2012 MLB First-Half of the Season

The 2012 Major League Baseball season is nearing the All-Star break.  It has been an entertaining first half of the season so far, especially if you are a fan of great pitching.

There have been five no-hitters thrown so far this year, two of those were from the National League (Johan Santana and Matt Cain), while two more were from the American League (Jared Weaver and Phil Humber).  The other no-hitter was provided during interleague play by a bevy of Seattle Mariners (Kevin Milwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmson).  

Five no-hitters so far this year is two more than all of last year and one less then 2010—the supposed “year of the pitcher.”  The year 1884 is the true record holder for most no-hitters in a year with eight.  Since then the most dominant stretch of pitching excellence was in the years 1990 and 1991 when seven no-hitters were thrown in each of those years.  A forty-four year old Nolan Ryan, the Texas flame thrower who frequently exceeded speeds with his fastball of over 100 mph, pitched a no-hitter in each of those years.  Those were the same years that my favorite team, the Atlanta Braves, a team that came to be known for its great pitching, began their run of excellent play. 

Just because there have been five no-hitters thrown already this year, and we’re not yet at the All-Star break, doesn’t mean that the 1884 record is likely to be broken.  Arms tend to tire near the end of July as the heat of summer and number of innings pitched begins to take its toll on a starting pitcher.  Even if a new record were to be set, there will be no fireworks, no tickertape parade, and no trophy.  It is not an individual or team achievement and therefore it would not be celebrated as such. 

Future generations will marvel that in the live-ball era (when hitting home runs was supposed to be easier) pitching was the most impressive aspect of the time.  With all the great young arms coming into the game, even if the 128-year-old record were to fall it may very well be broken again much, much sooner than that. 

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here—there is still the second half of the season to go.  With so many surprising teams in contention this year (Baltimore and Washington to name a couple), it is shaping up to be a memorable season with or without such a longstanding record falling.

The 2012 Major League Baseball Season will not be known only for its pitching.  Any Atlanta Braves fan can tell you, great pitching alone does not a champion make.  Sure, great pitching can win you some games, but if you cannot also drive in some runs then you have little chance of wining the World Series.  Some might argue that you can be a great defensive team with brilliant starting pitching and still win a championship with very little offense.  The San Francisco Giants proved that a few years back.  They had a great pitching staff and very little offense except when it mattered most—in the clutch. 

The lack of clutch hitting and clutch pitching has proven to be the weakness of the Texas Rangers the past two years.  The Rangers have dominated everybody for two straight years, except for in the World Series, posting some gaudy offensive numbers during the regular season.  They even have a very good pitching staff.  The problem is that that staff has looked pedestrian in the World Series for two straight years, and their offensive stars have disappeared when needed most.  Will they be able to get over the hump and win the Series?  They have the talent but they have lacked that clutch gene that the Giants and Cardinals each demonstrated the past two years. 

The Cardinals and Giants each had something in common.  They both had to fight to get into the playoffs at the end of the year, and therefore went into the playoffs with an edge.  Dominating all year and skating into the playoffs seems to be detrimental to winning championships.  The wildcard teams for the past decade have had an advantage over other playoff teams.  They are scrappy and prepared for the fight that is the playoffs.  If a wildcard team has both good pitching and timely hitting, they are often the most prepared to go on and win the World Series.