Yeah - I mean - how lucky are we? We get to watch one of the greatest pitchers ever having one of his best years every - and we get to watch one of the best hitters ever as well.
Paul O'Neil, talking about A-Rod, was saying how some guys are just better than the rest. How A-Rod could "just miss" a pitch and still hit it over the center field wall in any ballpark. And sure enough he did just that last night. He didn't kill it - but it went 410 anyway. I get sorta numb to it, 'cause we see it plenty enough, but to hear guys like Paul O'Neil talk about it in such reverential tones - that's neat. Makes you step back and appreciate it - all over again.
And Hershiser (I think) was waxing poetic about Mo's incredible command of the strike zone. Or maybe it was one of the guys on Fox - I forget. The point remains - even very talented guys like Hershiser have tremendous respect for what Mo can accomplish.
Kinda fun to watch first ballot hall of famers do their thing, night after night. We're lucky sob's, no doubt about it.
Of course, career rate stats don't tell the whole story. Had Gossage retired after 1985, his career ERA+ would have been in Mariano's territory, and Mo's could still lose his dominance in the final two years of his contract.
Then again, if we are limiting our comparison to peak periods, we need to consider the duration of the peaks. Goose's peak, though possibly as dominant as Mo's, lasted only 10 years (1975-1985, minus 1976). Rollie Fingers' peak lasted 11 years (1973-1844, minus 1979). Rivera is now in the 13th year of his peak. He's the best.
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Yeah - I mean - how lucky are we? We get to watch one of the greatest pitchers ever having one of his best years every - and we get to watch one of the best hitters ever as well.
Paul O'Neil, talking about A-Rod, was saying how some guys are just better than the rest. How A-Rod could "just miss" a pitch and still hit it over the center field wall in any ballpark. And sure enough he did just that last night. He didn't kill it - but it went 410 anyway. I get sorta numb to it, 'cause we see it plenty enough, but to hear guys like Paul O'Neil talk about it in such reverential tones - that's neat. Makes you step back and appreciate it - all over again.
And Hershiser (I think) was waxing poetic about Mo's incredible command of the strike zone. Or maybe it was one of the guys on Fox - I forget. The point remains - even very talented guys like Hershiser have tremendous respect for what Mo can accomplish.
Kinda fun to watch first ballot hall of famers do their thing, night after night. We're lucky sob's, no doubt about it.
Sign me up for more.
Then again, if we are limiting our comparison to peak periods, we need to consider the duration of the peaks. Goose's peak, though possibly as dominant as Mo's, lasted only 10 years (1975-1985, minus 1976). Rollie Fingers' peak lasted 11 years (1973-1844, minus 1979). Rivera is now in the 13th year of his peak. He's the best.
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.