Editor’s Note: Bill Leeman,
known to his wide digital audience as Screamin’ Leeman, is a
co-founder of the Noe Valley
Voice, a former resident (for
20 years) of Clipper Street, and an avid writer and sports
fan. So we were psyched
when he offered his take on the near miracle performed by
another former Noe
Valley resident, Matt Cain.
By now, most people know
that Matt Cain pitched a perfect game for the San Francisco
Giants on June 13.
But do you know what it takes to do that?
A
perfect game is not
merely a no-hitter. When you pitch a no-hitter, there are
still ways for the
other team to get on base. They can draw a walk, get hit by a
pitch, or get on
as the result of an error, to name a few. Heck, it’s even
possible to pitch a
no-hitter and lose the game.
No,
a perfect game is just
that: facing 27 batters over nine innings and getting every
single one of them
out. No one reaches first base. While a no-hitter is indeed a
big deal, a
perfect game is in a completely different stratosphere.
That’s
why there have been
so few of them. Matt Cain’s was the first one in the history
of the Giants
franchise, which dates back to 1883. In recorded baseball
history, there have
been somewhere around a half million pitching starts. Matt
Cain’s gem was the
22nd perfect game. Rare territory, indeed.
A
perfect game is a
beautiful thing, a joy to watch. It is also a conspiracy of
the heavens, a
fluke of nature, a concoction of the baseball gods. All the
forces of nature
and man must converge in perfect symmetry.
Not
to diminish in any way
the accomplishment of Matt Cain. He had to be absolute nails out
there.
But there is so much more to it than that.
You
know what kind of guys
make it to the major leagues? Let me tell you. If you ever got
a chance to play
with a major leaguer, it is like this: They’re not like the
rest of us. They
are so much better than everyone you’ve ever known, it makes
your jaw drop.
They can throw the ball harder and farther than anyone you’ve
ever seen. They
can run faster and hit the ball 10 times as far. If you’re a
pitcher, it’s the
same.
You
know what an ERA is?
That is a pitcher’s earned run average. It’s figured by
dividing the number of
runs allowed by the number of innings pitched (and then
multiplying by nine).
Good pitchers these days have ERAs of around 3.50. The best
ERA ever recorded
for a complete season was accomplished by Bob Gibson of the
St. Louis
Cardinals—an incredible 1.12.
There
was a pitcher for the
Houston Astros named J.R. Richard, whose ERA his senior year
in high school was
0.00. In other words, he went the entire year without giving
up a run. These
are the kind of guys who make it to the majors.
Fielders
are the same. Do
you have any idea what kind of an arm it takes to throw a ball
in a straight
line from third to first? Most of us would have to wind up,
take three steps
forward, and throw a long arcing shot and hope it would get
there. These guys
throw bullets routinely. That’s why their arms are referred to
as guns.
Now
let’s talk about
batters. Under perfect conditions, most mortal men can barely
hit a ball to the
outfield. If you or I got a perfect pitch, and connected
perfectly, it might
land about halfway out in the outfield. Major leaguers hit
screaming line
drives regularly. They scorch the ball, smack
the bloody
gee-willikers out of it every single day.
In
order to have a perfect
game, not only does the pitcher—thank you, Matt Cain—have to
be in a very special
zone, everything else needs to be in sync, to be in harmony.
If Gregor Blanco
hadn’t made that fabulous, running, flying, leaping, balls-out
catch in the
seventh inning, the perfect game wouldn’t have happened. If
Melky Cabrera hadn’t
made a couple of fine catches in the outfield, it couldn’t
have happened.
And
the nerves! The
pressure! With each passing inning, knowing what could be in
store, the tension
builds. I think the hardest play of the entire night was the
final out. A hard ground
ball hit to the right of the third baseman Joaquin Arias, who
actually
staggered backward and to his right as he tried to make the
throw to first. We
were all holding our collective breaths as he made the awkward
throw, but it
was a strong throw, and then: It was over!
A
Perfect Game.
A
historic day! No one
would leave the ball park for quite a while. They all wanted
to bask in the
moment, and bask they did. As Matt Cain was being interviewed
afterwards in the
dugout, his wife was escorted from the stands to meet him, and
it was quite
touching. Me and mine got a little teary-eyed for a couple of
minutes there.
So
there’s a little
perspective on what it takes to pitch a perfect game. What a
wonderful thing to
witness.
On
the other hand, it boils
down to one stinking win out of a 162-game season. Now there’s
some perspective
for you.
Bill
“Screamin’” Leeman, who now resides in
San Rafael with his wife
Carol, writes movie and TV reviews and is a regular
contributor to Ron Barr’s
SportsBylineUSA.com. This essay first appeared in the Benicia Herald.
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