All eyes were set to be on San Francisco for the U.S. Open, but Matt Cain started the party a bit early. He threw MLB's 22nd perfect game and the first for the Giants franchise. Not just the San Francisco Giants, but the full 130 year history of the Giants dating back to their time in New York. That's quite astonishing to believe that only one person in 130 years has done what Matt Cain just accomplished for the franchise.
Some pundits are trying to devalue his feat because it's the second perfect game of the young season and fifth in the last 3 years whereas the one before this cluster was a full five years before that. In fact there were only four perfect games during the entire decade of the nineties. That aside, no one can ever devalue a perfect game. Especially those who have never stood on a mound and faced professional hitters every five days. I guarantee you that no current or ex-ball player will ever speak about devaluing feats like this. Only those journalists looking to play devil's advocate and trying to get a few extra page views for their website will be an antagonist. Outside of hitting four home runs in a game, throwing a perfect game is one of the rarest, most difficult things to do in baseball and each time we fans are fortunate to witness one, we should feel fortunate.
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As already stated, the U.S. Open starts today also in San Francisco at the Olympic Club. The last time the Open was held here was 1998 when American Lee Janzen took home the title at even par. This is what is great about watching this particular tournament. The world's best golfers are reduced to your average amateur, just happy to escape each hole with a par.
Last year was a fluke with Rory McIlroy wining at a very spectacular 16 below par. Just like Tiger Woods did in 2000, the newest phenom lapped the field with a once in a life time weekend. To put it in context the 10 winners in between McIlroy and Woods combined, yes combined, to hit 14 below par. Normally if you are under par at any time of the tournament, you are in contention. There were even back to back years where the winner posted a 5 over par score.
The level of concentration that it takes by each player over the course of 72 holes is awe inspiring. Each mishit can result in a big number on a hole. A big number leads the golfer into thinking about that last shot and the next time he looks up he's 8 over and missing the cut. It doesn't take much to fail, but it'll take everything to succeed.
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