Watching any game where you already know the outcome often diminishes the power of the game. This is especially true if you know that your team is going to lose. You simply don’t have the same excitement level that you would if the game were an unknown. However, there are some games that are always exciting, even if you view them over and over again. The magic of a perfect game makes it forever watchable.
A Perfect Game Is An Incredible Feat
One of the most impressive accomplishments in all of sports is the perfect game in baseball. There really isn’t an accurate correlation in any other sport.
In football, keeping the other team from completing a single pass or having a run for positive yardage would probably be the closest thing. In basketball, a shutout might qualify. In hockey and soccer, a game where the goalie never needs to touch the puck or ball to keep the game scoreless would probably be about the same.
Bowling is one of the games with the closest equivalent. However, there have been far more 300 games bowled than perfect games thrown.
However, the perfect game has one thing that those other examples do not. In addition to being an incredible team accomplishment, there is an even more prevalent personal accomplishment to a perfect game. Many people unfairly disregard the team element to a perfect game. While unfair, it is understandable. The personal feat is just so extraordinary.
A pitcher retiring all 27 batters they face without allowing a single hit, walk, hit by pitch, error, or advancement on a dropped strike three is almost incomprehensible. A perfect game has only been thrown 23 times in Major League Baseball history.
There have also been a handful of close misses, including some games that would have been perfectos if the pitcher’s offense could have scored a run and a perfect game that was erased by a terrible call on the final out.
A perfect game can make a regular-season game for a team that has no chance of making the playoffs feel like a world series victory. It can lift a team and a fanbase out of a miserable season and temporarily elevate them to the top spot in the sporting world.
Rewatching Classic Games
With football, watching a game that you missed after the fact is common enough. People have recorded games they couldn’t see live for years and then hoped that they wouldn’t hear the score before they got the chance to see the gameplay out. However, with baseball, it is a bit less common. With 162 regular-season games in a season, missing one tends not to be such a big deal.
As streaming grows in popularity, those working with personalized sports video streaming software to potentially bring a Netflix level streaming platform for sports have to consider many things, including getting the rights to allow subscribers to view a catalog of previously played games in addition to live games.
While there likely won’t be a huge demand for rewatching regular-season games that viewers may have missed live, there are exceptions.
If fans miss a pitcher on their team throw a perfect game or a no-hitter, there is a good chance they are going to want to watch the game later, even if they already know the outcome. Even many of those who saw the game live the first time around will likely be interested in watching the game again.
Even when you know what is going to happen, watching a perfect game is like viewing a masterpiece. A perfect game transcends sports. A perfect game represents an ideal.
Winning a championship is the ultimate team accomplishment in sports. While there is always at least one great defensive play made in a perfect game, and the catcher certainly plays an important role, the perfect game is still all about the individual accomplishment of the pitcher.
It represents their mastery of the game. It is an undeniable accomplishment that only a handful of people in the history of baseball have achieved. It is worth watching. Even if you know how it ends.
Categories: Sports Talk Stuff
