Strikeouts are good. Yes, of course, they are. Who didn’t know that? Those of us who had the pleasure of watching Steve Carlton as a kid or Curt Schilling as a beat writer were well aware of how incredible it was to watch a strikeout artist.
It was Picasso painting, Shakespeare writing, Hendrix playing guitar, and Steve Martin working with arrows and a deck of cards.
The movement on Lefty’s slider was legendary. Lefthanded hitters bailed on the pitch before it reached the plate. Righthanded hitters swung at air as the pitch dropped like a thrill ride near their right ankle.