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Friday, June 12, 2009

11 Points: 11 Major League Baseball Feats That Have Only Happened Once

Singular lore of yore…

Caught stealing four times in one game. Accomplished by Robby Thompson, San Francisco Giants, June 27, 1986. It was a 12-inning game and the Giants kept sending their “fast” rookie, Thompson. And he kept getting caught. Four times.

What makes that even crazier is that, in the 149 games he played that season, he only successfully stole 12 bases (and was caught 15 times). So by late June, the Giants should’ve figured out that maybe he wasn’t the track star they thought he was.

FWIW, I love this guy’s site, as I imagine will a number of pop-culture interested (not obsessed) Primates with an obvious love of sports. Too bad he’s a Cleveland fan.

Jeff K. Posted: June 12, 2009 at 11:06 AM | 150 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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101. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:16 PM (#3216490)

I can pretty much guarantee that no one other than Byung-Hyun Kim has ever surrendered game-tying home runs with two outs in the ninth in successive World Series games.

102. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:19 PM (#3216493)

I'm still waiting for a five homer game. Has this been done at all in professional baseball?

There was the famous Nig Clarke eight-homer game, in the Texas League in 1902.

Glad someone noted that, and it's not likely that there've ever been any other 51 to 3 games, either.

103. SandyRiver Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:21 PM (#3216495)

In Sandy Koufax' perfect game, the Dodgers got only one hit in their 1-0 win.

When those Dodgers made their initial visit to the 1962 Mets (on Memerial weekend Sunday, IIRC) and swept two, their 5-4 win in game 2 was done without leaving anyone on base. This was aided by the Mets turning a TP on a Willie Davis liner to Elio Chacon at short.

My OLD (1950s, and long gone) Baseball Encyclopedia showed just one person credited with 2 sacrifices in one inning (and that book differentiated between sac bunts and sac flies). That's almost as weird as a batter stealing 2nd on 2 PA in the same inning, though it might make sense for a pitcher batting .043.

104. Crispix Attacks Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:23 PM (#3216498)

The legendary Marshall McDougall's 6-homer game for FSU about a decade ago was supposedly unprecendented in some way or other, at the time...

105. esseff Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:31 PM (#3216509)

Losing despite pitching a no-hitter:

Ken Johnson did it in 1964

Stu Miller and Steve Barber combined to do it sometime in that same era.

The change in the definition of a no-hitter in the '90s took one away from Andy Hawkins, who had lost one as a visiting pitcher, meaning he didn't get to pitch the ninth inning. Pity, because it also deprived him of the singular feat of giving up 4 runs while pitching a no-hitter.

Matt Young was later deprived of a no-hitter by the same rule: that a visiting pitcher cannot, by definition, lose a no-hit game (unless, of course, the game goes extra innings)

106. Tom Nawrocki Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:32 PM (#3216510)

There was also a three-homer inning by a minor-leaguer named Gene Rye. I don't recall the league, but I think it was back in the 1950s.

107. Devin has a deep burning passion for fuzzy socks Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:33 PM (#3216511)

I know he wasn't going back into the 19th Century, but AFAIK Mike Grady, in 1895 is the only person ever charged with 4 errors on one play. He was playing 3rd base, and bobbled a ground ball (1), then threw it over the first baseman's head (2), missed the catch as they were trying to get the runner at 3rd (3), and then threw it over the catcher's head (4).

108. lar @ wezen-ball Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:36 PM (#3216516)

A one-hitter, with no walks, errors or HPB, and the only hit being a HR? I'd imagine that we would have heard about it, if it had happened.

July 30, 1971.

Orioles beat the Royals 1-0 on Frank Robinson's homer. No other Oriole reaches base.

Now, okay, the game only lasted 4 1/2 innings. But still, it happened.

That's not the only game, though it does seem to be the only game where the one-hit team won the game.

Here's the list from BR. There are a total of 7 games in the Retrosheet era where a team's only hit was a home run and where there were no other base runners (bb, hbp, reach-on-error). The most recent game happened between the Tigers and Rangers on May 5, 1996, when Roger Pavlik one hit Detroit. Mark Lewis broke up the perfecto in the 5th.

