Good Lord, what a gem by Matt Harvey. As Joel Sherman wrote, Harvey reminded the White Sox of their nemesis Justin Verlander.
I’ll be writing on this more tonight when I go to Citi Field (please don’t tell the competition), but a lesser point: Shouldn’t last night’s performance by Harvey forever bury the notion that pitchers’ wins are a measure to be taken seriously?
It would have been one thing if the Mets had proceeded to lose last night’s game. Then I could understand any sympathy toward Harvey. But does any Mets fan care this morning that Bobby Parnell got the win? I can’t imagine. Instead, there’s a justifiable thrill over the way Harvey pitched, and that it led to a Mets victory.
Harvey’s brilliance last night will count toward consideration for the All-Star Game start (at Citi Field of course) for the National League. It will count toward his NL Cy Young Award case. No one with even a crumb of common sense will consider Harvey’s no-decision a demerit.
Pitcher wins are cute and we’ve been tracking them for over 100 years, so there’s no reason to throw the statistic in the garbage. But really. If Harvey’s effort last night wasn’t a “winning” game in the greater spirit of the word, then what was?
—J.A. Happ’s scary injury understandably drew plenty of attention last night. The most important news is that Happ is reported to be in good spirits this morning and could be released from a Tampa Bay hospital today.
The incident naturally started conversations once more concerning protective gear for pitchers. I put this one in the same box as illegal performance-enhancing drugs, bats and batting helmets: It’s for the players to decide what sort of game they want. Other bodies, including the owners or even Congress, can twist their arms, but the players’ wills carry the most clout.
You’d hope that they find the technology – the Kevlar sounds interesting _ that would allow the pitchers to still feel comfortable doing their jobs while protecting them dramatically more. Baseball is not a fundamentally violent game in the way that football or hockey are, but gosh, it doesn’t get much more terrifying in any sport than a scene like Happ’s accident last night, does it?
–Have a great day.
