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manchild98
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Other good stuff in this article about rare feats that could possibly happen this year...
If you haven't perused the always-entertaining major league strikeout leaderboard lately, now would be a good time. Go ahead. Check it out. We'll wait.
Well, now that you're back, did you notice something? The two pitchers who lead the big leagues in strikeouts happen to work for the same team. That would be Justin Verlander and his partner in swing-and-miss-ation, Max Scherzer, of your Detroit Tigers.
And, if they go on to pull off this quiniela, they'll be in rarefied territory. Since 1900, only five other sets of teammates have ranked 1-2 in the big leagues in strikeouts in the same season. Here's the group (and you've heard of them):
2003 Cubs -- Kerry Wood, Mark Prior
2001-02 Diamondbacks -- Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling
1976 Angels -- Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana
1962 Dodgers -- Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale
1930 Athletics -- Lefty Grove, George Earnshaw
So how about that for cool company? But if you'll zoom in a little closer, you'll detect something else: Just one of those deadly duos -- Ryan and Tanana -- rose to the top of that mountain while pitching in a league where pitchers didn't get to hit. In fact, Ryan-Tanana is the only set of AL teammates to pull this off in the past eight decades.
It's incredible to think that Bob Feller and Bob Lemon never did this. Or Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. Sam McDowell and Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina. Or even Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett, for that matter.
But there's an excellent reason they never did it, obviously: It's really, really, really hard to do -- in any era. So appreciate just how dominant Verlander and Scherzer really are. And remember, that's one more reason the rest of the American League is pulling hard for the Tigers not to make the playoffs.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings120831/mike-trout-derek-jeter-others-chasing-history
If you haven't perused the always-entertaining major league strikeout leaderboard lately, now would be a good time. Go ahead. Check it out. We'll wait.
Well, now that you're back, did you notice something? The two pitchers who lead the big leagues in strikeouts happen to work for the same team. That would be Justin Verlander and his partner in swing-and-miss-ation, Max Scherzer, of your Detroit Tigers.
And, if they go on to pull off this quiniela, they'll be in rarefied territory. Since 1900, only five other sets of teammates have ranked 1-2 in the big leagues in strikeouts in the same season. Here's the group (and you've heard of them):
2003 Cubs -- Kerry Wood, Mark Prior
2001-02 Diamondbacks -- Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling
1976 Angels -- Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana
1962 Dodgers -- Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale
1930 Athletics -- Lefty Grove, George Earnshaw
So how about that for cool company? But if you'll zoom in a little closer, you'll detect something else: Just one of those deadly duos -- Ryan and Tanana -- rose to the top of that mountain while pitching in a league where pitchers didn't get to hit. In fact, Ryan-Tanana is the only set of AL teammates to pull this off in the past eight decades.
It's incredible to think that Bob Feller and Bob Lemon never did this. Or Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich. Sam McDowell and Luis Tiant, Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina. Or even Roy Halladay and A.J. Burnett, for that matter.
But there's an excellent reason they never did it, obviously: It's really, really, really hard to do -- in any era. So appreciate just how dominant Verlander and Scherzer really are. And remember, that's one more reason the rest of the American League is pulling hard for the Tigers not to make the playoffs.
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/rumblings120831/mike-trout-derek-jeter-others-chasing-history
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