Talk about being in the groove. On April 18, while beating the Angels 4-0, Oakland A’s pitcher Bartolo Colon threw 76 percent of his pitches for strikes, including one streak of 38 strikes in a row (second pitch of the fifth inning to the seventh pitch of the eighth inning). BBRT is going to declare the 38 straight strikes an “unofficial” record until someone proves it wrong. Colon pitched 8 scoreless innings in the game, with 4 hits, no runs and 5 strikeouts. The win brought the 2005 Cy Young winner’s 2012 record to 3-1, 2.63 ERA, with 2 walks in 27.1 innings pitched.
Pretty much everything Bartolo Colon threw was over the plate Wednesday.
In an understatement, A’s catcher Kurt Suzuki said after the game, “Bartolo knows where the ball is going and he knows what he wants to do.”
BBRT likes to reminisce, so here’s the look backward. In 1962, Kansas City Athletics hurler Bill Fischer put together a record streak of 84.1 innings pitched without a base on balls (August 4- September 30). Fischer, who ended the year 4-12 with a 3.95 ERA, tossed 127 innings with only 8 walks that season. Ironically, Fischer – in his later coaching career – became known as “Walking Wisdom.”
