12/21/24
June 11, 2003
SIX PITCHER COMBINED NO HITTER FOR HOUSTON!!: For the first time ever, the first 6 pitcher no hitter! The Yankees are hitless for the first time in 44 years.
posted by jerseygirl to baseball at 09:05 PM - 15 comments
Rick Down will be out by the end of the week. I still don't see how it's a coaches fault that the hitters suck. Not like he can swing the bat better. Stein is nuts but I think he knows better than to fire Torre. But oh boy will he meddle now, and that'll just mess things up even more. The Yankees suck. This is ridiculous.
posted by Bernreuther at 09:14 PM on June 11, 2003
My favourite story about a combined no-hitter is the one that Babe Ruth (yes, that Babe Ruth) was involved in. He walked the first batter, argued with the umpire, got tossed, and his replacement came in, picked off the runner and then retired the next 26 batters in order. I can't imagine the pressure on each of the relief pitchers to not give up that first hit. It's one thing when one pitcher is going for it, because he's got no one to blame but himself, and no one to let down. But when pitcher #4 or #5 or #6 screws it up for the guys before him, that's a whole different story.
posted by grum@work at 09:47 PM on June 11, 2003
By the way, anyone that wants to disparage the Yankees might want to read this tidbit from the ESPN.com article about the feat: By the time the Astros returned to their clubhouse, the Yankees had left a bottle of champagne in front of the locker of all six pitchers. "That's how the Yankees are; they're pretty classy," [6th Astro pitcher Billy] Wagner said.
posted by grum@work at 09:56 PM on June 11, 2003
haha, Grum, I just copied that and came here to paste it! This has to be the least hate-able hated team... class act all the way, and if I wasn't a Yankee fan during their run, I think I still would have really respected them. Different story for teams like, say, the Lakers...
posted by Bernreuther at 10:12 PM on June 11, 2003
Alright, I'll give them that- I still hate the Yankees, but that IS a classy gesture...
posted by hincandenza at 02:47 AM on June 12, 2003
TEN HITTERS COMBINED for NO HITS FOR THE YANKEES! gotta love these quirky baseball things. so many fun and strange things happen in baseball if you are patient enough or look hard enough. classy move with the champagne. The AL East seems interesting this year with the Yankees going hot and cold, the Red Sox going hot and cold and doing their bullpen things, and the Jays hanging in there and playing what is said to be exciting ball.
posted by gspm at 04:33 AM on June 12, 2003
I can't imagine the pressure on each of the relief pitchers to not give up that first hit. At the time I was thinking it had to be the most nervous Billy Wagner's been in a regular season game in a long time. Especially in a non-save situation. The trip in from the pen must have been a bit different.
posted by yerfatma at 06:12 AM on June 12, 2003
The Yankees suck. This is ridiculous. I think the word you're looking for is "glorious."
posted by rcade at 06:50 AM on June 12, 2003
I'm happy Lidge got the win, he's your 37 Push Ups' star reliever! Too bad I also have Weaver
posted by corpse at 07:55 AM on June 12, 2003
I guess that means George himself was behind the champagne... if it came from the Yankees... and i imagine it did. Now here's something to ponder. Did he do it to be classy or did he do it to rub Torre's nose in it? I love the AL East right now. It's so much more fun now that the Yankees are mortal again.
posted by jerseygirl at 08:15 AM on June 12, 2003
Hey, maybe for the first time in 6 years we'll have a different order of finish! I was thinking it might be that toronto took 2nd, but now it looks more like Boston and NY could flip flop. I was thinking that having so many pitchers might possibly have made the task a bit tougher for the Yankees - I don't think any hitter faced the same pitcher twice. Which is not to suggest that one single dominant pitcher would be less effective, but that variation, coupled with their sucking, coupled with the pressure, sure couldn't have helped. I don't know why Lidge got the win. I would tend to think that this is one of those instances where that rule about starters needing 5 innings is stupid, because no one pitcher was more effective than the rest, the starter did actually get the win by virtue of the fact that the run was scored in the first, and noone pitched more than 2.2 innings. I know it falls on the official scorer, but in a case like that, where all pitchers are equally effective, is the starter still absolutely not allowed to get the win? And what criteria do you use to choose Lidge over Saarloos or Dotel or Wagner or the other guy whose name I forgot? So after reading Neyer today, about how the Yankees offense has gone from so good to so bad, I actually noticed that the only 2 who have really slumped since the first month have been Mondesi and Soriano returning to earth, and Jeter coming in and hitting less than Almonte. So I got curious, and checked the Beane count, and amazingly, they're still nearly perfect, sporting a 5 Beane count (total rank in homers, walks, homers allowed, walks allowed), trailing only the Rangers in HRs hit. This really surprised me. I figured they would have dropped off by now. This gives some hope that they could at any point get as hot as they were before. They need to cut down on the strikeouts though, and sooner or later somebody is going to notice that the laughable infield defense has cost them a few games already...
posted by Bernreuther at 02:16 PM on June 12, 2003
also, it could just as easily have been a clubhouse aide that was behind the champagne, or Torre, or Stein, or Cashman... hard to say. I doubt Big Stein's first thought was "let's get those boys some bubbly"...
posted by Bernreuther at 02:17 PM on June 12, 2003
They gave it to Lidge because he pitched the most effective innings. Munro threw more innings, but he gave up the 3 walks (compared to Lidge's zero). Dotel probably had the most effective appearance (striking out 4 batters in one inning!), but it's too short to give him the win. The rule about starters not getting a win if they pitch less than 5 innings is the first rule applied for determining who gets the win. After that, it comes down to who was the most effective (if the lead was already had (and not lost) when the starting pitcher left early). It sort of relates to the comment by Lee Sinins I posted a while back about wins (bottom part of the quote).
posted by grum@work at 02:29 PM on June 12, 2003
Grum alluded to the Ernie Shore/Babe Ruth "perfect" game earlier, which ranks right up there with "Doc" Ellis's "Dude, I am TRIPPIN'!" no-hitter as my favorite no-no story. As for hating the Yankees, I know I don't really HATE them. I'm blessed in having a good organization in St. Louis, one that does its best to try and put a World Series winner on the field every year. I think "jealous" would be a better description, just because George puts them in a position to win every year. I think most of us just envy that, especially if you live in, say, Chicago. If you live in Boston, however — hate away, Jgirl!
posted by wfrazerjr at 02:52 PM on June 12, 2003
I stopped watching Boston clobber the Cards, and picked up the Yanks/Astros game in the 8th on ESPN2. I was so tense and nervous. No hitters really make me remember why I love this game. That Astros 'pen is awesome. What's this mean for Torre? This may be the breaking point for Steinbrenner. I think heads are going to roll.