A hitter's game: rule changes promoting offense have favored batters over pitchers.

ONE OF THE MOST QUOTED ADAGES in baseball says that you can never have enough pitching. That seems to be true, except that in 1968, it was too close to call.

Denny McLain won 31 games. Bob Gibson had a 1.12 ERA and 13 shutouts. Don Drysdale had six shut-outs in a row during a record streak of 58 and two-third scoreless innings. The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants threw no-hitters against each other on back-to-back days.

Five American League pitchers finished with ERAs under 2.00. The All-Star Game finished 1-0, as did a Mets-Houston Astros game, once 24 innings had been played.

To this day, 1968 is called The Year of the Pitcher. ...