May 19, 2004
Perfecto!

Congratulations to Randy Johnson for throwing a perfect game last night against the Braves. It's his second career no-hitter (the 14-year span between his first no-no and this game is the longest ever), and the 17th perfecto in major league history. I will dispute anyone who calls this the "icing" on his Hall of Fame career, though. Johnson's enshrinement has been a sure thing for a couple of years now, and he didn't need this to make his case. Call this the chocolate-dipped strawberries on top of the icing.

By the way, for those who think there's no pitching any more in MLB, yesterday also featured a one-hitter by Jason Schmidt of the Giants, and an 11-inning 1-0 win by the Angels over the Yankees. It's just as well that Schmidt was a near-miss - wouldn't it suck to throw a no-hitter and be overshadowed by a perfect game on the same day?

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 19, 2004 to Baseball | TrackBack
Comments

I think all the hitting was in the Dodgers-Phillies game last night (7 home runs between the two teams). I chose to watch that instead of the perfect game.

Anyway, if Randy Johnson can pitch a perfect game at the age of 40, then there's hope for us old geezers yet!

Posted by: William Hughes on May 19, 2004 11:41 AM

Well, the good news is that Randy Johnson is on my fantasy baseball team.

The bad news is that Dontrelle Willis is, too, and he laid a stink bomb against the Astros last night. So it's pretty bad when you have a pitcher throw a perfect game and get 13 Ks for you...and overall, you had a mediocre day.

Thanks, Dontrelle.

Posted by: Tim on May 19, 2004 12:45 PM

Randy Johnson is truly amazing, though by rights Jason Schmidt shoulda had a no-no, too -- badly whiffed 3rd strike call by the ump right before the infield single. But Jason's effort was a real grind -- 144 pitches (compared to 117 for RJ). They'll be fishing his arm out of McCovey Cove before the next start.

Fantastic day for pitching, though -- gotta love it. That Bonderman kid in Detroit is a looker, too.

Posted by: NancyP on May 19, 2004 6:20 PM

Mac at BravesJournal was bemoaning the fact that in successive games his team had a) been struck out 18 times and b) had a perfect game thrown against it. "What's the record for innings without baserunners," he asked.

Posted by: Linkmeister on May 19, 2004 7:59 PM