Perfect!

Jim Craik · 14th June 2012, 01:06 AM

Congratulations to Mat Cain, who just pitched the first perfect game is Giants history!

Well done!

In all the hundreds of thousands of baseball games, only 22 perfect games have ever been pitched.

Malcolm · 14th June 2012, 07:56 AM

Jim, you had better explain in simple terms to those of us who have no idea what you are talking about! :-)

Jim Rosenthal · 14th June 2012, 08:17 AM

I think a perfect game is when no player on the opposing team reaches a base; that is, that every batter is out. If you think about it, this requires very good fielding as well, since a batter may get a hit but has to be out on fielding in order for it to be a perfect game. Wikipedia has an article on it.

What is interesting is the number of great pitchers who, despite long and distinguished careers, have NOT pitched a perfect game- Nolan Ryan, for one. He is not among the 22.

Kudos to Matt Cain for achieving Nobel laureate status in baseball..... maybe even better than that, since there are a lot more Nobel laureates than perfect-game pitchers.

Jeff Young · 14th June 2012, 09:31 AM

A perfect game is no hits and no walks.

Jim Craik · 14th June 2012, 10:25 AM

Plus no errors or hit batters.

The only other event in baseball that is more rare, the un-assisted triple play, that has only happened 16 times.

Mesa · 14th June 2012, 10:45 AM

I have only been to three baseball games in my life, the first one was the Giants Ed Halliki's (sp?) no hitter. As a little kid I had no idea what I was seeing, could not understand why this was supposed to be so "fun". All the adults were getting annoyed at us kids for goofing off .... we were soooo bored.

A big congrats to Mr Cain.....although, I'm sure there were some kid's there bored to tears! lol.

Jimmy P · 14th June 2012, 02:04 PM

Malcolm...in its simplest terms...27 batters up and 27 down....what adds to Mr. Cain's achievement is that he struck out 16 batter's of the 27. There is a definite WOW! factor to that.

BTW Malcolm....how many times has a batter hit 6 sixes in one over ala Gareth Sobers during a test match? I think he did it in a test match, Yes?

Not many have done that I'm sure.

Malcolm · 14th June 2012, 03:14 PM

According to Wiki only 4 guys have done it in tests as follows;

6 Sixes in an over

On 31 August 1968, Garfield Sobers became the first man to hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in first-class cricket.[4] The over was bowled by Malcolm Nash in Nottinghamshire's first innings against Glamorgan at St Helen's in Swansea. Nash was a seam bowler but—somewhat rashly, as it turned out—decided to try his arm at spin bowling. This achievement was caught on film.[5]

The feat was repeated by Ravi Shastri in January 1985. Playing for Bombay against Baroda at the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay, Shastri hit left-arm spinner Tilak Raj for six sixes in a single over.

On 16 March 2007, in a match between South Africa and the Netherlands at the 2007 Cricket World Cup, Herschelle Gibbs became the first person to hit six sixes off an over in a One Day International match. The over was bowled by Dutch leg-spinner Daan van Bunge.[6]

On 19 September 2007, in a match between England and India, Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh hit six sixes off a single six-ball over in a Twenty20 international cricket match during the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup in Durban, South Africa. The bowler was Stuart Broad of England.

However this not allow for county cricket etc where it probably has happened as well.

As to baseball, I get the gist but not the detail. Cricket is way simpler.....honest!

Jimmy P · 14th June 2012, 04:44 PM

Great stuff. I've seen the Sobers Six film and it was quite the feat. Looks like the spinners take a beating.

GT40GoldParts.com · 14th June 2012, 06:52 PM

Isn't baseball a minority sport?
Shouldn't it be preserved ?

After all, its only played by a few million, unlike " Association Football ", (Soccer in " American Speak",) that is each weekend viewed by at least a 3.6 Billion truly worldwide audience ( that was BILLION, not million ).

Period...

Jim Craik · 14th June 2012, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Isn't baseball a minority sport?

Andrew

You mean kind of like Cricket?

GT40GoldParts.com · 15th June 2012, 05:46 AM

Jim,
Far from it.
Its reckoned that throughout the Indian Subcontinent, cricket, at all levels,
is played by some 50 - 60 million people per week. God knows what the viewing figures are.Guess that also trounces baseball.

Malcolm · 15th June 2012, 07:30 AM

Won't be rude and suggest we add softball and rounders to the baseball figures.....However what does make me wonder is that there are mainstream sports in the US such as baseball and NFL that just are not mainstream elsewhere off their continent and vice versa. Nothing wrong with the US sports nor ours in return. I just find it odd that soccer/football is the nearest thing to a global sport that encompasses the US at a high level.

Jim Craik · 15th June 2012, 10:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie Farley

Jim,
Far from it.
Its reckoned that throughout the Indian Subcontinent, cricket, at all levels,
is played by some 50 - 60 million people per week. God knows what the viewing figures are.Guess that also trounces baseball.

But then 50 - 60 million people a week listen to rap music.

Erik · 15th June 2012, 10:32 PM

Wait did some one say circket is simpler then American baseball. I have tried to understand cricket my whole life. Every time I read about how to play it I get a headache. American Baseball is really simple. I don't know if you guys play kick ball across the pond. But its the same rules almost.

Any way Congrats to him. I grew up as a Nolan Ryan fan. I would have loved to be a pitcher as a kid. I had the arm for it. But I liked hitting more. Plus I destroyed my arm in high school. I cant even play catch for long any more.