Don Larsen and Yogi Berra
In 1956, Don Larsen became the only pitcher in the history of the MLB playoffs to throw a no-hitter. Actually, he did one better by retiring all 27 batters en route to the most famous perfect game in baseball history. In the 54 years following this incredible achievement, no one was able to join this most exclusive of clubs. Not Sandy Koufax, not Nolan Ryan, not Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, nor Roger Clemens. All this time, the list remained at just one name long. And then Roy Halladay finally pitched a playoff game last night. That is was his first playoff game should not go unnoticed. Last night, in his postseason debut, Halladay became the second pitcher in the history of the MLB playoffs to throw a no-hit, no-run game.
To simply say that he was dominant does no justice to the masterpiece he unfurled last night. They say that you never know what you’ll get from a player in the playoffs until he has proven himself. Well if anyone doubted how Roy Halladay would handle the pressures of playoff baseball, they are doubters no longer. It wasn’t as if the Cincinnati Reds are a bunch of scrubs. This is a team who collectively led the National League in all 3 triple crown categories this season (batting average, home runs, & RBIs). They are arguably the best offensive force in the NL, also leading the league in runs scored. They scored 18 more runs than the mighty Phillies (for the record, I would argue that the Phillies would have easily led the NL in runs if they were even remotely close to being healthy this year). And then they squared off against Harry Leroy Halladay, and he proceeded to make them look like a bunch of little leaguers, flailing helplessly at his sinking fastball, cutter, slider, or changeup.
He was mixing and matching pitch speeds and location, going up and down, in and out of the strike zone as he pleased. On this night, only a 2 out walk to Jay Bruce in the 5th inning kept him from being the first man to ever pitch 2 perfect games in an entire career, much less one season. As it is, he is the only man to ever throw a perfect game and another no hitter in one season. He is also the only man the throw a no hitter in the playoffs after having thrown a no hitter in that same regular season. He is only the 5th man to ever throw 2 no hitters in one season. And just think, this was his first ever playoff game. What else might this man do before the season ends? What other lists will he create before all is said and done?
The Doctor and Chooch. Apparently, there is only one way to celebrate a playoff no-hitter.
After the game, the Reds said all the right things about how it was only one game, and Halladay couldn’t pitch them all. I remember the Yankees saying the same thing after Cliff Lee dazzled them in game one of the World Series last year. Last year, the Yankees were quite right; we had an aging Pedro Martinez and a largely ineffective Cole Hamels to back up Cliff Lee in games 2 and 3. This year is a different story. If the Reds are looking for some kind of break with Roy Oswalt in game 2, or a much-rejuvenated Hamels in game 3, then they are delusional. Roy Oswalt will take the mound to start a game for the 11th time in his career at Citizen’s Bank Park. His record in the first 10? That would be 9-0, with the only no-decision coming in a Phillies’ win earlier this year after he joined the club from Houston in a mid-season trade. His record against the Reds? That would be 23-3 for his career. I don’t think the Reds are going to get that much help there.
That leaves Cole Hamels. His ERA against the Reds is a shade higher than 1.00 over his career. He, like Oswalt has said about the mound at CBP, says he loves the mound at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. If the Reds are looking for a weak link to this rotation, they might have to wait until the next regular season series between these two ball clubs and hope they get lucky enough to miss one or two of these guys.
I hope they’re enjoying their first trip to the postseason since 1995, because it isn’t looking like it will last very long for them. In the playoffs, good pitching always beats good hitting. It always has and it always will. The Phillies don’t have good pitching, they have great pitching. The Phillies have better players, a better manager, and lots of championship experience. The Reds are in trouble.
-Murdock
