Lester was obviously brilliant keeping his focus for both the first no-hitter and complete game of his young but amazingly storied career. The fact that emotions were as high as they were during the World Series last year had almost no deadening on what was about to happen a couple of nights ago. As much as I’d love to say that this kid is one of the best pitchers, he isn’t. He’s a damned fine lefty who will do a great job and make a ton of money during his tenure. He may end up with a Glavine-like career, which isn’t too bad at all.
Masterson was pretty darned good. Especially if you consider this is only his second one-day field trip to the majors and that he’s already back in Double-A ball. He’s definitely someone to watch, but I do hope he develops quickly. His delivery is deceptive, but it may get figured out since it takes so long for his arm to come out of the slot on breaking pitches. So far, so good.
And, finally, Mike Piazza has officially retired from Major League Baseball. Five years from now people will be deciding the first chance at his Hall status. Just to show you some highlights of his offensive career:
- 427 home runs, including the most home runs as a catcher (396)
- .308 Batting average
- 1335 RBIs
- .377 On-base percentage (not horrible by any means)
Piazza will go down in history as one of the best offensive catchers in baseball. As a 12 time All-Star selection, Piazza worked on his popularity and his swing playing early for the Dodgers and eventually got his defensive skills up to par. I’m glad he’s calling it quits at this point since he didn’t sign with anyone for ‘08 rather than trying a stint in Japan or hooking on with a minor league contract somewhere. He’ll go out on his own terms.