Saber Bombs are MLB FanHouse's introduction to sabermetrics, those new and sometimes unwieldy metrics that are changing the way we think about baseball. Each post highlights a specific stat, player, team or media member either embodying that understanding, or missing the boat completely.Just how excited is New England about Josh Beckett's performance last night? At least some people are ready to crown it one of the best Red Sox playoff performances of all-time. From the Hartford Courant:
We've seen the miracle of Curt Schilling's bloody sock in 2004. We've seen Pedro Martinez climb out of the bullpen with a strained muscle under his right shoulder blade in 1999 and pitch six innings of no-hit ball. We've seen Luis Tiant grunt, groan and sweat his mustache off on his way to a 163-pitch night in the 1975 World Series.Looking at the numbers, it's kind of hard to argue ... right? Well, just to make sure, I ran the numbers. Josh Beckett posted a Game Score last night of 87, so I did a search on Baseball-Reference for all Red Sox postseason pitching performances by a starter with a Game Score of 87 or greater.
Yes, there may have been more dramatic pitching performances in Red Sox postseason history. But there have been no more authoritative than Josh Beckett's four-hit shutout of the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park.
And you know what? Beckett's may not be the best, but it's the best in the last 40 years. Jim Lonborg posted an 88 in 1967 by pitching a one-hit, one-walk shutout against the Cardinals in the postseason. Before that, only Babe Ruth (97 in 1916) and Bill Dinneen (90 in 1903) had a mark as high. So, yeah, believe the hype: Josh Beckett really did carve out a piece of history last night.
