Short and sweet

[rsc]

Considering how rare complete games are in Major League Baseball these days, it's kind of remarkable that we've been to two of them this year, out of the 7 games total that we've attended. And that's two out of the three that Red Sox pitchers have pitched this year (and the other one was in Oakland).

What was especially nice was that this was a three-hit shutout pitched by Kason Gabbard, the rookie who's filling in while Curt Schilling is on the disabled list. He's been OK -- he pitched really well against the Braves in May -- but nothing to get over-excited about so far. Yeah. this was only the Royals, but still.

It was a very nice game overall, well-pitched on both sides; the unfortunate Kansas City pitcher made a few mistakes, which lwft the park, and that was enough to give the Red Sox a 4-0 win. Some brilliant defense on both sides (although KC left fielder Emil Brown made one really embarrassing error -- a routine fly ball from Lowell that he simply dropped). Best part? Over in 2 hours and 18 minutes. On top of which, an Oak Grove train arrived at Ruggles just as we reached the platform. We were back in Gloucester before 11:00 PM.

Let's see if they can repeat all of that against the White Sox on Thursday. (Well, another complete game would be a lot to ask, although the pitcher on Thursday is Daisuke Matsuzaka, whom we saw pitch "our" other CG.)

Comments

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Could I ask what a "complete game" is? I'm pretty ignorant. I thought that all games went 9 innings.

I know that as an American I'm supposed to know things like this, but perhaps my brain is preparing for renouncing my American citizenship.

[bitty.livejournal.com]

A complete game is a reference to one pitcher pitching the full game. Usually a pitcher lasts 6-7 innings and is replaced by a middle reliever and then by a closer. It is unusual for the starting pitcher to pitch a complete game, since that's an awful lot of pitches and exhausting work, and it's in the team's best interest to keep that arm fresh and ready to work another 6 innings a few days later.
But if a pitcher is really on fire, you leave them in as long as they keep pitching well and sometimes get a full game out of them.

[chrishansenhome.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the information. Now when I renounce my citizenship, I can at least do so in the knowledge that I am aware of what a "complete" baseball game is.

When I was a kid I seem to recall that most games had the pitcher continuing for the entire game unless he suddenly started to pitch badly. My memory may be faulty, as I never paid much attention to baseball games on the radio or TV except for the advertisements: I loved those White Owl cigar ads. The cigars, however, were pretty noxious.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

No, your memory is correct. The complete game has become rarer and rarer, and there are a number of reasons for this, having to do with the fact that pitchers are using a wider variety of pitches that (are presumed to) put more strain on their arms, and that salaries have become so huge that teams are paying more attention to protecting their "investments" long-term.

These days a pitcher is rarely allowed to throw many more than 100 pitches in a game. Matsuzaka threw someting like 128 in his CG; it's been noted that in Japan pitchers tend to throw more pitches than in the US (but they also generally get one more day or rest between starts). Gabbard on Monday threw a nice efficient 107.

A couple of quirks about the scoring rules defining a "complete game": if the losing pitcher for the visiting team pitches 8 innings (because the home team doesn't bat in the 9th) he gets credit for a complete game; but a pitcher who pitches 9 (or more) in an extra-inning game, but then gives way to a reliever, does not.