Matt Garza pitched a no hitter last night, and was one walk away from a perfect game. It was the 5th no-no and could have been the 3rd perfect game of the season. While baseball purists love seeing low ERAs, and seeing a no hitter is exhilarating, the lack of hitting, and more importantly power hitting, is driving away the fair weather fans.
Baseball needs home runs. In an average game, the most exciting aspect is a home run. It forces people to stand up, providing an emotion of elation or despair. Fans watch sports because of those emotions. A poll in Germany discovered that most would rather see Germany win this past World Cup than experience a night of sex. Sports provides that much emotion. This is why fans care so much that LeBron left his "home" in Cleveland. This is why there are riots in cities after a championship win or loss. This is why endless money pours out of fans pockets, whether it be on memorabilia, apparel, tickets, or gambling. Sports provides an emotion that is matched by little else.
Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire brought baseball back from the depths of the 1994 strike. One of baseball's darkest hours was followed a few years later by one of it's best seasons. Everyone knew about their chase for the single season home run record, held by Roger Maris. (Still held by him if you believe there needs to be asterisks with the enhancers). It was so intriguing because of the mystique surrounding the home run records.
The home run records are the most sacred. I think this is due to the fact that not everyone can hit them. Plenty of people can get lucky enough to make contact with a ball, but to hit one over a fence is a totally different story. Hand/eye contact plus quick enough wrists and the power behind the swing is not found in everybody. And thus we stand in awe at the majestic home runs. Rather, we stood in awe. Now we stand in speculation as to whether the dinger was enhanced.
The pitchers are ruining our awe with their spectacular efforts. Batting averages are down across the board, strikeouts are up, and attendance is down. I went to a game last week, and I would describe it as the longest game I have ever attended. CC Sabathia and Bruce Chen labored, taking their time between pitches, Jorge Posada visited the mound after nearly every one of Joba Chamberlain's pitches. It wasn't very exciting 'til the 8th inning, because Joba loaded the bases to make things interesting. Then in the bottom half, Yankee bats exploded.
What I will remember most about the game though, is the 2 Yankee home runs. Derek Jeter hit an inside the park home run, which is rare, and Alex Rodriguez hit his 599th. Everyone was standing in the 8th, cameras flashing, in hopes that A-Rod would follow up 599 with 600 in the same night. Instead, he hit probably the most disappointing double of his career.
So you can blame it on the lack of enhancing, a natural cycle of good pitching overtaking good hitting, or better scouting. Any way you put it, the enhancing put a sour taste in many mouths and baseball needs the next McGwire and Sosa to lift attendance, fun, and elation. Only this time, maybe baseball's saviors can be free of enhancement. And maybe they'll be pitchers rather than sluggers.
Or maybe the enhancers will find an undetectable way to enhance and we'll go through the same issues all over again.
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