Tuesday, May 18, 2004
27 up, 27 down
First off, before giving my thoughts about Johnson's game, I'd like to thank the people at ESPN for alerting their viewers of Johnson then-work-in-progress at halftime of tonight's Pacers-Heat game. I was probably one of literally millions who switched back and forth between the NBA and MLB to catch Johnson's last three innings of work. Nice job, fellas.
And what work it was. Johnson's perfect game was not remotely threatened in those last three innings. I may be a little off in these details, but I seem to recall that there was one lazy fly ball, three grounders to second that were dramatic only because they happened in the last three innings of a perfect game bid, and five strikeouts. A heady juxtaposition of the absolutely ordinary and absolute dominance, Johnson's 7th, 8th, and 9th were.
If anything, the wire report is understating Johnson's late-inning mastery. It wasn't just a 98-mph fastball that struck out Eddie Perez for the game's final out, it was a belly-high 98-mph fastball that started on the outside corner and tailed three inches away from the plate. Totally unhittable. Out number 26 displayed Johnson's maturation as a pitcher, as opposed to the thrower he was in his early days, when he busted a leaning Nick Green with a 97-mph laser over the inside corner for a called third strike.
There's a phrase that comes to mind: "if I only knew then what I know now." What's so special about seeing guys like Johnson and Clemens and Bonds dominate at their ages is that they combine "Now" knowledge with "Then" ability, and it's truly a sight to behold when wisdom and ability come together in this manner.
posted by Tom Renbarger 10:10 PM
