Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakota
I think the pendulum is swinging back just a bit on the pitch count idea.
The decline in complete games from historical norms was dramatic once pitch count took over...
Year Complete Games
1974 1,089
1984 632
1994 255
2004 150
However, this season indicates that maybe the rule of the pitch count is losing steam. It started a few year ago with the Texas Rangers, with Nolan Ryan's influence as team President on how they managed their pitchers.
So far this season, 2 pitchers have 6 complete games (Shields and Halladay) and 7 have 3 complete games, with Lee pitching 3 complete game shutouts in a row. 67 MLB pitchers have at least 1 complete game this season. A total of 104 complete games have been pitched so far, just short of the half-way point (if my quick addition of the MLB stat charts is correct).
It's still not "old school" but at least the tyranny of the pitch count seems to be losing influence over managers.
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I have the Nolan Ryan book (signed)
Throwing Heat....while reading it, I was utterly amazed at the number of complete games the pitchers used to throw back in the 70's.
One of my buddies Dad had 4 great season tickets for the Astros at the Dome in the 3rd base Box section (right where Jose Cruz used to hit foul balls).......We always tried to time his getting the tickets to when either JR Richard or Nolan was pitching. He had three brothers, so sometimes it was tough.....
On a side note to older Astros fans.....does anyone remember what a "Foamer" was?
Joel
If nobody does....I will fill you in later....it was a hell of a promotion.....I bet Deputy UIC remembers........lol