Feats of Strength!

Maybe this is just accidental correlation but how can it be that there was a record amount of no hit games this past MLB season and the NHL is on pace for the most hat tricks in history? Are athletes just getting better? Or could it be potential outside factors affecting their performance?

Going into this past Major League Baseball season there had been 263 no hitters which includes 18 perfect games dating back to 1876. That averages out to just under 2 games per season up to the end of the 2009 season, over a span of 140 seasons since its beginning in 1869. The odds of throwing a no hitter are slim to none to begin with, but are less probable with athletes now being aware of the importance of physical fitness.

Astonishingly enough there have now been 269 no hitters, but wait only one season has gone bye! There were six no hitters last season, that is three times as many as the average said there should have been. How is this possible? Pitching techniques, styles and pitches have all remained the same so this can not be attributed to any sort of change. Sadly, for Rays fans that is, two of the six no hitters went against them which has made two perfect games and a no hitter against them in the past two seasons.

As for the NHL, there already has been 33 hat tricks in the early part of this season that will be 2 months old tomorrow. The most recent coming from Ottawa Senators forward Chris Kelly, who managed to single handedly propel the Sens past the Rangers on Saturday afternoon. With five months left to play in the season, the NHL is on pace for roughly 116 hat tricks. This is utterly ridiculous considering that the odds of witnessing  a hat trick are said to be 1:18. Looking at the math, that means that each team is likely to score just under four hat tricks this season alone. The odds of witnessing a hat trick becomes dramatically improved if this pace keeps up.

In such a corrupt world, is it possible that professional sports may have fallen to corporate corruption to the point that these occurrences are not merely coincidences? There is such a big demand for money in today's struggling economy that the leagues are in danger of bankruptcy if attendance continues to lower. How do they make money? They maximize attendance while keeping costs at a minimum, in order to maximize attendance they need to be able to produce an exciting product that will make the fan a return customer. Everyone likes to see feats of strength, it is human nature and if the rate at which they occur increases there is likely to be a greater profit margin. Both leagues suffered a great deal from their lockouts and could potentially being doing more than their share to bounce back. Big contracts are the result of corporate corruption that in effect lowers the fans enjoyment of the game as opposed to the intended result of increasing it. Fans want to see players that do not need financial compensation for their greatness in the game, money ends up complicating not only the leagues but goes far beyond to the simple passion for the game.

"Keep your life and your pitching real simple and you'll get along" was a quote from Robin Roberts in 1956 and the meaning still rings true today. Pro sports should keep the game and peoples' passions simple and the results will follow.