Baseball's Twilight Zone

[frankbmd]

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.

The year is 2049. Arnold Hefflinger has just been elected into the shrine of baseball excellence in Cooperstown, New York. Arnold pitched for 12 years in Yankee stadium and was the premier three inning starter in the game during his tenure, despite undergoing 6 virtual Tommy John procedures that required him to spend up to ten days on the disabled list each time. Notably he was a modern day workhorse usually pitching with 2 days rest. He started over 50 games for the Bronx Bombers in all but three years of his pinstripe career. “Hoss” was the nickname given to him for by a baseball history junkie for reasons unknown and it stuck.

Hoss’s career record was a respectable 0-82 with an ERA of 0.89. It’s been more than a decade since a starting pitcher has pitched more than five innings in a game. No starting pitcher has actually won a game since 2036, when Nolan Ryan III recorded his last five inning start. Losing less than 10 games a year for a 50 game starter has become the benchmark of success for these hurlers.

Sabermetrics has evolved and created several new metrics for the modern three inning starter. The MNN (mini no-no), consisting of three no hit innings, is generally accepted as measure of success for this three inning specialists and Hoss has 117 MNNs in his twelve career and is the all-time leader in this category.

The modern Perfect Game was redefined in 2032 and consists of nine consecutive strike outs, a feat that Hoss accomplished on 13 occasions.

Arnold’s fastball has been clocked at 113 mph and his career average of whiffs per inning of 1.84 is generally considered unassailable.

Yes, the game has changed, with the advent of the three inning start by all major league teams, it has become necessary to increase the physical size of the bull pens to accommodate up to 15 relief pitchers for each game. Hitters have all become dead pull hitters, so that many teams utilize the “RP shift” where relief pitchers, or designated fielders if you will, are shifted from one side of the infield to the other depending on whether a right or left handed hitter is batting, minimizing their fielding deficiencies.

Managers who cannot walk to the mound 15 times a game for pitching cadges find their managerial careers shortened.

Hoss's plaque is Cooperstown will be placed next to that of Mariano Rivera in the Hall, both pioneers in their abstract way, compared to others in the hallowed Hall.

Baseball is a game of conquest, but the conquests are ever changing. The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout, but with a cut fastball or 110 mph heat. These are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill, and suspicion can destroy, and the thoughtless, frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own; for the children, and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is that these things cannot be confined to The Twilight Zone.