It was just a couple of years ago when Washington Nationals right-hander and Cy Young winner Max Scherzer was climbing the career strikeout leaderboard and asked about the thrill of approaching the exclusive 3,000-strikeout club.
“I wish I could tell you it really meant something,’’ Scherzer said, “but back when those guys pitched, hitters were embarrassed to strike out. Nowadays, it’s just so different. Guys don’t really care. It’s just an out.’’
Well, here we are in 2021, and it’s the same sentiment for no-hitters.
It should be a monumental achievement to throw a no-hitter, and forever be cherished in baseball history, but when there’s a no-hit watch every time you turn on the TV, it loses its glamour.
Corey Kluber of the New York Yankees became the sixth pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter Wednesday, with no-hitters on back-to-back nights after Detroit Tigers pitcher Spencer Turnbull’s no-hitter on Tuesday, and the fourth in the past 15 days.
Why it’s the seventh if you count Madison Bumgarner, who no-hit Atlanta in the second game of a seven-inning doubleheader on April 25.
“I would count that for sure,’’ Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Albert Pujols tells USA TODAY Sports. “Why wouldn’t you count Bumgarner? I know it wasn’t nine innings, but not his fault."
Well, the good folks at Elias realize that if we start counting seven-inning n-hitters this year, it could make a mockery of the record book.
Then again, at the rate pitchers are going, we’re quickly becoming numb to the accomplishment, anyways.
Oh sure, it was cool to see Joe Musgrove become the first pitcher in the 52-year history of the San Diego Padres throw a no-hitter, and Kluber, 35, become the oldest pitcher to throw a no-hitter since David Cone in 1999, but the exhilaration is getting as old as a 10-strikeout game.
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