Well, at least Randy Johnson didn't get an "L" last night. A couple of years ago, I was inside Bank One Ballpark when Johnson struck out 14 Cardinals, allowed just one run ... and lost, because Jose Jimenez picked that evening to throw one of the more unlikely no-hitters in major-league history.
Of course, Johnson didn't get a "W" last night, and he didn't get a record, either. But Johnson probably doesn't care much about the "W" because his team eventually won. And he -- and we -- shouldn't worry too much about the record.
Records serve a couple of purposes. One, they recognize outstanding performances. And two, they eventually allow us to remember those performances.
Some records -- most putouts by a shortstop in a nine-inning game, most extra-base hits in a National League double-header, etc. -- wouldn't even be recognized unless someone was keeping track. And they certainly wouldn't be remembered. But we didn't need any help recognizing what Johnson did last night, and we certainly won't have any problems remembering it.
The fact is that Randy Johnson did strike out 20 batters in nine innings, and that's true whether we call it a record or not. It's funny, I was just thinking about these issues earlier this week, while watching "61*". That entire controversy over Ruth's record struck me as somewhat pointless, because no matter how you list the numbers in the record book, Ruth hit 60 home runs in a 154-game season and Maris hit 61 in a 162-game season. An accomplishment is what it is, and fooling around with the labels doesn't change that.
It was, in all honesty, a pretty lousy lineup that Johnson faced last night. Reds manager Bob Boone, as most managers do against Johnson, stacked his batting order with right-handed hitters. Unfortunately, that got Donnie Sadler, Juan Castro and Ruben Rivera into the lineup, and none of those guys are legitimate big-league hitters. And yes, this was a fairly strikeout-prone lineup. One through eight (excluding the pitcher's spot), here's their career strikeouts-per-600 plate appearances:
K/600 PA
Donnie Sadler 119
Juan Castro 103
Barry Larkin 53
Alex Ochoa 74
Aaron Boone 98
Ruben Rivera 173
Pokey Reese 95
Kelly Stinnett 147
Not exactly a lineup full of contact hitters, as everyone but Larkin and Ochoa would likely strike out 100-plus times if they were allowed to play every day. Let me stress that this does not take anything away from Johnson's feat. The great majority of records are accomplished with the help of favorable circumstances.
In addition to striking out 20 Reds last night, Johnson also walked ... nobody. Kerry Wood did the same thing a few years ago, of course, but there are some pitchers out there with truly amazing strikeout-to-walk ratios this year.
K BB K/BB
Rick Reed 28 1 28.0
Curt Schilling 61 5 12.2
Mike Mussina 44 4 11.0
Greg Maddux 43 4 10.8
Brad Radke 30 4 7.5
Last year, Pedro Martinez led the majors with an 8.88 K/BB ratio (at this moment, he's at 6.0).
So why the big numbers in 2001?
Two answers. One, it's early. Reed is unlikely to finish the season with a 28.0 K/BB ratio (though if he does, we'll have a real story on our hands). And two, the "new" strike zone really does seem to make a difference. Strikeouts are up, and walks are down.
MLB 2000 MLB 2001
K/9 6.53 6.83
BB/9 3.80 3.43
K/BB 1.72 1.99
The 2000 numbers are for the entire season, while the 2001 numbers are just through last night's action. And given that hitters usually do improve as spring turns to summer, we can probably expect the K/BB ratio to drop some. But not to last year's 1.72. And when you consider that strikeout rates were already elevated -- all those guys swinging for the fences, don't you know -- it's quite possible that we haven't seen the last of strikeout feats in 2001.
Rob Neyer is a Senior Writer for ESPN.com. His column runs Monday through Thursday. You can e-mail Rob at rob.neyer@dig.com.
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