MLB Showdown Obsession

 There were a lot of bad memories from 1994 because of the strike . Great runs and exciting record chases were tainted by the way it all ended, with the cancellation of the postseason and World Series. There was one moment though that was safe to stand on it's own without being ruined. Kenny Rogers of all people, hurled a perfect game against the California Angels. On July 28, 1994, the Rangers hosted the Angels with the specter of the strike looming just a couple weeks away. The Ballpark at Arlington was known as a very friendly hitters park, but on this night Rogers gave the Angels no chance to take advantage, as they cruised to a 4-0 win. Kenny kept his pitch count under 100 and only went to a 3-ball count three times as he struck out 8. The game was a bit of revenge for the Rangers. 10 years before, Mike Witt of the Angels pitched a perfect game of his own against the Rangers. This is currently the only instance of the same two teams pitching perfect games against each other. ...

 The 12 perfect game pitchers in history before the 1990's had one thing in common. Each one of them were American, born and raised in the good 'ol USA. Baseball today has an overabundance of international talent, so it goes without saying that that similarity would no longer be the case sooner or later. Dennis Martinez hailed from Nicaragua, and on July 28, 1991 he went into Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and pitched baseball's 13th perfect game. To really add to the not-American flair, he happened to pitch the 2-0 game as a member of the Montreal Expos, baseballs first Canadian based team. The Dodgers at this time were dealing with some serious offensive problems as two days before they were being no-hit into the 9th inning against the Expos before they managed to steal away the win in extra innings. Today, Martinez would ensure this time they wouldn't have any hope as he mowed down the lineup for 5 Strikeouts. At this time, perfect games were becoming pretty common wi...

 The Hall of Fame debuted a new group of people to honor in 1971. In addition to the players, Managers, umpires, executives and pioneers, the Hall announced that they will also honor the Negro League players, who were not affiliated with MLB and will be honored with their own selections (as opposed to the previous Federal League, for example, that was absorbed by MLB and got no separate distinction) to be in the Hall alongside MLB legends. The BBWAA voters agreed to zero new entries while the Veterans Committee came through with the most names ever in their run. Also inducted: George Weiss (Pioneer / Executive) Farm Director and later Vice President of the New York Yankees that produced 9 pennant winners and 8 World Series champions from 1932-1947. Became General Manager in 1947 where he oversaw 10 additional pennants and 7 championships. Joined the front office of the New York Mets when they were created. Satchel Paige - Negro Leagues

 The strikeout is often the ultimate goal of a pitcher. Sure, sometimes they'd prefer a double play grounder, but they don't sit in the stands and count the amount of DP balls, they hang Ks to count how dominating the starter is. It's the most futile solo act for a batter. You didn't put the ball in play, couldn't move a runner over or contribute in any meaningful way. When an opposing pitcher really racks up the Ks against your team, it shows how absolutely dominat they were. And when the Starter hands the ball off to the bullpen, then it shows just how bad your team is that day. Hard to win when upwards of 20 guys essentially give out free outs to the opposition. Enter the New York Mets. They have had a bit of a rough history when it comes to strikeout pitchers. They've famously traded away for cheap the greatest strikeout man in history when they sent Nolan Ryan packing as well as Tom Seaver not long after. Their reputation for ruining pitchers is quite alar...