Admittedly, I've only been witness to about 20 Major League Baseball seasons, but before the headline on this column sends traditionalists into an angry tirade, allow me to defend myself.
We're roughly 60 games into the 2012 season and have already seen a handful of things that have never happened before.
- A perfect game and a four home run game in the same season: Since the first professional baseball team, the Cincinatti Red Stockings, were established in 1869, there have been 16 players to hit four home runs in a game and 21 perfect games thrown. Never had the feats been accomplished in the same season. Yet thanks to Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber and Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, that's exactly what happened in a span of 17 days earlier this season.
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Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton drives in two runs with a double against the San Francisco Giants during the sixth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday. Hamilton has been a big reason why the 2012 MLB?season has been so entertaining.
- Puerto Rican player drafted No. 1 overall: When the Houston Astros took shortstop Carlos Correa, they made the 17-year old the first Puerto Rican to be chosen No. 1 overall in the MLB Draft. Puerto Rico has produced some historically successful major leaguers, from Roberto Clemente to the Alomar family to Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, but never had a player from the island been chosen No. 1 until Correa.
- The Pittsburgh Pirates in first place: I jest of course, but being a Pirates fan, it seems like an eternity since our last winning season which is almost true considering I was 6 years old the last time the Buccos finished above .500. The Pirates go into their series with the Baltimore Orioles at 32-27 and tied atop the National League Central. The Orioles are even better at 34-26 in a crowded American League East. The two teams currently have the two longest active streaks of losing seasons at 19 and 14 years, respectively.
-Height of the season: New York Mets pitcher John Rauch stands at 6-feet, 11-inches tall. Astros second baseman Jose Altuve is listed at 5-5, though even that may be generous. When Altuve stepped into the box against Rauch on May 1, there's a good chance the 18-inch height difference set a Major League record. That's excluding, of course, the famous at-bat Eddie Gaedel (3-7) of the St. Louis Browns had against Bob Cain (6-0) of the Detroit Tigers during Bill Veeck's famous stunt in 1951.
-First no-hitter in Mets history: When Johan Santana spun his gem against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 1, he became the first pitcher in Mets history, a span of 8,020 games, to accomplish the feat. He was followed exactly a week later when a six-pack of Seattle Mariners pitchers combined to no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers. Throw in Jered Weaver's no-hitter for the L.A. Angels against the Minnesota Twins on May 2 and Humber's perfecto and that's four no-nos already this season.
-Second wild card team in each league: OK, so we haven't actually seen this yet, but you can't tell me fans of teams like the Toronto Blue Jays or Cleveland Indians aren't just dying for a chance to return to the postseason.
Those previous notes are just the history that's occurred in the past two months. That's not even taking into consideration just how fun this season has been to watch.
Parity is what makes the NFL great, but it's not something that's been too prevalent in the MLB. Teams like the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox continually dominate the top of the standings. This season however, 21 of the 30 teams are within 6.5 games of the division lead. As mentioned before, the Pirates are tied atop the N.L. Central, the Indians are just half a game back in the A.L. Central and the Washington Nationals have used a dynamic pitching staff to open a two-game lead in the N.L. East. Those aren't exactly the teams we're accustomed to seeing at the top.
The influx of young talent has also made this season one for the ages. Mike Trout of the Angels and Bryce Harper of the Nationals are showing that the future is now. Both of these superstars are barely out of high school, but are treating Major League pitching like batting practice. Other 20-something year old players that have been tearing up the league include Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates, Giancarlo (formerly Mike) Stanton of the Miami Marlins and Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies.
If you're not a baseball fan, now's the time to start watching. If you're a borderline fan, tune in because the way this season is unfolding, we're in for a treat. If you're a die-hard fan like myself, don't worry, we only have a month before the All-Star break and can get off the edge of our seats for a couple days.
Until then, enjoy The Show.
Stefan Gestwicki is an OBSERVER Sports Reporter. Please send comments on this article to sports@observertoday.com.
