There are many reasons I love baseball, but you know what my favorite little quirk is? It’s impossible for a pitcher’s performance on the mound to win a game by itself. In fact, the only active thing a pitcher can do on the mound is lose a game. Not to get too technical, but a win in baseball is determined by the pitcher on the mound when one team pulls ahead of the other. The rules are slightly more complicated than that, but that’s the general idea.
Every other popular sport in this country (e.g., football, basketball, ice hockey) has some way for the leading player to make an impact and win the game for his team. Even goaltenders can, technically, score points in these games. It seems to me that the pitcher is uniquely required to rely on his team to give him the win. Think about how often you hear about pitchers not getting enough run support or pitching gems that his teammates never properly supported. It’s bizarre.
The strangest part of this is that baseball, America’s game, is so very un-American because it’s being played this way. How often are we told in life that our destinies are our own to shape and form? Isn’t it drilled into all of us that we need to take responsibility and blame only ourselves when things go wrong?
With spring approaching and baseball season beginning, I think that this sends a fantastic message. “It’s dangerous to go alone!” says the old man at the beginning of The Legend of Zelda. You can only lose by yourself, but you can win it together.
(NOTE: If you comment that NL pitchers get to hit I will punch you in the throat. I know they do, but in the modern game a pitcher’s offensive contribution is near negligible, so I’m ignoring it. If it makes you feel better, I’m talking about AL pitchers)
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