First, Buehrle’s no-hitter. No one talks about the Hairston at-bat. That’s because people don’t get it. I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing was said at the time. The fact is that Hairston got a hit, but because he decided to slide into first base, was out. That’s an error. If a guy hit a HR but missed first, is that a “real” no-hitter? It is in the books, but perhaps that should be changed. Pitchers aren’t “credited” for giving up a hit when a fielder makes an error, so why should they get the benefit when the runner makes an error?
Now, the perfect game. Buehrle continued to throw offspeed pitches the entire game, but the Rays kept swinging as if the pitches were fastballs. He normally throws offspeed pitches, and when he does throw fastballs, they are out of the strike zone. Let’s say that I haven’t figured out that batters should face Buehrle looking for offspeed pitches, but I’m managing this game. It’s now the 4th inning, and we haven’t had a baserunner. EVERY pitch is an offspeed pitch (by Buehrle’s own admission). Here’s my logic: I tell my players to go up to bat looking offspeed. If Buehrle changes and starts throwing fastballs, he’ll fool my hitters for a while until I change my strategy again, but in the meantime, I’m NO WORSE OFF than I’ve been the first 4 innings. If I don’t have my batters look offspeed, he’ll keep doing what he’s doing and dominate us. I actually have no choice if you think about it. It’s a manager’s (and football coach’s) job to adjust during the game. Buehrle threw offspeed pitches the entire game, and the Rays NEVER adjusted. If you look at the replays of the outs, you’ll see how far ahead of the pitches the batters were. If he was getting them out on location, fine, but they were way ahead of the pitch. Again, 4th inning, no baserunners, and I’m not going to adjust? This is why he looked so dominant, but people just don’t get the stupidity of what the Rays did. If I am playing someone one-on-one in basketball, and every time I have the ball I go to my right, are they going to continue to play defense as if I was going to my left? This is the same thing. The Cubs did this against Arizona in the playoffs. In the second inning of Game 1, I told a number of people the Cub hitters were always looking fastball and every pitch was offspeed. They never adjusted in the first two games. This was talked about months later in the press, and I said it in the second inning of Game 1! It was so obvious, but no one else said anything and Piniella and the batters never adjusted. So, Arizona looked dominant, and that’s what people remember. The team that beat them in the next round said they went up to bat looking for offspeed pitches! I look for reasons, and in the Buehrle case, the Rays’ offensive strategy was moronic. Even if it was idiotic going into the game, not adjusting is incredible! How often do you have to fail before you make a change, especially one so obvious, when virtually EVERY pitch was offspeed? Buehrle said after the game almost every pitch was a curve or change, and he threw very, very few fastballs and cutters. Here’s Buehrle’s comment after the game: “I think I threw all curveballs and changeups. I didn’t throw too many fastballs or too many cutters. Normally, I’m going to say if I throw 100 pitches, 30 or 35 are going to be cutters. I probably threw 5 today.” I heard that the Rays’ announcers were also criticizing the Rays’ batters’ approach all game.
Additional points:
1. Buerhle gave up a hit that went over the outfield wall, but was robbed by Wise.
2. Buerhle gave up some line drives that just happened to be hit at people.
3. By his own admission, Buehrle had luck, since he said two hit balls were just inches foul (and the line drives were hit at people).
One more point: Buehrle quick pitches so the hitters don’t have time to get ready. Although this is legal (I believe it should not be), it is very poor sportsmanship and gives the pitcher a huge advantage. If no one is on base, the batters can’t take practice swings and can’t get fully comfortable in the batter’s box. Again, I know this is legal. I said last year that if I was managing against Buehrle, I would have my hitters take about 10 slow practice swings between pitches. This, too, is very poor sportsmanship, but I would explain to the umpires that if Buehrle wanted to continue to quick pitch, this was the way we were going to combat it. It’s ridiculous that the batters aren’t entitled to settle in. This is a HUGE advantage for the pitcher, which takes away from any dominance and probably played a major part in the perfect game.