This is my favorite time of year - warmer weather, plants budding, and baseball beginning. After the very unstable start of the MLB season in Japan between the Red Sox and the A's, the real MLB season is about to begin. As always, the Texas Rangers are not expected to do much of anything. In fact, it will probably be considered a success if they win 70 games this year. Even so, I love baseball. (I am disappointed that the Rangers will only be televised on regular TV about 40 times this season. As one of the few remaining people in the country with just rabbit-ears as our TV service, I am frustrated that so many games will be on Fox Sports rather than My 27 or whatever the station is currently called.)
Of course, the Ranger problem this year is a familiar one - pitching. It has been maddening to see the many pitching duds come to town. From Oil Can Boyd to Chan Ho Park to Kevin Millwood, it seems that the Rangers have a hard time landing good pitching. So I began to wonder, "Who are the best pitchers I have ever personally seen pitch?" Not on TV, but in person, at the stadium (or Field, or Ballpark). Here's what I have determined are the best pitchers I have ever seen (in no particular order):
1. Nolan Ryan - Arlington Stadium - early 90s. Even though I missed his 7th no-hitter (9th grade Biology Bug project), I was fortunate enough to see Ryan on other occasions. Definitely one of the greatest.
2. Greg Maddux - Wrigley Field 2006. I don’t have a list of things to do before I die, but if I did, I always said that watching Greg Maddux in person would be one of them. In my opinion, he is the best pitcher in my lifetime. I know that he has deteriorated a bit over the last few years, but in his prime, the Cy Young Award could have been renamed the Greg Maddux Award. Nothing imposing about his presence, just knows how to pitch.
3. Roger Clemens - Fenway 91? and Tampa 2002. I will set aside his performance enhancing drug use to say this - He was awesome to watch in person. While he was with the Red Sox, I saw him at Fenway, then as a Yankee, he was making a rehab start for the Yankees AAA team in Tampa. I got to watch him for a $1. He has the presence and he was good.
4. Pedro Martinez - Spring Training 2002. Yes it was just a Spring Training game, but he was amazing. I am glad I got to see him in person. He may rival Greg Maddux as the greatest pitcher of my lifetime.
Honorable Mention - Kenny Rogers - Ballpark - Perfect Game. I only saw the last inning. I was working one summer at the Ballpark, exchanging the vendor's money for their product. As he got closer to the perfect game, the vendors began to cash out for the night so they could go watch it. I counted the money quickly and headed out too. I sat in the outfield bleachers with $5000 in a bag, high-five-ing drunk guys all around me. It was awesome. And I made it to the bank safely with the money too.
Well, that's my list.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
The greatest pitching performances I saw were Nolan Ryan's 7th no-hitter at Arlington Stadium and Randy Johnson's perfect game in Atlanta.
I also remember seeing Clemens pitch at Arlington Stadium and being so dominant for 8 innings. The, whoever he was with (Boston or Toronto) pulled and and put in there closer for the 9th. Rangers scored 2 runs to win 2-1.
Gaylord Perry was a master with his spitter, puff ball, and other gimmick pitches. He was old when he was with the Rangers but he was a great pitcher.
I also used to enjoy watching Bert Blyleven pitch. He had an incredible curve.
Post a Comment