by Dexter Rogers

Created on: May 27, 2009   Last Updated: May 31, 2009

Complete games by pitchers in Major League baseball is a long distant memory. Why? Being frank franchises expect less from pitchers of this era. This is a shame because pitchers, and most professional athletes for that matter, make more money each year for actually doing less.

I believe athletes are stronger and faster today but overall I don't think they are better players. This is particularly the case with regards to Major League pitchers. If I were managing a team and had to pick one guy to win me a game seven in the World Series without question it would be Bob Gibson. In 1968 he had arguably the greatest year of pitching in history. He was the National League MVP, posted a 22-9 record, pitched over 300 innings and had a 1.12 ERA. But here's the kicker, Gibson had 28 complete games with 13 of them being shut outs. Without question such dominance isn't likely amongst today's new-age starting pitchers who are pacified with pitch counts that heavily rely on set up pitchers.

The last great pitchers duel I witnessed that reminded me of days of old was in 1991. Both Jack Morris and John Smoltz battled in the World Series with both pitchers going the distance at the highest level. Morris pitched 10 innings and came out on top. He won the game 1-0 over Smoltz. Sad to say but those games are gone with the wind.

Today if a pitcher goes 5-6 innings he's cheered by fans as he walks off the mound and patted on the rear by the manager for doing his job. Though I'm young I'm old school in my thinking. I like to flip a ball to a guy and just say, "I need at least nine." If it were Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Jim Palmer, Sandy Koufax or even a Jack Morris I'd probably get those nine innings, but not today. With the advent of set up pitchers, middle relief, long relief, and closers it's become clear pitchers going the distance are a dying breed.

You would think with the advent of technology, superior training methods, and personal trainers it would be easier for pitchers to go the distance today. But there's no incentive. Why should a C.C. Sabathia attempt to go nine innings when he knows in the back of his mind 6 would suffice? I think with the combination of increased salaries and teams being content to have hurlers on a pitch count pacifies and spoils them. For the latter reason alone makes it very unlikely we'll supposed big-game pitchers going the distance anytime soon.

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