On April 27, 2002, Derek Lowe threw a no-hitter for the Red Sox against the Rays. Your mileage may vary, but for me, it was the first MLB no-hitter to which I really paid attention. As such, I was swept up in the reverence of the moment. No-hitters don’t happen every day. Well, at least they didn’t used to.
There has been no shortage of discussion about the dwindling offensive performance and the absolute glut of pitching dominance at the MLB level this year. There is perhaps no better sign of the shift in the power dynamic between pitcher and batter (and the potential need to address it) than the fact that in 2021 alone, six different pitchers have tossed nine-inning no-hitters.