Other than the Orioles game DCW3 mentioned, the two most interesting games were:
April 20, 1990, M's @ A's: Pinch hitter Ken Phelps broke up the perfect game with a home run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th.
May 13, 1954, Reds @ Phils: Bobby Adams led off the game with a home run off of Robin Roberts. The Reds didn't have a baserunner after that.

Must have been some pretty good games to be at...

109. Shock Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:43 PM (#3216526)

That's not the only game, though it does seem to be the only game where the one-hit team won the game.

That's the whole point of the exercise though. The Blue Jays vs. the White Sox was the only 9-inning game where the winning team had 0 baserunners.

Edit: It's not on your list because there were two solo homers.

110. Tulo's Fishy Mullet (mrams) Posted: June 12, 2009 at 07:43 PM (#3216528)

Has a pitcher ever received credit for a Blown Save, and then drive in the winning runs?

111. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 12, 2009 at 08:21 PM (#3216584)

Hoyt Wilhelm began his 21 season Major League career by hitting a home run in his first time at bat---I believe it was even on the first pitch---and never hit another.

112. gef the talking mongoose Posted: June 12, 2009 at 08:30 PM (#3216599)

Howstuffworks.com tells us that Wilhelm hit his only career triple his very next AB. That's not true (he hit it the following season), but it's sort of an interesting lie, I guess.

113. lar @ wezen-ball Posted: June 12, 2009 at 08:30 PM (#3216601)

You're right. Before I posted the information, I went back to look at the initial comment to see if it was looking for wins only, and I guess I overlooked the word "won". I guess I was just excited to play with the Play Index again.

Still, the A's and Phils games I highlighted above are two pretty interesting games in their own right, even if they were from the losing team.

Edit: And I just did a quick check and expanded it to 2 home runs (and three and four), and that Toronto/Chicago game is the only other win like it.

114. RJ in TO Posted: June 12, 2009 at 08:35 PM (#3216607)

Howstuffworks.com tells us that Wilhelm hit his only career triple his very next AB. That's not true (he hit it the following season), but it's sort of an interesting lie, I guess.

It's also a piece of trivia which has been repeated enough that it's moving into the category of "everyone knows" even though it's false - I've read multiple books which told the HR/3B tidbit as firm fact.

115. Misirlou's got a busy day, he's wearing a vest Posted: June 12, 2009 at 08:41 PM (#3216615)

A one-hitter, with no walks, errors or HPB, and the only hit being a HR? I'd imagine that we would have heard about it, if it had happened.

July 30, 1971.

Orioles beat the Royals 1-0 on Frank Robinson's homer. No other Oriole reaches base.

Now, okay, the game only lasted 4 1/2 innings. But still, it happened.

That's not the only game, though it does seem to be the only game where the one-hit team won the game.

Bill James noted that game in one of his HBAs, as the fewest batters possible faced in a complete game: 13 for the visiting (and losing) pitcher.

116. cardsfanboy

Posted: June 12, 2009 at 08:51 PM (#3216633)

Matt Young was later deprived of a no-hitter by the same rule: that a visiting pitcher cannot, by definition, lose a no-hit game (unless, of course, the game goes extra innings)

well the home team could score in the bottom of the ninth on an error. (but yes we get what you are saying, stupid rule to be honest)

117. Jeff K. Posted: June 12, 2009 at 10:22 PM (#3216703)

I don't abide by the new no-hitter rules when it comes to Hawkins and Young. It's way more torturous to exclude them than include them. You can exclude "shortened by rain" games, but those were in all ways full official games, and their bend away from 'normal' is something that happens in very close to exactly 50% of games (53% HFWP IIRC, minus some number not that high for home team rallies in the bottom of the ninth. Though I forget extra-innings. Hell, say 40%, it's low, and it's still the point.)

