MLB Showdown Obsession

 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...

 1970 was a pretty run-of-the-mill year as far as the behind the curtain situation was going. No major changes tot he process, no run-off vote controversies, the BBWAA agreed to a new name for enshrinement (Lou Boudreau) and the Veterans Committee added more names to go with him. One interesting thing to point out this year though was the Veterans Committee's decision to include Ford C. Frick as a reminder that they can choose executives and umpires as well as the usual assortment of Managers and old time players. Also inducted: Ford Frick (Pioneer/Executive)  National League President and later Commissioner of Baseball. As NL President, helped to set up the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. As Commissioner, oversaw the league through the first expansion era.

There are bad teams every year. But historically bad teams are rare. Usually there is a very good reason for teams that are not just bad, but putrid. We handwave expansion teams because it's hard to win with a freshly assembled team of castoffs with no chemistry. This is why that for the longest time that the 1962 Mets and their 120 losses are understandable. During their run as the worst all time there have been a few notable contenders, including the 1998 Marlins who were bad as a result of cheap ownership committing a fire sale after a World Series title, and the 2003 Tigers who came within 1 loss of tying the record. In 2024, the record for losses finally fell as the poorly constructed Chicago White Sox failed their way into history. Chicago didn't waste time starting the season in historically bad fashion; their 3-22 record out of the gate was their worst in franchise history, and tied for the worst in the Wild Card era. Only the 1988 Orioles had a more dismal start. They...