Year of the Pitcher? A look inside the numbers
Article By danlevy on 28th July, 2010
The American sports fan — or at least the American sports writer — has developed a perpetual need to define things. "This was the greatest game ever!" "Greatest comeback in sports history!" "This is the year of the pitcher!"
That's the working definition of this year's baseball season: the Year of the Pitcher. After all, there have been five no-hitters this season, including two perfect games. Remember, that's not including the should-have-been perfect game by Armando Galarraga. While that surely seems like a lot (more on that in a minute) the number of no-hitters to games played in 2010 is ridiculously low when compared to, say, the number of walk-off wins.
There have been 1,502 games this season in Major League Baseball heading into play on Wednesday. The five no-hitters account for .3 percent of those games, which means we've qualified this as the Year of the Pitcher based on less than half of one percent of all the games played this year. Meanwhile, there have been 136 walk-off wins so far, which means that more than nine percent of all games have been decided in the most dramatic fashion. That sure seems like a lot, doesn't it?
Have a few great pitching performances stolen "the year of" away from the walk-off? To figure that out, we're going to need a bit of perspective on these numbers.
It's obviously impossible to compare something as rare as a no-hitter (or perfect game) to something like a walk-off win. The fact is, once a player gets a hit in the game, there is no longer a chance for that event to occur (you can't un-ring a bell, or un-hit a game, as it were). Unlike the no-hitter, a typical baseball game could have up to 17 lead changes before getting to the ninth inning with the home team needing a rally to win. So, despite the minuscule number of no-hitters this season when compared to the total number of walk-off wins, or total number of games played, t...
Read Complete Article at Latest Sporting News Articles for MLB
That's the working definition of this year's baseball season: the Year of the Pitcher. After all, there have been five no-hitters this season, including two perfect games. Remember, that's not including the should-have-been perfect game by Armando Galarraga. While that surely seems like a lot (more on that in a minute) the number of no-hitters to games played in 2010 is ridiculously low when compared to, say, the number of walk-off wins.
There have been 1,502 games this season in Major League Baseball heading into play on Wednesday. The five no-hitters account for .3 percent of those games, which means we've qualified this as the Year of the Pitcher based on less than half of one percent of all the games played this year. Meanwhile, there have been 136 walk-off wins so far, which means that more than nine percent of all games have been decided in the most dramatic fashion. That sure seems like a lot, doesn't it?
Have a few great pitching performances stolen "the year of" away from the walk-off? To figure that out, we're going to need a bit of perspective on these numbers.
It's obviously impossible to compare something as rare as a no-hitter (or perfect game) to something like a walk-off win. The fact is, once a player gets a hit in the game, there is no longer a chance for that event to occur (you can't un-ring a bell, or un-hit a game, as it were). Unlike the no-hitter, a typical baseball game could have up to 17 lead changes before getting to the ninth inning with the home team needing a rally to win. So, despite the minuscule number of no-hitters this season when compared to the total number of walk-off wins, or total number of games played, t...
Read Complete Article at Latest Sporting News Articles for MLB
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