Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisMan, you guys are trying to discourage me from posting an occasional Trivia quiz....CONTROVERSY GALORE ! !
1st....I'm not detracting anything from John Montgomery Ward. He had a long and versatile career and is a
great HOFer.
But, we all have played HARDBALL, and have also played SOFTBALL. So, I challenge anyone here to tell me
that the shorter pitching distance to home plate does not make a significant difference ?
Especially if....as a batter (playing Softball)....you are facing a really FAST-Pitch pitcher.
2nd....You can argue with me all you want, but you can't deny that the pitching rules were very different
when Lee Richmond and John M. Ward pitched their Perfect games. Not only was the pitching distance 15'
shorter, the rules in 1880 forced you to pitch in an underhand fashion.
All that said......let's consider Jim Bunning's performance. Yes, we know he is the only Major Leaguer to
achieve No-Hitter's in both Leagues. Perhaps, we can give some cedit for this to his battery mate in both
No-Hitters....Gus Triandos....ha !
More so, Bunning has been successful because ranks among the top 4 HOF pitchers with respect to a very
important stat.....
STRIKEOUTS/WALKS ratio......
3.20.....Ferguson Jenkins
2.95.....Christy Mathewson
2.94.....Sandy Koufax
2.85.....Jim Bunning
The significance of this statistic is mostly unheralded; nevertheless, it is huge factor to being a successful
pitcher.
TED Z