The fun thing about data is that we can say the same thing many different ways. If I wanted to prove a point, I could throw up a series of graphs and charts to enhance my argument. I actually plan to that very thing quite soon, so stay tuned, America.

We know that we are in a golden age of pitching. That the hitting boon of the early 2000s has ended, and a combination of regression, shrinking strike zones, stronger drug screening and other things is leading to pitching prowess coming back in a big way. You are discerning baseball fans, so you were already aware of this. If you are new to baseball or an alien or just like graphs, here’s some proof.

Strikeouts are up, FIP is decreasing. I could have thrown a bunch of other lines in there as well, but it doesn’t seem necessary. To be completely honest, this recent supremacy of pitching can be summed up in this recent tweet from Jeff Passan:

This is really hard to believe: Victor Martinez is the only player in baseball with an OBP above .400. Recent years: '13: 7. '12: 4. '11: 6

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 8, 2014

Here’s a graph to compliment:

One, ONE dude has an OBP above .400 this season. In fairness, Giancarlo Stanton (.399), Jose Bautista (.397), Andrew McCutchen (.397) and Paul Goldschmidt (.396) are all within spitting distance. But let’s say one more player hits that threshold this season. That’s still the lowest number of qualified batters since 1983. The 1999 Cleveland Indians had five qualified batters that had a .400 OBP or better.

There’s also another side to this coin. Victor Martinez, at age 35, is getting on base more than anybody. Martinez really is having a banner year. He’s reached his highest WAR since 2007, and is set to have the best hitting season of his career. He is currently second in the league in wRC+, behind only Jose Abreu. He’s hitting better than Stanton, Mike Trout or Yasiel Puig. Did I mention he’s 35? Given his age and his performance during this, his contract year, the 2015 offseason should shape up to be a very interesting one for the VMart camp.

We’re all smart people, we all know things. But sometimes, a simplified, boiled down perspective can really pull everything together. The offense/pitching dichotomy ebbs and flows. Batting will again rule the day at some point. But even fans of dingers and high-scoring games must admit we’re in a pretty special time right now. This is our grandparent moment — when, in 30 years, we can tell all those whippersnappers about baseball during our day. When nobody scored any runs. And we walked uphill both ways to watch it on our cell phones. And we were grateful.