Perfect Game : Does God smile at whims?

On Tuesday, April 2, 2013, the Houston Astros played against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park (now called Daikin Park) in Houston, Texas. I was watching the live TV broadcast of the game at home in Tokyo. The starting pitcher for the Rangers was Yu Darvish, in his second year in the major leagues after moving from Japanese professional baseball.

A book on pitching supervised by Yu Darvish (in Japanese, in 2014, BASEBALL MAGAZINE SHA Co., Ltd , Tokyo, Japan)

As of the end of the third inning, Darvish hadn't allowed a single runner on base. When he struck out three consecutive Astros batters in the bottom of the fourth inning, I started to get excited, thinking, "Maybe Darvish will achieve a perfect game."

By the end of the seventh inning, Darvish still hadn't allowed a single runner on base.  My expectations were raised even higher. However, when Darvish returned to the dugout after pitching in the bottom of the seventh inning, he was making repeated movements that suggest he was concerned about a stiff back and was pacing around the dugout. Seeing Darvish like this on TV, I wanted to say to him loudly: "Hey, Darvish, I'm no expert when it comes to baseball. But I've lived more than twice as long as you have. Everyone, not just major leaguers, faces big moments in their lives. When that happens, don't make any moves that might show your weakness to others, but just focus on winning quietly by yourself. I think God only smiles on people like that. You have incredible talent. But, just because a pitcher is talented doesn’t mean he can achieve a perfect game. I think that a perfect game can't be achieved unless God smiles on you."

What was the result?  With two outs in the ninth inning, Darvish was just one more batter to achieve a perfect game, but he gave up a hit by Marwin Gonzalez and missed out on a perfect game. The hit went through Darvish's crotch. I thought to myself with a wry smile. "A hit that went right through Darvish's groin seemed to mock Darvish just before he was about to achieve a perfect game. It felt like a cruel prank played by God on Darvish, who made a move that showed weakness to so many people."

Now then. The first perfect game in the era of Major League Baseball, which began in 1901, was achieved by Cy Young (Boston Americans, now Boston Red Sox)  in 1904.  Including Cy Young, 22 pitchers have achieved a perfect game. All 22 pitchers have achieved a perfect game once each. No pitcher has achieved it twice. Even top-class pitchers whose names will remain in history forever have only achieved it once. Incidentally, not only in Major League Baseball, but also in Japanese professional baseball, no pitcher has achieved two perfect games. So why is it that no pitcher has achieved two perfect games?  In my opinion, the reason is simple(?): God doesn't smile on a man twice.

A photo of Cy Young on display at the Cy Young Hometown Museum in Newcomerstown, Ohio.

Here, let me briefly touch on perfect games in Japanese professional baseball. The first perfect game was achieved in 1950. It was achieved by Hideo Fujimoto, a top-class pitcher whose name will forever remain in the history of Japanese professional baseball. Including him, 16 pitchers have achieved a perfect game, but only one of them has played in the major leagues. That pitcher is Roki Sasaki, who has been playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers since this year.

The 22 pitchers who have achieved a perfect game in the modern era of Major League Baseball can be divided into three groups: "top class, "average," and "below average." I won't say which group the 22 pitchers specifically belong to. In particular, I can't say which pitchers belong to the "below average" group. I'd only get in trouble if I said that.

While there are "below average" pitchers who have achieved perfect games alongside top-class pitchers such as Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, and Randy Johnson, there are also top-class pitchers such as Walter Johnson, Grover Alexander, Warren Spahn, Steve Carlton, Greg Maddux, and Tom Seaver who have not achieved a perfect game. Many people find this fact very strange. I'm sure that when those people hear my opinion that only pitchers who have been smiled upon by God can achieve a perfect game, they will complain. "What are God's criteria for deciding who he smiles upon?  Does God smile at whims ? "

So what do I think?

There is no way that I can know what criteria God uses to select pitchers. But there is one thing I can say. I don't feel any discomfort in the fact that not only "top class" pitchers but also "average" or "below average" pitchers are selected by God. Let me explain why.

My pitching ability is "below average". If I pitch in a major league game and God smiles upon me, will I be able to achieve a perfect game?  That will never happen. "Below average" in general society and "below average" in Major League Baseball have completely different meanings. A "below average" pitcher in the major leagues is merely a pitcher whose performance, as expressed in numbers, is "below average," but he is an elite among the elite among baseball players and has great abilities, because he has become a major leaguer. It is not surprising that such a pitcher would achieve a perfect game. Just as a batter whose performance, as expressed in numbers, is "below average" sometimes suddenly has a great performance, getting four hits in one game, two of which are home runs.

