OT: Dallas Braden, now Roy Halladay, Hurls Perfect Game

[barrysloate]

Congratulations to Dallas Braden for tossing the 19th perfect game in major league history. Second year in a row for one, and in recent times they have occurred quite frequently.

[Robextend]

I was lip reading and I thought after Braden got the last out he proclaimed, "TAKE THAT A-ROID!!!!"

[Peter_Spaeth]

Only 6 Ks, is that unusual for a no hitter/perfect game?

[jp1216]

I was lip reading and I thought after Braden got the last out he proclaimed, "TAKE THAT A-ROID!!!!"

Exactly what I was thinking. I had never heard of him until the ARod episode last week - and now THIS. Good work Dallas...

[jupin11]

Not necessarily. Mark Buehrle had 6 also. Dennis Martinez only had 5.

[packs]

Great moment after the last out when he hugged his Grandmother. What a Mother's Day present. I was at David Cone's against the Expos and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

[Leon]

Great moment after the last out when he hugged his Grandmother. What a Mother's Day present.

I didn't see it but it sounds like a great moment. Congrats to him. Always good to see/hear something positive in pro sports.

[Scott L.]

Great moment after the last out when he hugged his Grandmother. What a Mother's Day present. I was at David Cone's against the Expos and it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen.

His mother passed away from skin cancer when he was in high school and his grandmother raised him from that point on. They had some tough times and at one point were living out of a motel. Nice to see some good fortune shining on them today.

[oaks1912]

It was a great day to see a ball game today :). After seeing two no-hitters (including Sanchez' no hitter last season), I thought I'd seen my share. Today, in addition to witnessing history, I sat behind Braden's grandmother and baseball coach, who were nervous from the third inning, and I was able to share the experience with 8 friends, including a visitor from Canada, who had arranged for our group to sit where we sat......Looks like Dallas will have a marker in Cooperstown before A-Fraud........:p

[Rich Klein]

Mark -- pretty darned good when you add the perfecto.

I'm happy with the one I saw as part of the Sabr convention in 1999.

And although I'm a Yankees fan; I suspect that "incident" with A-Roid or Pay-Rod or whatever nickname you want to give him gave Braden even more confidence as he stood up to Rodriguez. In retrospect; that moment might have been a defining moment in his career.

Regards
Rich

[mackmen]

Yep,

I was proud of Braden when he stood up to A-rod and I was blown away from his performance this afternoon. Just remarkable. The A's are a fun team full of potential, unfortunately I think the commissioner would serve them much better to let them pursue options in San Jose. For now though this perfecto will be a mothers day legacy in Oakland for generations to come.

[Rickyy]

Great game..and the Rays were playing some great ball right now too..made the perfecto all the more sweeter! Now he joins Catfish Hunter (my childhood fav player) as the only A's to throw a perfect game. :)

[Chris Counts]

Today was a great day to be an A's fan! That was one for the ages. Way to go Dallas ...

[M's_Fan]

I've never been to a perfect game or a no hitter, but I've seen several come close. Brian Holman of the Mariners once retired 26 batters and get Ken Phelps into a full count, only to see Phelps hit a homer into center field. I'll never forget that, I couldn't believe my eyes.

[slidekellyslide]

Wow. Roy Halladay just threw the second perfecto in the last month. First time in modern history that two perfect games have been pitched in the same season.

[calvindog]

Unreal. 18 in the past 100 years and now two in a month.

[ErikV]

I just about posted this 20 days ago when Dallas Braden tossed
his perfect game, but held off. With Roy Halliday throwing his
perfect game today I'm going to submit my commentary.

It's hard for me to believe in the first 92 years of baseball there
were a total of 9 perfect games. In the last 29 years there have
been 11 with the last two being throw 20 days apart. I know
back in the late 60's the pitchers mound was lowered which gave
an advantage to pitchers, but how does one explain the frequency
of such a rare feat?

[Michael Peich]

Unreal! As many Phillies fans are asking tonight, would Cliff Lee have done this? We don't think so. Phillies rock, and Roy is the man!

[BCauley]

I watched his last two innings. I loved his reaction. He smacked his glove, arms up for a couple of seconds, and then some high fives. In the immediate post game interview, he was calm, cool, and down to earth. Classy guy.

[Michael Peich]

One doesn't explain it. One simply enjoys!

[Kawika]

One doesn't explain it. One simply enjoys!
Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa.

[Steve D]

Not a good month for the Florida teams.

Braden's was against the Rays
Halladay's was against the Marlins



Steve

[Matt]

Good pitching will beat good hitting any time, and vice versa.

Who are you - Yogi Berra?

[Kawika]

Matt: Yogi Berra said "I never said most of the things I said." The "good pitching will beat good hitting" quote is attributed to Bob Veale.

[Steve D]

To tie this in to our realm here.....

According to Baseball Tonight, this is the first year since 1880 that two perfect games have been pitched!!

That year, Lee Richmond and John Ward pitched perfect games within 5 days of each other (June 12th and 17th). Those were also the first two perfect games in major league history, and the only ones pitched in the 19th Century.

Steve

[FUBAR]

As a Jays fan, i was sad to see Doc go to the Phillies, but congrats to him, he showed why he is without a doubt the best picture in the league! Glad i bought a bunch of his Rc's about 6 or 7 years ago.

