With three no-hitters (two of them perfect games!) already in the books…what could June possibly bring? Another no-hitter perhaps?
Perhaps a near perfect game?!? Nooo…that would NEVER happen!
Well…on June 2 it did!
One out away from what would be the third perfect game of the season, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga suffered the greatest on field travesty since Monica Seles got stabbed by that crazed German when umpire Jim Joyce blew what would have been the 27th out of the game.
What followed was mayhem and, well, to be honest…Galarraga got the next out and ended the game with a one-hitter. But, you would have thought Joyce killed a guy…or stabbed a tennis player in the back.
Three weeks later, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Edwin Jackson no-hit the Tampa Bay Rays.
On June 8, the baseball world shifted its focus to Washington DC where 2009’s first overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg made his epic debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Amazingly, the lanky righty struck out an amazing 14 batters and walked no one in just seven innings. And to make that feat all the more noteworthy…there have only been five pitchers since 1900 that have had a 14 strikeout and zero walk performance in any game, at any point in their careers, in which they went seven innings or less. Those five…Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Javier Vazquez, Mike Mussina and Brad Penny.
Not too shabby.
From one of the game’s youngest pitchers to the oldest. On June 22, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer gave up his record tying 505th home run. In his next start, the lefty surrendered number 506 when Vernon Wells jerked one out of the park.
Lost in the headlines surrounding the aforementioned Galarraga-Joyce debacle and Strasburg’s debut was the retirement of one of the game’s greats…Ken Griffey Jr. “The Kid” ended his career fifth on the all-time home run list with 630 bombs, ten straight Gold Gloves and 13 All-Star appearances.
Last season, much was made when Derek Jeter surpassed Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig and became the New York Yankees all-time hit leader. On June 17 of this year, infielder Michael Young surpassed should-be Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez and became the all-time hit king for the Texas Rangers.
Also in June…Bobby Abreu legged out his 500th double, Ichiro Suzuki scored his 1000th run, Jim Thome crossed home for the 1500th time and Scott Rolen, Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano each reached 300 home runs for their careers.
Three months of the season are in the books, gang. To check out April and May, click HERE or HERE. Naturally…July is up next!
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