Perfecto

Where do I begin? Matt Cain... I mean MATT CAIN! Wow. Last night's game is almost beyond words. How special was last nights game?

• It was the 22nd perfect game in MLB history.
• Cain tied Sandy Koufax for most K's in a perfecto with 14.
• The sometimes anemic Giants offense scored 10 runs, the most ever in a perfect game.
• It was the first ever for the Giants in the 128 year history of the ball club.
• The home plate umpire Ted Barrett also called David Cone's perfect game in 1999, making him the only home plate umpire to call two perfect games.
• Matt Cain never shook off a call from his catcher Buster Posey in 125 pitches.
• According to Bill James Game Score (which assigns a point value to a pitchers performance) it was the 2nd highest score in MLB history with a score of 101. Tied with Koufax and trailing only Kerry Wood's 105 in 1998.

Historical significance aside, this was an amazing game. I was prepared after 3 innings to comment on the amazing job done by the Giants offense. They were clicking on all cylinders and hitting bombs like a team possessed. But something funny started to happen in the bottom half of each inning. Matt Cain looked indestructible. After the 4th inning I, along with everyone else, noticed that this game smelled different than another ho-hum Giants rout.

Every perfect game needs some help from the defense and this game was no exception. Gregor Blanco's catch in the 7th inning is the stuff of legend. People will talk about that catch for generations. But the ball hit by Chris Snyder in the 6th inning still has me scratching my head. From the moment that ball left the bat I KNEW that it was a home-run. He crushed that ball. But Melky kept running and all of a sudden it was in his glove. How the hell did that happen? Angel Pagan claims that the ball was over the fence and then the wind blew it back. You need everything working in harmony to complete the perfecto including the weather. Matt Cain has been widely recognized as perhaps the pitcher with the worst luck in history. How does a pitcher that consistent and dominate only have a 77-75 career record? Well, maybe he saves his luck for when it matters most, like the wind knocking a homerun ball backwards 10 ft to save a perfect game. And I thought, wait a minute, that's not even the most lucky break Cain's gotten in a big game. In the 5th inning of the game 2 in the 2010 World Series, Cain came across an even bigger stroke of luck. To lead off the inning Ian Kinsler hit a ball to deep center that bounced off the wall and back into play, physics be damned! That bounce preserved Cain's no-earned runs in the post-season. So I guess Cain gets the luck only when needed to preserve history!