beating Hideo Nomo's 2nd no-hitter in 2001 by 2 days.

Had he K'd the legendary Marwin Gonzalez, he would have finished with 15 Ks.

Bonus points for naming the other pitcher who struck out 15 batters during a perfect game.