[barrysloate]

I edited the title to update this thread. Two perfect games in one season. That hasn't happened since 1880:

Lee Richmond June 12, 1880
John Ward June 17, 1880

I just saw that Steve D. beat me to this.

[calvindog]

As a Jays fan, i was sad to see Doc go to the Phillies, but congrats to him, he showed why he is without a doubt the best picture in the league! Glad i bought a bunch of his Rc's about 6 or 7 years ago.

Imagine if the Phillies would have bucked up and kept Cliff Lee for this year.

[yanksfan09]

I just want to tip my cap to Halladay. He's been my favorite non-Yankee pitcher for a while. I have so much respect for him. I'd have to say he's the top pitcher in the game.

He really is a throwback player. He throws complete games left and right. Congrats to him. The only time I'll root against him is if the Yanks have a World Series Rematch this year!

It's tough for Blue Jays Fans but I think being on a really good team will help turn peoples' heads on how good this guy really is....

What a crazy day yesterday with Kendry Morales's Walk-Off Grand Slam injury, possibly a season-ender.....

[pitchernut]

As a position player collector (pitchers) it's always great to be able to buy one or two new players while trying to complete the pre-war part also. So far this year had to pickup Jimenez and Braden (already had Halladay, 20 game winner and Cy Young award), and those two cards only cost me $2 :) Now if I could just get two E107's I need for that...:rolleyes: It does seem strange to have 3 nono's this season... maybe the hitters are finally off the juice:cool:

[jp1216]

What is more rare - 2 perfect games in one month or hitting a walk-off grand slam and breaking your leg on the same play? LOL

http://images.cbssports.com/u/photos/img13458018.jpg

[barrysloate]

The Kendry Morales play will hopefully be a wake-up call to all those wild scrums at home plate. I know players get excited but these are really big guys jumping up and down on each other (or jumping hard onto home plate).

Let's not forget yesterday's wild Yankee-Cleveland game, and thank goodness that David Huff is okay. I still haven't seen a replay of that awful moment.

[ErikV]

At least I'm not the only whose puzzled. This was on MLB.com.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100530&content_id=10608806&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I'm only tossing an idea out here, but could it be the style of the
game has changed over the years? Back in the deadball era and
even as late as the 60's, 70's and 80's there was more of a "small
ball" mentality. Bunt, scarifice, steal. Could it be that hitters today
are coming up to the plate with a "homerun" mentality. Thus, the
pitchers have a psycholoigical advantage. Evidence of this could
be seen almost daily as many of today's games are high scoring.
Any comments?????

[sox1903wschamp]

Congrats to Roy. I watched him get beat up last Sunday (I think) by the Red Sox and he comes back with a vengeance.

[barrysloate]

Eric- first off, thanks for that link. I just got to watch the entire perfect game!

Certainly you are on to something. I didn't see anyone looking to just make contact and plunk one over the infield. Everyone was swinging hard. I also think, though, that it may be a statistical anomaly that we've had so many perfect games. There is some luck involved, no doubt.

[M's_Fan]

At least I'm not the only whose puzzled. This was on MLB.com.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100530&content_id=10608806&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I'm only tossing an idea out here, but could it be the style of the
game has changed over the years? Back in the deadball era and
even as late as the 60's, 70's and 80's there was more of a "small
ball" mentality. Bunt, scarifice, steal. Could it be that hitters today
are coming up to the plate with a "homerun" mentality. Thus, the
pitchers have a psycholoigical advantage. Evidence of this could
be seen almost daily as many of today's games are high scoring.
Any comments?????

Yes, baseball has changed over the past 100 years.

But if the "homerun" mentality is giving the pitches an advantage, and leading to more perfect games, how is it also leading to higher scoring games?

As that article says, if you have a theory, there is a hole in it.

But you have to wonder if Ty Cobb, Willie Keeler, George Sisler, or even Ichiro Suzuki had been in that Marlins lineup, would they have squeezed out a single? Maybe. Maybe not, Halladay looked darn good. When pitcher with that kind of heat can locate to that degree, its just hard.

[ErikV]

Barry and M's fan,

Thanks for the responses. While I agree there IS a statistical anomaly,
it begs the question, why? Perhaps luck is a variable. There certainly
was a bit of luck to end this perfect game.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5699255

M's fan,

In response to your question "But if the "homerun" mentality is giving the
pitches an advantage, and leading to more perfect games, how is it also
leading to higher scoring games?"

How about part of the "homerun" mentality is a simple "hit or miss." You'll
see guys like Manny Ramirez essentially swinging for the fences or striking
out. I watch a lot of Dodgers games and rarely see Manny hitting for
singles.

Other variables that should also be factored in is the smaller size venues
of today versus 20 or 30 years ago. Is there anyone who would disagree
that todays Yankee Stadium or Indians Progressive Field are smaller than
the old Yankee Stadium or old Municipal Stadium?

And what about the evolution of ESPN and MLB video hilites? Is it fair
to say that some guys today want to be center stage? Isn't hitting a
game winning homerun a little more dramatic that winning a game by
a base hit? Just food for thought.