Any other week in baseball, I would spend this column talking about Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants, who is quickly becoming my favorite non–Red Sox baseball player. Lincecum, in his playoff debut, tossed a two-hitter in the first game of the National League Division Series.
Given that the final score was 1-0, that's some massive cojones to go out there and pitch that masterfully when you've never been in a playoff game before and only have one run of support.
Lincecum also landed in some hot water after game three of that series for yelling at Atlanta Braves fans, "Yeah! Shut the f— up!" after Aubrey Huff knocked home the game-tying run. It's also worth noting that Lincecum looks like a cross between Adrien Brody and that kid in high school who stared at you from across the cafeteria until you made uncomfortable eye contact. His nickname is "The Freak" and he offered up this quote to the Kansas City Star about what it was like for the Giants to win their NLDS matchup: "A lot of swearing, a lot of screaming, a lot of alcohol."
I love this guy and would have loved to write a column about him.
But last week belonged to one man.
It wasn't Randy Moss, who CBS Sports reported really did make fun of Brady's hair before being dealt to the Vikings — when I wrote that last week, it was a joke. It wasn't Donovan
McNabb, who lead the Redskins to a thrilling overtime win over the Packers. It wasn't even Brett Favre, who has been accused of sending lewd text images of himself to various women.
It really takes a special athletic performance to overshadow the image of Brett Favre texting naked pictures of his wrinkly glory to sideline reporters, but Roy Halladay's no-hitter against the
Reds last week in game one of the NLDS was the most awe-inspiring sports moment of the decade.
There have been 2,430 Major League Baseball games played every year since 1962 when the schedule was expanded. This means that in the past 49 years, 119,070 games of major league baseball have been played. In that time frame, 126 no-hitters have been thrown. This means that a no hitter is thrown every 945 games of Major League Baseball. The average number of postseason games played a year is 33. This means we should have seen 1.7 postseason no hitters since '62.
But as much as baseball is a game of numbers and averages, almost no man had risen to the challenge of throwing a postseason no-hitter. In fact, the only man before Halladay who had done so in the history of Major League Baseball was Don Larsen of the New York Yankees in 1956.
In order to throw a postseason no-hitter you have to be confident. You have to believe. Above all else, you have to be good.
Enter Roy "Doc" Halladay. His story is one filled with heartbreak, disappointment, redemption and glory. He entered the league with the Blue Jays as one of the top pitching prospects. But when Doc came to professional ball, he hit a rough patch and was demoted all the way down to the Jays Single-A affiliate. But through the help of coaches, hard work and the support of his family, Halladay clawed his way back up to the big leagues and started dazzling.
The AL East is not an easy place to pitch. Playing for the Jays, Halladay was forced to pitch against perennial powerhouse teams in the Red Sox, Yankees and Rays. In his time there, Halladay was a six-time All-Star selection and was awarded the Cy Young award in 2003.
I was interested to see what Halladay could accomplish after escaping the vortex of awful in Toronto, and my curiosity was answered this year when Halladay signed with the Phillies. Doc has been unstoppable in the National League, tossing nine complete games, four shutouts and posting a 2.44 ERA with the Phils. Oh, and he also threw a regular season perfect game. A feat that had until then only been accomplished 19 times in the history of baseball.
But how would he perform in the postseason?
I guess pretty well. Doc allowed one baserunner en route to only the second post-season no-no in MLB history. He is the best pitcher in baseball right now. All Halladay needs to cement his status as the premier pitcher of his generation is a ring. And right now, the Fighting Phils appear to be in great position to give him that chance.
If you like pitcher's duels, watch the National League Championship Series opener this Saturday when the aforementioned Freak from San Francisco and Doc Halladay square off in what I think will be one of the greatest pitching postseason matchups in recent years. I'm as excited as Brett Favre around an attractive sideline reporter.
Sam Sheehan '12 can't help but make fun of Brett Favre. E-mail him at sam_sheehan [at] brown.edu.
