Look, I don’t want to say it’s not cool that there was a no-hitter in the World Series. I mean, objectively it’s really cool. It has only happened once in World Series history (and only one other time in postseason history), and it couldn’t be on a bigger stage, and it couldn’t be a more impressive performance, and so on. It’s cool. It is.
But…it could be cooler.
An Astros fan will and should vehemently disagree here, but a combined no-hitter is worse than a regular no-hitter. It is more efficient and probably more likely to work and from a perspective of pure win-the-game it is absolutely a better play.
But it’s less fun. It’s less dramatic. It’s less interesting. Several guys not giving up hits over the course of nine innings is an inherently different story than one guy not giving up hits over the course of nine innings. I’m happy for Cristian Javier for pitching six no-hit innings, but I would be much happier for him if he pitched nine no-hit innings.
That, though, would mean that the Astros would have a less effective pitcher for those last three innings. After all, the last three innings a starter throws are generally going to be his worst three innings, while the first inning each reliever throws is generally going to be his best inning. And because it’s not a priority for a starter to go deep into a game, the Astros didn’t bother with a plan to keep Javier’s arm strength up, so the only move to make in last night’s game was to take him out after six innings.
This is how baseball, by becoming smarter and more efficient, also becomes less fun. Because it would have been more fun to see Javier go out there and try to finish it off himself, and instead we got something that was an objectively better idea for the Astros, but worse for the fans.
There is no solution to this, by the way. You can’t legislate pitcher changes by micromanaging them, at least not without risking injury. Because Javier legitimately shouldn’t have gone more innings because his arm wasn’t built up enough. And it wasn’t the team’s job to build up his arm more — it was their job to win, which they did. The plan worked for them. Just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it didn’t work. The people who were supposed to benefit from it did. Good for them.
10 or 15 years ago, all of us Young Folks who read baseball blogs and consumed baseball content — we did not yet call it content, because the rapacious forces of capitalism had not yet done that to us — would make fun of the old folks who didn’t like how things were suddenly done. “Get over it, Grandpa!” we would say in spirit. “Times are changing! You’re an IDIOT for valuing RBIs over OBP or VORP!”
And in terms of building a good baseball team, yes, that was true. RBIs tell you less about a player’s talent level than OBP (VORP, an early attempt at an Everything Number that we now have other ways to evaluate, such as clicking on the Offense column on Fangraphs, was also better than RBIs). But in terms of a story or a narrative, no, absolutely not. The guy who drives the run in is a more charismatic and interesting figure than the two guys who walked to move that runner from first to third.
We have lost something that made baseball more interesting. We have gained something that makes it played in a manner that is more objectively correct. Cristian Javier had an outstanding game yesterday. It could have been more than that, and no matter how much MLB will try to convince me it was, it’ll always be missing something. When there’s a no-hitter, I’d prefer if it already had everything. More and more, that’s not the world we live in.
Did you know there were combined no-hitters on back to back days? It's true. Tigres del Licey used 5 pitchers to no-hit Toros del Este on November 1st in LIDOM. It was only the 10th no hitter in LIDOM history, fwiw.
Former Texas Ranger/Cincinnati Red Lisalvero Bonilla started the game for Licey, pitched an inning with a walk and 2 K, and then didn't return due to a cramp. He was replaced by Elniery García who hurled 5 perfect innings (7K) and then three relievers closed it out with 39 year old Jairo Asencio picking up the save. The only baserunner was the courtesy of the first inning walk by Bonilla.
Notable: Licey is in first place, Toros are in last. Toros had fired their manager a few games earlier and the team responded by ending a 5 game losing streak. The no-no immediately followed that victory, they've now lost two in a row, and they haven't scored a run in 21 innings as they sit with a 4-12 record.
Great call - I had the same feeling about the meh no-hitter, but couldn't figure out why.
Don Larson - now THAT was an Uber Series No Hitter.