Game-changing night of stars

Anaheim, Calif. - It wasn't long ago that we gathered at baseball's All-Star game to ask which was growing faster -- Barry Bonds' hat size or slugging percentage. When we watched the Home Run Derby and wondered whether the baseballs would burn up when they reentered the atmosphere

Monday, we gathered at baseball's All-Star game, and wondered whether the perfect game is becoming as clichéd and routine as a soccer player flopping to the turf in agony.

In the age of steroid tests, baseball has again become a game dominated by pitching, and while managers and players said Monday that this is the cyclical nature of the sport, all that is for certain is that it is much more difficult today to hit for the cycle.

"I think it's incredible, to see so many young kids who are pitching at such a high level," American League and Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I think it's the time of the pitcher right now. It seems like 15 years ago was the time of the shortstops, and there were times when it seemed we had a great number of talented outfielders. Right now, the influx of young pitching in major league baseball is incredible."'

Girardi had just selected Tampa Bay's David Price, 24, to start for the AL in the All-Star game on Tuesday. National League manager Charlie Manuel, of the Phillies, selected Colorado's Ubaldo Jiminez, 26. "I think young pitching is where major league baseball is at today," Manuel said. "And it's not just young pitchers with stuff. They know how to pitch."

The first half of the season yielded four no-hitters and two perfect games, highlighting not only the dominance of pitching this season, but how the dynamics of the game have changed.

During the height of the steroid era, pitchers looked afraid to throw strikes. This season has highlighted a platoon of young pitchers who have no fear of throwing any pitch on any count.

"I don't know if it's just me being naive," said Mets third baseman David Wright, "but I don't think that [steroid abuse] goes on anymore. If you do cheat, you're going to be caught. I don't think anybody's on it."

With no fear of throwing a perfect pitch and watching it crushed 450 feet to the opposite field, pitchers have regained their confidence that intelligent pitch sequences will be rewarded.

"The game has kind of changed," said Angels outfielder Torii Hunter, who will play for the AL in his home ballpark. "You've got a lot of young guys who have confidence in their offspeed pitches. It's 2-and-0, and they're throwing offspeed pitches for strikes.

"Pitchers these days, I think, are well-coached, and there are a lot of guys like [Stephen] Strasburg, Jiminez and Josh Johnson who throw gas, and they still throw strikes. When I was coming up, you didn't really see that. You saw guys who threw gas, and you were afraid to step in the batter's box because you didn't know where it was going."

The National League ERA this season is 4.07, down for a fifth consecutive season since it was 4.46 in 2006. The AL ERA is 4.16, down from 4.50 in 2006.

"I've been in the league 12 years, and there are so many more guys in the league who throw hard than there were 10 years ago," said White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko. "You would get one or two guys on a staff who threw really hard, and then the guys at the end of the rotation were spot guys, throwing 89-90 and just moving it around.

"Now it seems like every guy is capable of throwing the ball by you. It seems like with the last couple of spots in the rotation, if it's a choice between an older guy and a young guy, they take the guy they drafted two years ago that throws 95 mph and they plug him in and say 'Let's throw him in the frying pan.' And those guys have the stuff to go out there and dominate."

Perfect games are not supposed to be commonplace. There have been two this season; there was only one from 2000 through 2008. There have been three since.

There were seven no-hitters from 2005 through 2009; this year there have been four already.

Padres manager and former pitching coach Bud Black pointed to better coaching in amateur baseball, better instruction in the minors and more statistical analysis and advanced training available to young pitchers.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia called the development "cyclical," and it only makes sense that after watching their pitchers get battered in the early '90s that big league teams would scramble to find, draft, develop and protect outstanding arms.

"Teams obviously value the development of young arms, and maybe guys aren't getting rushed as much as they were previously," Scioscia said. "They're getting to develop a little bit, so when they get to the majors, they're going to be able to compete better and achieve more."

And, as Girardi suggested, there is the power of coincidence. Where Mark Prior failed, Strasburg has succeeded.

"It's not fun to be a National League hitter," Wright said. "It seems like every other day you're facing a Tim Lincecum, a Josh Johnson, one after the other. In the All-Star game, it's going to be fun to see these guys go out there one after another. We've got a bunch of guys who are dominant No. 1s with dominant stuff. They give the National League not only a pretty good shot to win this year, but for years to come."

Jim Souhan can be heard at 10-noon Sunday on AM-1500. His Twitter name is SouhanStrib. jsouhan@startribune.com

The former Twin slammed 11 home runs in the final to defeat Hanley Ramirez. Ortiz, who hit 21 homers in the first two rounds, was only the second hitter to ever reach double digits in the final round. C4