When I was little, I bought a postcard in Colorado that featured a beautiful photo of the Rocky Mountains. On the back there was a quote from Teddy Roosevelt that described the scenery as something that “bankrupts the English language.”
I thought that was such an awesome way to describe something breathtaking without copping out and calling it “indescribable.”
Zack Greinke, at this point, most definitely bankrupts the English language. The two best points in last night’s game, as Lee Warren pointed out, were when Ryan and Frank did not say anything. After Greinke’s 10th strikeout to end the 8th, and after the final out of the game, they let the crowd, and the moment, do all the talking. And that silence – especially coming from someone like Lefebvre – said everything.
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was look at Greinke’s baseball-reference page. His ERA+ going into the game was 941, and after last night would become even more absurdly high.
And…I can’t even believe what a big number I’m about to type here…remember that MLB average is 100, and last year’s Cy Young winners Cliff Lee and Tim Lincecum had ERA+ of 175 and 167, respectively.
OK, are you ready? Zack Greinke’s ERA+ is 1173. Yeah, four digits. One thousand, one hundred seventy-three.
English language = bankrupt.
Related posts:
2 comments
Devon Young
May 5, 2009 at 12:13 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I twittered that this morning, ’cause I did the same thing as you… woke up & checked for the ERA+. I just can’t believe that. That’s stunning. That’s like Pedro Martinez to the power of 10.
Then I discovered that since Sept 18, he’s 8-0 with a 0.31 ERA, which is only really comparable to Valenzuela in ’81 and Gibson in ’68.
Mitch
May 6, 2009 at 10:54 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
There really needs to be an emoticon with its jaw hanging open. I would use it here.