I can only think that God is keeping an impartial eye on all the pitchers in the major leagues and deciding who to smile at. The difference in their usual performance probably doesn't make a big difference to God.

I don't know what criteria God uses to decide who to smile at. God may really smile at whims. But I am certain that God treats all pitchers fairly and without preconceptions, and I think that’s wonderful.

Contrary to my views, there are people who completely ignore the existence of God and talk about the conditions for a perfect game. For example, some say that pitchers who get more strikeouts are more likely to achieve a perfect game. Others say that the frequency of perfect games has increased in the 21st century because the number of strikeouts has increased. In both thoughts, the logic is that more strikeouts mean fewer batted balls are in play and fewer opportunities for players to reach base due to defensive errors. However, if we examine actual perfect games in detail, we can see that these theories don't have much meaning. Of the 22 pitchers who have achieve a perfect game, 11 had 10 or more strikeouts, while the remaining 11 had fewer than 10 strikeouts. Cy Young, who achieved the first perfect game in 1904, had 8 strikeouts. Addie Joss in 1908 had only 3 strikeouts. Eight pitchers have achieved a perfect game in the 21st century, but four of them had fewer than 10 strikeouts.

So, isn't it best to think that it is impossible for humans to figure out the conditions for a perfect game?  After all, isn't it best to think that what matters most is whether God smiles or not?

I may have bored you with my unique thoughts on perfect games so far. So, to make up for it, I would like to introduce a piece of trivia about perfect games.

In 1920, the Boston Red Sox sold their star player Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. After acquiring the great hitter Ruth, the Yankees began to repeatedly win the World Series. Meanwhile, the Red Sox were no longer able to win the World Series. Although they had won five times before that. This was the famous "Curse of the Bambino" (Bambino was Babe Ruth's nickname). However, in 2004, the Red Sox finally won the World Series. It is said that the "Curse of the Bambino" was then completely lifted. However, I don't think so. There is another "Curse of the Bambino" that has not been lifted. This other "Curse of the Bambino" is related to an event that is widely known among Major League Baseball fans, but I don't think anyone realizes that this event has become the "Curse of the Bambino".

First, let me explain what that event was.

Before moving to the New York Yankees, Babe Ruth was also a very successful pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. On June 23, 1917, Ruth started the game against the Washington Senators. In the first inning, all three pitches he threw to the Senators' leadoff batter Ray Morgan were called balls. He protested vehemently to umpire Brick Owens from the mound. Owens seemed to say something in response. But Ruth wasn't ejected, and he threw the fourth pitch. The call was a ball. A walk. Ruth came off the mound and protested vehemently to Owens. Not to be outdone, Owens retorted, and a heated argument ensued. Ruth was ejected. Ernie Shore then came on as a relief pitcher. When Shore came on, Morgan, who had been walked and was on first base, tried to steal base but failed. After that, Shore pitched the entire game without allowing any of the 26 batters to reach base, and became the winning pitcher. Therefor Ruth and Shore achieved a no-hitter in this game, because only one batter (Ray Morgan) reached base on a walk (in Major League Baseball, no-hitters and perfect games are allowed even with multiple pitchers, although there has never been a perfect game with multiple pitchers).

But it's a real shame. If Ruth had been ejected from the game after three pitches and protested vehemently to umpire Owens, and been replaced by Shore, Morgan might not have been walked and a perfect game might have been achieved with two pitchers. If Ruth had been ejected earlier and a perfect game had been achieved, it would have been the first perfect game by Red Sox pitchers since Cy Young. But Ruth was ejected too late, so it didn't work out. And since then, no Red Sox pitcher has achieved a perfect game, so Cy Young remains the only Red Sox pitcher to have achieved a perfect game. Even though their arch rivals, the Yankees, have had four pitchers. All four of them achieved perfect games after Ruth and Shore missed out on a perfect game. So isn't it fair to consider it the "Curse of the Bambino" ?  Don't you think so?

THE BABE in Red Stockings: An In-depth Chronicle of Babe Ruth with the Boston Red Sox, 1914-1919 by Kerry Keene, Raymond Sinibaldi and David Hickey (1997, SAGAMORE PUBLISHING). I used this book as a reference for the no-hitter game of Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore.

( If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)