Running 2015 MLB Regular-Season Thread

This Date In MLB History - July 2nd







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July 2, 1963 - In one of baseball's most memorable pitching duels, San Francisco Giants' Juan Marichal hurls 16 scoreless innings and his counterpart the Milwaukee Braves' Warren Spahn pitches 15 1/3 scoreless innings before Willie Mays ends the marathon with a walk-off homer off Spahnie in the bottom of the 16th giving San Francisco the win.

Marichal's manager, Alvin Dark, visited the mound in the 9th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th innings, and was talked out of removing Marichal each time. During the 14th-inning visit, Marichal told Dark, "Do you see that man pitching for the other side? Do you know that man is 42 years old? I'm only 25. If that man is on the mound, nobody is going to take me out of here." Marichal ended up throwing 227 pitches in the complete game 1-0 win, while Spahn threw 201 in the loss, allowing nine hits and one walk. Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell, who was in attendance that night, said of Spahn, "He ought to will his body to medical science."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/02/sports/baseball/02nohit.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/the_bonus/06/28/kaplan.spahn.marichal/index.html

Retrosheet Boxscore: San Francisco Giants 1, Milwaukee Braves 0

 

Since 1990 wonder how many starters have thrown over 130 pitches in a game.

 

Johan Santana threw 134 during his no-hitter. Edwin Jackson threw 149 for the Rays in his no-no.

Orlando Hernandez threw 134 for the Yankees in their one loss to the Mets in the 2000 Series.

Al Leiter threw 142 for the Mets in the final game of the Series, and lost.

I'm sure there are others, but the no-hitters and Leiter came to mind for me. Hernandez I found out by looking up Leiter.

Pre-1990, Al Jackson, also with the Mets (what is it about them and high pitch counts?) threw 215 pitches in a 15-inning game in the 1960s.

 

Also looking on Baseball Reference, in his next game, Marichal pitched seven innings and allowed 2 runs in a 5-0 loss to the Cardinals and Bob Gibson.

Spahn, meanwhile, pitched a five-hit shutout against Houston in his next start.

 

didn't remember Jackson's being that many. but now that you mentioned that, AJ Burnett's no-hitter, think his rookie year, he walked nine or 10. had to be a lot of pitches there.

 

Lincecum threw 148 pitches in his no-no in 2013.

 

You work and you fight and you scratch and claw, inning by inning by inning, and by the 7th you try to stay cool and composed knowing that the entire stadium knows what you know too.

And then you get to the 9th, and you get within one measly fucking strike before some dude named Joey does this:

His reactions were really cool and especially when he clapped his glove and pointed to Butler.

You work and you work and you work and you work for a chance to fly like you've never flown before, and you make the pitch that most times is an out only this time it ends your no-hitter.

 

How could they do that? Why are todays ptichers, and by today I mean since 1980's, unable to pitch longer and more often? Is it the funky pitches? Marichal threw sliders. Is the split fingers? The different arm angles?

 

Probably that, plus they're throwing harder, which is hurting their arms more. It used to be a huge thing if anyone hit 95 mph. Now they hit it regularly, but they're hurting their arms in the process because the arm is not meant to keep throwing that hard.

Plus medical technology is much more advanced. Guys used to have sore arms, they'd take a rest, then get back pitching. Today, they get MRIs if they just feel a tweak.

 

They throw harder, as someone mentioned. Juan Marichal wouldn't throw 16 shutout innings today. My guess is, not knowing his precise stuff, it would be considered middling. It certainly would be clobbered by today's hitters after he had fired off 200 of them.

Also, some of them could. It's just hard to know which ones ahead of time. There were a lot of Juan Marichals and Warren Spahns back then who never got out of the lowest rungs of the minors, I imagine, or even high school, before their arm exploded.

 

Baseball changed once The Cosby Show debuted.

 

Yeah, I'm sure Juan Marichal would suck today. And don't even think about the inside part of the plate, Bob Gibson.