Blast From the Past: Great Pitching Matchups

A huge byproduct of Madison Bumgarner and the Giants clinching the NLDS in game 4 is that Tim LIncecum was freed from the responsibility of pitching a penultimate game 5 and allowed to pitch the first game of the NLCS this coming Saturday against Roy Halladay. This pitching matchup is certainly one of the greatest in the history of the sport, and possibly the greatest, at least in postseason play.

The first great pitching matchup I can remember, at least in the anticipation, was Game 1 of the 1967 World Series. The pitchers? Bob Gibson, he of the 1.12 ERA and the NL Cy Young Award winner vs Denny McLain, the last, probably forever, pitcher to win 30 games in 1 season. That titanic matchup ended up as a bit of a mismatch as Gibson struck out 17 Tigers while McLain got knocked around a bit as the Cardinals won the game 4-0. Gibby and McLain hooked up again in game 4 which was even more of a blowout with the Cards winning 10-1. The Tigers eventually came back to win that series in 7 games, but that is a story for another day.

The next great postseason matchup came the following year, when once again the two Cy Young Award winners, Tom Seaver of the Amazing Mets and Mike Cuellar of the Baltimore Orioles matched up in Game 1. Seaver gave up a HR in the second inning and the O's went on to win 4-1. Cuellar and Tom Terrific hooked up again in Game 4. Seaver took a 1-0 lead into the 9'th inning before the Orioles tied it at 1 with 3 consecutive singles by Boog Powell, Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson. The Mets eventually won 2-1 in 10 innings and went on the win the series 4 games to 1.

In 1970, the reigning Cy Young award winner, MIke Cuellar faced off against the pitcher who would go on to win it that year, Jim Perry of the Twins. This matchup was a complete bust as both starters were gone by the end of the 5'th inning and the O's won a slugfest 10-6, that included a grand slam HR by Mike Cuellar, obviously before the DH came to the AL.

A similar scenario occurred the the NL when Dwight Gooden and the Mets took on Mike Scott and the Astros in 1986. This one lived up to it's billing as Scott went 9 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 14 K's to make a Glen Davis HR in the 2'nd inning stand up for a 1-0 victory. Man, doesn't that line by Scott remind you an awful lot of Timmy's last gem?

Then in 1991, Tom Glavine went against Doug Drabek of the Pirates, a team that featured Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Andy Van Slyke in the middle of their lineup. The Pirates took that game 5-1.

Perhaps the greatest post season matchup in terms of lifetime achievement in the game occured in 2001 when RJ of the D'Backs went against Greg Maddux of the Braves. At the time, the two pitchers had 7 Cy Young awards to their credit! Both pitchers, however were nearing the end of their careers although Johnson was still amazingly dominant. Maddux pitched well, but RJ dominated with a line of 9 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 K's. RJ would go on to duplicate that in the WS against the Yankees the same year.

So, how does the upcoming duel between Roy Halladay, the possible 2010 Cy Young Award winner and owner of a perfect game and postseason no-hitter all in this one season, and Tim Lincecum, the reigning 2 time Cy Young award winner and 3 time NL strikeout leader compare to the historic events outlined above? Well, unlike the RJ/Maddux matchup, both pitchers are in the prime of their careers. Halladay, perhaps at the pinnacle and Timmy, who knows? It's been a great ride so far, though! Unlike the Gibson/McLain matchup which was really very lopsided in terms of true measures of pitching dominance(no, Wins are not part of that equation), Doc and Timmy have both truly dominated opposing hitters for a sustained period of time. They are both coming off what may be the best performances of their respective careers. Of course, Halladay pitched the no-no, but by some measures, Timmy's 2 hit, 14 K performance against the Braves was even more dominant. Probably the closest matchups in terms of two dominant pitchers at the peaks of their careers would be the Cuellar-Seaver matchup of 1969 and the Doc Gooden- Mike Scott matchup of 1991. Neither of those are games that immediately came to my mind and I'm guessing they didn't come to yours either.

It is surprising to me how few truly great postseason pitching matchups have occured in the last 45 years. Maybe it has something to do with expansion and the diluting of pitching talent. Maybe it has to do with the relative dominance of hitting over the last 20 years or so. Whatever the reason, these kinds of matchups are really quite rare. The upcoming NLCS series opener featuring starting pitchers Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum is certainly one of the great postseason pitching matchups in baseball history, and possibly the greatest.

What do you think?

PS: I would like to acknowledge a link from last night's discussion in Extra Baggs to a NY Times blog post,

http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/keeping-score-lincecum-and-halladay-in-history

for most of the historical information for this post.