Thanks as always, it's really great to get that feedback, truly. My goal with a lot of my writing is to give modern readers the enjoyment of baseball stories they may have missed, or to refresh their enjoyment from experiencing them when they happened. Either way, you're telling me my plan is working!
Paul, as a committed 9-year-old Cubs fan living in Chicago’s North Shore in 1969, I love reading anything about that team and those players - keep ‘em coming. I was researching an upcoming piece on my wasted youth (or, at least wasted summers), spending a lot of time watching Cubs games in WGN in the 1970’s, and stumbled across the end of a Holtzman no-hitter - it must have been the other one, because it wasn’t Hank Aaron, and it ended with a strikeout. And, if Rule of Three decides to conduct its first email interview, you’ll be the guy we contact.
Thanks Bill, love all of this and looking forward to that piece very much! It's kind of a "when it rains, it pours" thing with these Cubs, since I started with the '69 Mets, then wrote about the advent of the Wrigley basket, that took me to Phil Regan, and it just so happens that the first player I could write about also played an essential role on those teams. More organized writers might space these pieces out more carefully but I am determined to just go where the creative winds take me and see what happens. But with that said, they are a fascinating group, with incredible talent, characters, and plotlines. Do you remember the time P.K. Wrigley put a letter in the Chicago Tribune backing Durocher in a dispute with the players and added as a postscript: "If only we could have more players like Ernie Banks." Just incredible stuff.
Paul, is it rarer now to have a no-hitter because pitchers rarely pitch nine innings anymore? Or were no-hitters just as rare when Ken Holtzman pitched?
I don't think innings limits are a big factor because in most circumstances if a modern pitcher has a no-hitter cooking, he gets to keep pitching. There are a few instances where guys have been pulled but I think they made the news because they were rare. I did some looking into this and found this nice little summary:
There are a few charts there but it seems to me that no-hitter frequency generally follows larger patterns of pitching dominance and vice versa. And since we are in a mini-era of pitching dominance we've seen some pretty good years of no-hitters recently. Ken's was the 5th of 6 in 1969, and the past two seasons we had 4 each. In 2021 there were nine! This year, so far, only 1, despite it being a pitcher's dream out there. I'm not a #statguy, fair warning, but to me no hitter rates seems like kind of a fluky stat.
Paul, please keep up the good works. Your stories take me away from my problems and those of the world. Isn't that what baseball was always about?
My 2c worth says no hitters were just as rare.
Thanks as always, it's really great to get that feedback, truly. My goal with a lot of my writing is to give modern readers the enjoyment of baseball stories they may have missed, or to refresh their enjoyment from experiencing them when they happened. Either way, you're telling me my plan is working!
Brilliant.
I approve the content and I'm pretty sure Ken Holtzman would admire the compact delivery. Thank you!
Paul, as a committed 9-year-old Cubs fan living in Chicago’s North Shore in 1969, I love reading anything about that team and those players - keep ‘em coming. I was researching an upcoming piece on my wasted youth (or, at least wasted summers), spending a lot of time watching Cubs games in WGN in the 1970’s, and stumbled across the end of a Holtzman no-hitter - it must have been the other one, because it wasn’t Hank Aaron, and it ended with a strikeout. And, if Rule of Three decides to conduct its first email interview, you’ll be the guy we contact.
Thanks Bill, love all of this and looking forward to that piece very much! It's kind of a "when it rains, it pours" thing with these Cubs, since I started with the '69 Mets, then wrote about the advent of the Wrigley basket, that took me to Phil Regan, and it just so happens that the first player I could write about also played an essential role on those teams. More organized writers might space these pieces out more carefully but I am determined to just go where the creative winds take me and see what happens. But with that said, they are a fascinating group, with incredible talent, characters, and plotlines. Do you remember the time P.K. Wrigley put a letter in the Chicago Tribune backing Durocher in a dispute with the players and added as a postscript: "If only we could have more players like Ernie Banks." Just incredible stuff.
“Let’s play two.”
Paul, is it rarer now to have a no-hitter because pitchers rarely pitch nine innings anymore? Or were no-hitters just as rare when Ken Holtzman pitched?
I don't think innings limits are a big factor because in most circumstances if a modern pitcher has a no-hitter cooking, he gets to keep pitching. There are a few instances where guys have been pulled but I think they made the news because they were rare. I did some looking into this and found this nice little summary:
https://miscbaseball.wordpress.com/2011/08/20/summarizing-the-history-of-major-league-no-hitters/
There are a few charts there but it seems to me that no-hitter frequency generally follows larger patterns of pitching dominance and vice versa. And since we are in a mini-era of pitching dominance we've seen some pretty good years of no-hitters recently. Ken's was the 5th of 6 in 1969, and the past two seasons we had 4 each. In 2021 there were nine! This year, so far, only 1, despite it being a pitcher's dream out there. I'm not a #statguy, fair warning, but to me no hitter rates seems like kind of a fluky stat.
Thanks for the great answer and the link!