It’s Tough to be Perfect

A couple of weeks ago, the Defensive Specialist was having one of his in-depth baseball conversations with his US correspondent when it became apparent that Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers was inching closer and closer towards a perfect game. For those of you unaware, a perfect game is when a pitcher and team manage to record all 27 outs in the game without a hitter reaching base. To put things in perspective, there have been 18 perfect games since 1900 meaning that it’s pretty damn tough to spin one. When someone like Roy Haladay (arguably the game’s best active pitcher) throws one, you marvel at his mastery and tip your hat. When a journeyman like Galarraga is on the verge of history, you start to ask serious questions.

Unfortunately, no questions were needed because with 2 outs in the 9^th inning, first base umpire Jim Joyce made the worst baseball decision of his life by calling a hitter safe when he was clearly out by a step. Galarraga retired the next hitter for a tidy one hit shut out.

So with all that going on in the background and with 2 other perfect games having been spun this year already (Dallas Braden & Roy Halladay) as well as a no hitter by Edwin Jackson (who ended up throwing 149 pitches and winning a free elbow reconstruction in the future), the Defensive Specialist decided to pose a question to the US Correspondent:

“Is the recent run of pitching dominance just plain dumb luck, an aberration in the stats, or is it a trend that will continue?

The US Correspondent took a deep breath, exhaled and asked for an hour to mull the question over.

Precisely one hour later the phone rang.

“Look, you’re the Defensive Specialist, give me your take first,” requested the US Correspondent.

Never one short of an opinion, here’s what the Defensive Specialist theorised:

In the last 3-5 years there has been a significant backlash towards performance enhancing drugs. This backlash has not only taken place in the public forum. Major league Baseball has beefed up testing and punishment (although you have to fail about 3 times before you get any sort of suspension) and as a result we have seen offensive numbers decline noticeably. It wasn’t too long ago that Barry Bonds was dropping 70+ homeruns in a season with a handful of guys sitting in the 50’s. More alarming than that, you also had muscle bound utility guys popping the ball out of the stadium.

On top of the performance enhancing drugs, there was also a crackdown on stimulants that once upon a time were rampant in baseball. Some will argue that amphetamines aren’t a performance enhancer but they don’t call them the dog days of August for nothing. Try playing a game of baseball on a scalding hot summers day on the heels of a night game and have 100+ games already under your belt. Any jolt in focus or energy is a performance enhancer of the highest order in that situation.

So all of a sudden you have a league full of guys who may be a little less powerful and a little less focused. It’s this situation that sees a dude like Armando Galaraga stymie a team through 9 innings. Many will argue that pitchers were as much a beneficiary of steroids as hitters (See Eric Gagne who started blowing 98 mph with a bugs bunny change up), but you have to remember that a starting pitcher gets 4 days off between starts which means that although they may have less fastball on their zip, they are at least well rested and competing against a weaker (both in strength and fatigue) opposition.

The US Correspondent cleared his throat, “Jesus, there’s a reason they pay you the big bucks!”

The Defensive Specialist was keen to hear his compadres thoughts.

“I agree that players being off the juice certainly plays a significant role. I believe that a lot of players are still trying to play that style of game, unfortunately 185 pound guys trying to go yahtzee on every swing turns into a lot of easy fly ball outs for pitchers.”

The US Correspondent continued, “Here's another theory; shoot me down if you think I'm crazy. I’m talking from more of a US perspective although with the MLB Academy on the Gold Coast there is some Australian relevance.”

Over the past 15 years there has been a huge shift to academy/ tournament/ showcase baseball. Whether this is an American kid who goes and does the summer showcase circuit as opposed to staying at home and playing for the local legion team, or international players who go to specific skill building academies (like the one held on the Gold Coast). These showcases and academies obviously have their merits; better competition, personal one-on-one instruction and a chance to play in front of more scouts and colleges. The scouts and coaches get the best players playing each other, all in one spot.

Seems like the best of both worlds, but I feel this is where some of the great pitching performances of the season have originated. When do these academy/showcase players ever learn to play the team game? Everything is based on personal advancement. In these settings winning isn't even considered, it’s all about how many at bats you get and whether or not you ran a good time in the 60-yard dash. Players are concerned about how they looked in the infield/outfield in front of the scouts. I think this mentality is carrying over to upper levels, specifically college and professional baseball.

Obviously professional baseball is about development and advancement but there is something to be said for "team at bats" and playing the game the right way. In a showcase tournament, you don't get any recognition for being able to get a guy in from 3rd with less then two outs. No one is looking to offer you a check for a million for getting a 2-strike ground ball in play to score the run. In fact, in some instances that piece of hitting is deemed a fail, when in reality it’s a damn good "team" at bat.

I may be off base here and the mentality in the Bigs has always been "me first" at bats, but I think this thought process is getting reinforced more and more at the lower levels. Guys aren't willing to sacrifice a little, to shorten up and battle for that line drive to the opposite field. The end result of all of this, is guys with swing and miss type stuff (Roy Halladay for example) exposing this approach at a higher frequency.

The Defensive Specialist waited to see if the US Correspondent had any more to offer. After 5 minutes of laboured breathing at the end of the phone line, the Defensive Specialist checked to see if his dear friend had come down off the ledge.

“I’m ok, I just get a little sparked by these horrible approaches I’m seeing at the plate on a daily basis,” the US Correspondent lamented.

The Defensive Specialist is impressed with the thought process and admits that it wasn’t something he had previously considered. We’ve always thought that baseball was a team sport played by individuals. The game is afterall a series of one on one contests played under the pretext of a group battle. But it would appear that our game has changed, we may now have a group of individuals fighting their own battles to the detriment of the overall war effort.

The Defensive Specialist is keen to hear the readers thoughts. Hit the comments section or fire an email Deep in the Hole. Special thanks to the US Correspondent for his insight and for not having a myocardial infarction mid rant.