No Hitters are something special. I am glad that the tradition of talking about the no-no or perfect game is observed, in most cases. I was appalled that Tom Glavine would talk openly about Josh Johnson’s no hit bid against the Braves a few weeks ago. I would have thought that Glavine would have known better, but I guess you have to expect that from someone who would leave the Braves for the Mets.
Tuesday night, Francisco Liriano threw a no hitter. It is a great feat to toss one. No ground ball getting through a hole, no grounders with eyes.
Last night, Tim Hudson pitched a gem. A one hit, one walk, complete game shutout. What is even more impressive, 26/29 batters he faced he threw first pitch strikes. He also had 6 Ks.
I look at Hudson’s stat line (got in the first game of the double dip, but couldn’t watch the second), and then look at Liriano’s, and I must say I am more impressed with Hudson.
Tim Hudson was two batters away from a perfect game.
Yes, Liriano gets the publicity for throwing a no hitter. But he got lucky. He had more walks than strikeouts and bad control. He needed 123 pitches to Hudson’s 102.
Also look at the opponents. While Milwaukee is only a slightly better hitting ball club than the White Sox, Hudson had to navigate around Nyjer Morgan, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. Not an easy task.
So, not taking anything away from Francisco Liriano’s no hitter. There have been only 270 in baseball’s long history. But Hudson’s was much closer to being more special, and in my opinion, much more impressive.
Corbindawg
*****
UPDATE: Dave O’Brien, the David Hale of MLB beat writing (behind of course, the real David Hale), shares my sentiment in a much more eloquent way.
The Grit Tree 
You got that right. Hudson was on. That is about as good as you ca pitch. Like the way the Braves are starting to play.