The pitching numbers that deGrom has registered in these first two and a half months of the season are impressive because in this era where the pitcher is recognized as a quality start every time he allows three runs for every 6 innings thrown, he has an ERA of 0.56 runs allowed for every nine innings pitched, a ghastly figure; Because of his first ten starts, one became a full-game something abnormal in an era where pitch counting has become a determining factor in strategy; because this performance has dusted off one of the most dazzling pitching performances in MLB history, that of Bob Gibson in 1968 (The Year of the Pitcher). Perhaps it seems hasty to make comparisons, the fact is that the deGrom numbers give for that. In my opinion, the table was missing a row, that of innings thrown, with this data it is possible to verify the close similarity of the statistics of both pitchers.
One characteristic where they differ quite a bit is their attitude on the mound, while Gibson was an intense, challenging, ornery pitcher, deGrom is an analytical, slow, abstracted guy. Gibson was able to knock down Hank Aaron or Mickey Mantle himself with a hit pitch, he never stopped looking at them even though they were getting up from the near pitch, with his eyes he seemed to tell them that he was there and that he was not going to let the piece of the ball be removed. his corresponding plate, my older brother told me when we were listening to a game of the 1968 World Series, that when Gibson came to Venezuela in the 1960-61 season with the Indios de Oriente (heir team of the Navegantes del Magallanes franchise) generated an incident in a game against the Leones del Caracas that some classify as legend, others assure that it really happened
As for deGrom, his residence on the mound is summed up in bending down to distinguish the signs of the catcher, if he does not agree he calls him and in three or four words they resolve the differences almost immediately. He can also retreat behind the mound in the middle of a difficult situation, he squeezes the bag of the blonde fish and when the referee heads in his direction deGrom begins to execute the wind up. As the game progresses he becomes more relaxed, focuses in more detail on each batter, makes more surprising deliveries that speak volumes about a selection of pitches that takes into account the most imperceptible details of each batter, of each situation, of the field, of the companions who play the field at a certain moment.
Baseball, despite being subjected to a series of changes that have deeply affected its dynamic nature, always manages to resize itself through the performance of some players who rescue the essence of the game, its competitiveness, its capacity for suspense. All of that has been achieved by deGrom by coming very close to Bob Gibson’s numbers by stringing together a ten-game run with at least 5 innings pitched and at most an earned run allowed. To have a better angle of analysis, it is necessary to add a line: the number of innings thrown, this data explains the apparent advantages of deGrom, without disregarding its merits, in certain categories. Gibson pitched 99 innings in an 11-start run from June 6 to July 30, 1968, while deGrom pitched 64 innings in a run of games from April 5 to June 11, 2021. One of which was complete and whitewashing of the Washington Nationals. Of those 11 Gibson games all were complete, eight shutouts. DeGrom’s ERA stopped at 0.56 to Gibson’s 0.27. The 2021 inhabitant has an (apparent) advantage over the 1968 phenomenon in both the batting average and the OPS of the opponents, .121 by .163; and .372 by .390 respectively, actually those percentage numbers smell a lot like a technical tie. Then there is the statistic that I most associate with the dominance of a pitcher, the strikeout / walk ratio, mainly because of the control image that transmits a lower number of walks; after all, the determining factor in baseball is outs, to get them by strikeout requires at least three pitches, which would explain the profusion of injuries in the pitchers’ arms, to the extent that a pitcher learns to pitch. At the toughest points in the strike zone to hit hits, you’ll be approaching a more stable version of dominance than challenging batters for the strikeout. In this line deGrom shows a meager eight walks in 64 innings to Gibson’s thirteen in 99 innings, which again draws the idea of the technical equalizer.
This tour of 10-11 starts in a row where deGrom maintains the rhythm of the great Bob Gibson makes us wish with relish that the injury of this June 16 to deGrom’s shoulder, is only something temporary, so we could be in the presence of a Pitching duel materialized through the baseball time machine, its background dynamics, the epic of the pitcher, the stoicism of the receiver, the belonging of the teamwork that underlies the concentration of the seven players who shout behind mentally or whistle their backing to their partner on the mound. In that incandescent season of 1968, Gibson was able to complete up to 13 shutouts, we know that for obvious reasons related to the variations in form that baseball presents, deGrom hardly reaches even two or three shutouts. What he can do is maintain that rhythm of so few races allowed during starts of five or more episodes thrown, that would be equivalent to a race of horses engaged in the most fiery head to head to the finish, which would rescue more of the essence. dynamic and competitive baseball.
Another aspect that contributes to deGrom’s rescue from the dynamics of the game is his level of being a good hitter, which confirms that far from distracting the pitcher, having to be an integral player and going out to take turns at bat favors the pitcher to concentrate more. in the game by observing from the plate the weapons that his rival wields and consequently designing the adjustments to properly neutralize the opposing pitcher. deGrom so far this season has driven in six runs and is hitting .423. In 1968 Gibson hit .170 with six RBIs.
I was aware of how intense that dynamic could be in Gibson through that legend with overtones of reality that my older brother had told me, when the tall right-hander reached the end of the ninth inning defeating the Caracas Lions 1-0 in the stadium of the UCV, before the hermetic dominion exercised by Gibson Suddenly the narrator began to say that from the dugout from Caracas began yelling something at Gibson to distract him. In less than five minutes the narrator learned that from the Caracas cave they shouted “Lumumba”To Gibson, alluding to his close resemblance to African political leader Patrick Lumumba. The narrator almost stuttered when he related that on the next pitch Gibson played the wind up facing him dugout and drove the most eerie straight into the underground compartment. A strident silence invaded the stadium, for several seconds you could only hear the ball rattling between the ceiling and the floor of the stadium. dugout that he had been totally lonely. The narrator sensed that the referee could expel Gibson for that incident, but after talking with him manager del Caracas, returned to his place behind home plate and ordered Gibson to keep pitching. Then the lanky pitcher completed his task and finished shutting out perhaps the strongest team in the championship.
Alfonso L. Tusa C. June 18, 2021. ©