ABSTRACT:

Sure it is never going to be 1968 again,but there is a mound of evidence to indicate a pitching rebirth.

Winning the arms race

Major league statistics for this season going into the weekend as compared to final stats from last year to show how offense is down and pitching is better so far in the majors:

2001 2002

ERA 4.41 4.23

BATTING AVG .264 .258

ON-BASE PCT .332 .330

SLUGGING PCT .427 .411

HR/PER GAME 2.25 1.93

QUALITY START PCT 48.2 49.6