Three interesting facts about Roy Halladay that I haven't seen anyone else mention:
1 - He has now allowed just 2 hits and 1 walk in his last 18 innings pitched.
2 - That's gotta be the two most statistically, quantifiably dominating back-to-back pitching performances in baseball history, and one of them was a playoff game against the best hitting team in the league. Johnny Vander Meer famously pitched back-to-back no-hitters in 1938, but he walked 12 guys in the process.
3 - The most dangerous contact any Reds' hitter's bat made with any ball last night was when the ball hit the bat that was lying on the ground on the last play of the game.
Every time I watch that replay, even though I know the outcome, my heart stops as I wonder how Ruiz can possibly throw off his mask, drop to his knees, get the ball away from the bat, and throw it past the runner to Howard in the time it takes a fast runner to get from home plate to 1st. Each time I tell myself that I'm going to listen to the crowd to see if they're also silent in that slow-motion-forever moment, but I'm so absorbed in the drama I haven't remembered to listen yet! What a great play!
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget to mention that the last time anyone threw a no-hitter in the post-season, you were still in your mama's belly, a few months away from birth! I haven't seen THAT in print either (except when I wrote it) - that really puts it in great perspective for me!
..oh, maybe you didn't want your faithful readers to know your age? oops!
Thanks for this, Laur. I heard an interview yesterday with the lead play-by-play guy on the telecast and he said his favorite part of the game was the 2-3 seconds between the last pitch being thrown, with the crowd the loudest he’s ever heard, and the out at first. It went from total bedlam to absolute and total quiet to absolute bedlam, all in a matter of seconds. Pretty astute, I thought.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought of saying something about Don Larsen and my bday – I’ll bet Mom watched that game with me in her belly. Pretty cool. That said, when you do the math, that was (almost) 54 years ago and the equivilent amount of time before that was 1902 - when the catcher still stood like 10 feet behind home plate and fielded the ball on the bounce!!