On Thursday morning (Australian time), San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum achieved a personal feat that has left me scratching my head for a parallel in Australian sport.
I’m not setting out to knock Aussie sport here – I’m genuinely asking the question: in light of the different natures and dynamics of our codes, what are the comparable personal achievements our own athletes can tick off?
In baseball, along with a World Series win of course, pitching a no-hitter game is the kind of career highlight all pitchers strive for.
Like the perfect 10 in gymnastics or a hole in one in golf, it is the kind of personal achievement that can define a career or at the very least provide a pretty hard-to-beat brag in every bar you enter thereafter – honestly, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve been accosted by a drunk gymnast wanting to regale me with tales of their glory days.
If you missed the performance from a man known as ‘the Freak’, see it below.
What’s all the more astounding is that he did exactly the same thing to the shell-shocked San Diego Padres just 11 months ago. Admittedly it was a little more breathtaking the first time around for the two-time Cy Young award winning double World Series Champion.
It all kicks off form the 30 second mark, but if you get bored just fast forward to around six minutes in to witness the final tense moments and outpouring of emotion from both the player and his teammates.
The ‘no-hitter’ seems unique because unlike golf’s hole in one or cricket’s hat-trick, the feat requires not only personal perseverance, focus and stamina but a solid defensive effort from the rest of the team that lasts an entire game. It also places your team in an unbeatable position – the best your opposition can hope for is a similarly freakish performance by their own pitchers and fielders.
Consider also that pitchers are usually subbed out by their managers after six or so of the game’s nine innings, depending on how they’re faring.
Imagine Mitchell Johnson bowling 10 miserly overs in a T20 match (yes I know we’d have to change the rules, but work with me for a second) without conceding a single run.
Perhaps if Johnson took a double hat-trick or maybe a batsman hitting every ball in an over for six? Would that stand up to the comparison?
Rugby league certainly doesn’t seem to offer the same personal opportunity, as the play doesn’t revolve so centrally around one player. Maybe the NRL’s pinnacle personal achievement could be a kind of translation of basketball’s triple double – say, kicking at least five goals, making a set number of tackles (without missing any) and then either meeting a yardage quota (running or kicking), or racking up a handful of try assists. Cameron Smith has probably done it a few times.
Turning to solo sports, maybe birdying every hole on a golf course could rival Lincecum’s effort? Winning a tennis match or tournament without dropping a game or set?
When we consider the all important win/loss scenario, what are your favourite arbitrary bars that we set for our athletes along the way? Which example stands out and what new reasons can we come up with to celebrate both individual and team brilliance?
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