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

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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... It does seem strange to have 3 nono's this season... maybe the hitters are finally off the juice

[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

[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?...=.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]

Originally Posted by ErikV

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

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...=.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.