Put the letters “N” and “D” together and most people will think of Notre Dame. You know, Rockne, the Golden Dome, South Bend, the whole nine yards. In baseball, however, “ND” means something else.
No-decision.
More often than not, when a starting pitcher gets a no-decision, it’s after he’s pitched well enough to win, but his club doesn’t score enough runs for him to get the win while he’s in the game as the pitcher of record. Prior to Wednesday night’s brilliant effort against the Padres, Jeremy Guthrie was looking to become the Orioles’ unofficial new single-season king of no-decisions. After nine frequent outstanding starts, Jeremy had only four decisions to show for it, three up and one down. Technically he’s still in the running with 90 games left to play, but beating the Padres to snap the Orioles’ nine-game losing streak is one to savor.
Remember Mike Mussina? Mussina, who bolted the Orioles for the Yankees in 2001, knows all about no-decisions, havingnotched 60 of them in a Baltimore uniform. Those fans who still resent Mike for leaving always point to the fact that he never won 20 games in the major leagues and therefore should never darken the doorway of the Hall of Fame. Bullfeathers.
It’s true, Mussina never won 20, but in 1992 when he went 18-5, he had nine no-decisions. Nine. He had four NDs in 1995 when he was 19-9. He had six NDs in both 1996 and 1999, when he won 19 and 18 games respectively. Think he might’ve cracked the 20-win club with a smidge more offensive support or better relief pitching? Mussina haters need to pull their heads out of their collective sandboxes. He’s already got better career numbers than several Hall of Famer pitchers.
Guthrie, who still retains his rookie status in 2007 despite brief appearances for the Indians in three previous seasons, has emerged as the clear ace of this year’s staff. He’s been remarkably consistent since entering the rotation, although it appears that 100 pitches is pretty much his limit. He got through eight innings Wednesday with 101 pitches, and, while 20 years ago a manager wouldn’t have hesitated to send him back out there to start the ninth, things are different these days.
The most amazing thing about Guthrie isn’t his performance this year so much as it is that the Orioles got him on a waiver claim from Cleveland. The Indians’ first-round pick in 2002 had spotty minor-league numbers until last year when he notched a 9-5 record and 3.14 ERA in 20 starts at Buffalo. When you consider that both Kansas City and Tampa Bay passed on Guthrie, it makes his emergence in Baltimore all the more improbable.
A former Mormon missionary who makes his off-season home in Las Vegas ? how’s that for juxtaposition? ? Guthrie figures to be an Oriole for the next several years. He’ll likely notch a few more NDs before this season’s over, but the promise is crystal clear.
Contact Phil Wood at [email protected]
