The Greatest Game Ever Pitched?

On July 2, 1963, what was probably the greatest game ever pitched took place at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Future Hall of Famers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal dueled to a 1-0, 16 inning decision, each pitcher going the distance. The game's lone run came in the bottom of the 16th, when future Hall of Famer Willie Mays homered off Spahn to end it.

Just to add some more future Hall of Famers to the mix, the Braves slugging teammates Hank Aaron and Eddie Matthews opposed the Giants Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda. This game is surely in my top ten woulda-coulda wishlist. See the box score here.

A's Disregard Their Own History

I'm often struck at the difference between the A's and Giants in how they treat their respective histories. Both teams started out as original teams in their respective leagues, the Giants in New York (moving to San Francisco in 1958) and the A's in Philadelphia (moving to Kansas City in 1955 and again to Oakland in 1968). The Giants celebrate their history, flaunt their history, relive their history. The A's seem to neglect - sometimes on purpose - much of theirs.

The Giants fully embrace their history in New York. With the A's, one would hardly know they played in Philly or KC. The Giants have retired uniform numbers for New York players, the A's don't for Philly or KC players. The Haas family, when they owned the A's in the 80's and 90's, seemed to shun the Charlie Finley years almost fully. They recognized hall of fame players and retired their numbers, but didn't greatly celebrate even their 3 consecutive World Series championships of the early 70's.

I wish the A's would embrace their entire history and teach their fans about it. While their history might not be quite as rich as the Giants or Yankees, it's still pretty good.

Fifty Years, Forty Years

This year celebrates the Giants' fifty years in San Francisco. The team moved here in 1958. This means that the A's, who moved here in 1968, have been here forty years. A quick recap of each team's performance over such a time period will prove noteworthy.

The Giants are the winningest team in baseball history. They've been around longer than the Yankees (who have the highest winning percentage ever), and have the second highest winning percentage ever, and first in the NL. Yet they haven't won a World Series here in SF. How can the winningest team ever go over fifty years without winning a championship? They had the best record in baseball during the 60's, winning over 900 games (that's an average of over 90 wins per season for ten years!), yet could only tie for one pennant after a miracle. During the Bonds era, the Giants had the third best winning percentage in baseball, behind the Braves and Yankees, yet no rings.

The A's, on the other hand, have won four World Series since moving here. They have endured one of the most hated owners ever, a bad color combination for fashion, a terrible football stadium remodel, no fans, yet they're one of the most succesful teams in baseball since moving here.

The Giants have had some of the greatest sluggers ever to play for them, including three hall of famers in successive slots in the batting order. Mays, McCovey, Cepeda. No rings. The A's have succeeded mostly on pitching. Four rings. The teams have been as different as night and day, which is great for Bay Area baseball.

Ten Games In History I Would Like To See

Here's a list of ten games in baseball history that I would like to have seen in person.

10 - Game 1 of the 1909 World Series - the war between Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb.

9 - Giants/Braves game in the 60's where Juan Marichal and Warren Spahn dueled a 16 inning scoreless affair (both pitched complete games). Willie Mays won it with a homer in the bottom of the 16th, 1-0. Probably the greatest game ever pitched.

8 - 1984 All-Star Game in San Francisco, because I didn't go.

7 - Nolan Ryan's sixth no-hitter in Oakland. I was going to go but stayed home because I felt ill.

6 - Game 7 of the 1962 World Series, even though the Giants lost.

5 - A game at Ebbet's Field.

4 - Hank Aaron's all time home run record, 1974

3 - All time record for lowest attendance. The St. Louis Browns game in the 1930's that drew 34 fans.

2 - Babe Ruth's "called shot" - 1932 World Series vs. Cubs

1 - Bobby Thompson's "Shot heard 'round the world" - Oct 3, 1951 - Giants vs. Dodgers

Baseball's Latest Golden Era

In baseball's past, there are two widely recognized "golden eras." The 1920's, when Babe Ruth's prolific feats spurred a resurrection of the grand old game and transformed it forever, is one. The fans, disillusioned from the Black Sox gambling scandal of 1919, came back with a vengeance to see Ruth and his newly starstruck emulators hit the long ball, the fan favorite ever since. A Yankee dynasty was born. Baseball and radio were married and enjoying their honeymoon.

The 1950's, when arguably the greatest concentration of talent in the game occurred, is another. The population of the country had increased greatly since the turn of the century, black and Latin players were added to the pool in large numbers, while the number of teams and players remained constant. The depression of the 30's and the war of the 40's that decimated rosters through military service, were past. The three New York teams produced three hall-of-fame rookie outfielders simultaneously; Mays, Mantle and Snider. Many of the greatest of the all-time greats all played at the same time. The greatest pennant race ever occurred ('51 Giants/Dodgers), the storied Bums of '55 gave the little guy his day in the sun, another Yankee dynasty flourished, and television brought the images into America's living room.

Now, I believe we are in a third "golden era" of baseball. It started about a decade ago, in the mid 90's. A new group of superstars have shined, both on the mound and at the plate. These stars will go down as among the greatest of the greatest. Records have been broken and broken again. The dark streak of the strike of '94 was erased with the rays of excellence on the field. Advanced diet, medicine and training regimens have given us superior specimens of athletic performance. Glorious new ballparks have been built that rival the old gems of baseball lore. The talent pool was expanded again with an influx of players from Japan, Korea and Cuba. The best players have been nothing short of dominating. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds. The Big Unit, Pedro, the Rocket. A-Rod, Pujols, Maddux, Ichiro, Mariano Rivera. A new Yankee dynasty arose and the internet threw baseball stats and the fans that feed from them head first into the ocean of the information age.

I've noticed a similar pattern in each of these "golden eras." A dark period or blot is followed by a new wave of players playing great ball in a revolutionary way. The Yankees come to dominance and all of these things are accompanied by an explosion of a recent technology. It'll be interesting to read about this last decade 20 years from now. What will the historians write? Whatever it is, I will remember this time well.