Best pitching....

[George H Ruth]

Well I had a thread about best home run you've ever seen live. Now I was wondering whats the best pitching performance you've ever seen live?

[Bill Burgess]

When you say 'live', you might want to make a distinction between sitting in the ballpark, and sitting in your favorite plush chair in front of the TV in your home.

Some people believe that they can judge greatness just as well from TV as they can from the grandstands.

[steve rogers]

June 6, 2006. I was out fishing all morning with my buddy Dave and we didn't come in until 10:30. My aunt had been calling me all morning because she had 4 tickets to that days Yankees vs. Red Sox game and her two friends backed out at the last minute. 10 more minutes and she would have left without us. My friend called into work and we got into Yankees Stadium about 5 minutes before the first pitch. I had never been to a Red Sox vs. Yankees game before.

People that saw this game on TV probably remember it because it was so good. This was the game that Melkey made the over the fence grab of a Manny Ramirez home run. The score was 2-1 when Melkey made that catch, that was the best catch I ever saw in person. But that wasn't the highlight of the game, at least for me.

I'd been to about 10 games in the last few years before this, but I never got to see Mariano pitch. I knew he was coming in when the score was 2-1 Yanks going into the ninth. I heard Enter Sandman for the very first time at the Stadium and watched Mariano come in from my right field bleacher seats. He came in and he got Nixon, Veritek and Lowell on 5 pitches. Five. Pitches. I'll tell my grandkids about seeing the great Mariano Rivera pitch as perfectly as any pitcher ever.

Scott

[soberdennis]

I saw Bud Smith's no hitter a few years back at Qualcomm Stadium.
I also saw a masterpiece by Peavy earlier this year at Petco. A 2 hit complete game on April 5. He was dominant.

[Victory Faust]

I saw Nolan Ryan's no-hitter in Tiger Stadium back in '73. My mom had a headache and wanted to leave the game, but she agreed to stay when my dad explained how historic what we were seeing was.

Good ol' Mom -- she took one for the team, and we got to witness history.

[BoSox Rule]

Pedro on September 10, 1999 vs. the Yankees. 9 IP, H, R, 17 K, 0 BB. A single fair ball was hit after the 4th.

[George H Ruth]

Sorry guys, you can choose something that you've seen on Television, it doesn't have to be actually seen live at the Ball park. Sorry for not making this thread more clearer for you guys.

[whoisonit]

The 1978 Ron Guidry game were he struck out 18. Most dominating, masterful pitching performance I've ever seen.

I would venture to guess that very few baseball fans realize it was this game that started the 'tradition' of fans clapping after 2 strikes. It was spontaneous, grew as the game went on, and added something neat to a really special day.

[GiambiJuice]

Kerry Wood's 20 strikeout game in 1998.

[JR Hart]

I saw JR Richard shut out the Padres in 1979. Our seats were right behind home home plate. The Padres had no chance against him.

On TV, it was the Gibson 17 K performance in game 1 of the 68 series. My dad was so cool that he let us skip school to watch Gibson vs McClain. I was 12 years old. One could see Gibson's determination, even on TV.

[Herr28]

On TV I saw a few no-hitters:

Wilson Alvarez (?) -- I think it was him, pitching with the White Sox vs the Orioles. Dwight Evans was with the O's that year and pinch hit in the 9th, I think he walked.
Bud Smith -- Just moved back home from Austin and caught this one at one of my favorite hometown watering holes.
Roy Halladay -- His postseason no-hitter, while grilling and drinking with some Army buddies.

At the ballpark I have seen some nice outings by Chris Carpenter, Brad Radke, Roger Clemens (playoffs vs Twins in Minneapolis 2003), and Johan Santana. Nothing really spectacular, just fun watching those guys dominate an opposing lineup while at the ballpark. Also saw Shelby Miller toss 6 one-hit innings here when the AAA Memphis Redbirds came to play the Round Rock Express a few years ago.

[ol' aches and pains]

If we're counting games we've seen on TV, I saw Mark Buehrle's perfect game in 2009, and his no-hitter in 2007.

Whenever I mention them, I'm compelled to point out that in his first no-hitter in 2007, if not for one stinking base on balls to Sammy Sosa, of all people, Buehrle would be the only pitcher in history to throw two perfectos. As it was, he picked Sosa off first base, so he still faced the minimum 27 batters. One of about 27 reasons why I despise Sammy Sosa.