118. Rafael Bellylard: Built like a Molina Posted: June 12, 2009 at 11:00 PM (#3216735)

My personal favorite "one-time-only" feat was in 1986 when Bob Brenly committed four errors in an inning, then hit the GW homer in the bottom of the ninth. Talk about atonement.

To be fair, it was another of Roger Craig's brain farts to have Brenly at third base anyway.

119. David Nieporent (now, with children) Posted: June 13, 2009 at 12:02 AM (#3216853)

I don't abide by the new no-hitter rules when it comes to Hawkins and Young.

Thank you; I was hoping someone would point it out before I got around to it. Hawkins and Young pitched no-hitters. Period. MLB has no power to redefine history.

120. Eraser-X is emphatically dominating teh site!!! Posted: June 13, 2009 at 01:05 AM (#3217097)

Exactly. I was at the Hawkins game, and he pitched a complete game and allowed no hits. That's a "no-hitter"

121. Vaux, A.B.D. Posted: June 13, 2009 at 01:10 AM (#3217113)

A commercial for the Pirates' medical staff just used Baseball Prospectus (Will Carrol)'s ranking of it as tops in baseball as a selling point. Hilarious on multiple levels, and certainly unprecedented . . .

122. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: June 13, 2009 at 01:39 AM (#3217202)

well the home team could score in the bottom of the ninth on an error. (but yes we get what you are saying, stupid rule to be honest)

I'm not sure that would count CFB (although I personally support the position voiced by Jeff and David). I think MLB is only recognizing 27-out (or more) no-hitters. If so, virtually all walk-off wins would end short of 9 complete innings.

If so, the only way a the visiting pitcher can record a no-hitter in a nine-inning game would be if the game ended on one of those mismanaged appeal play situations that occasionally allow for a run to score (or, more accurately, posted on the scoreboard) after the third out has been recorded.

And should that ever happen, I think that would be a feat that would never be duplicated.

123. bumpis hound Posted: June 13, 2009 at 02:17 AM (#3217365)

I was at the Giants game last year in which Bengie Molina hit a home run but was not credited with a run scored. Pretty sure that's never happened before or since.

Also, in 2003, I got sweet tix (15 rows behind home plate) at Wrigley, comped by Shawn Estes, making that the only time in history Estes came through for a Giants fan.

124. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 13, 2009 at 03:08 AM (#3217612)

If anyone can remember a game that ended the way that the Yanks-Mets game just did, I'd like to know about it. I'm sure it's happened sometime in the past 133 years, but Jesus, what a shocker....

125. Jeff K. Posted: June 13, 2009 at 03:21 AM (#3217665)

Why is the Pirates' medical staff advertising? And given the concept, I wonder if I'd use them. I picked the clinic for my arm out of the Blue Cross list arranged by ZIP code, so it's not like I'm picky. Still, the Pirates.

126. Marcus Halberstam Posted: June 13, 2009 at 03:10 PM (#3217888)

Re: first basemen who didn't record a putout in a nine-inning game, Robb Quinlan also did this in 2003. Has anyone done it more recently?

127. Jeff K. Posted: June 14, 2009 at 12:18 AM (#3218357)

Flipping through this thread again, I missed 80-100 first time around. If we're noting minor league stuff, I'll remind of Hank Blalock hitting "The HR cycle". Four homeruns in one game, a solo job, two-run, three-run, and grand slam.

I'm having a hard time finding a link for this now, but this was widely reported in DFW. Hell, it's basically the day that Mark Teixeira became a first baseman.

128. FBI Regional Bureau Chief GORDON COLE!!! Posted: June 14, 2009 at 12:54 AM (#3218381)

So the etymology of Nig Clarke's nickname is about what I expected. It really is remarkable how casually used racial slurs were back in the day.

129. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 14, 2009 at 12:56 AM (#3218384)

Will Clark's very first MLB swing came on a 2-1 count fastball from Nolan Ryan, which he deposited in the seats.

The Thrill had ownage on Nolan Ryan. He hit 6 home runs off of him (1.274 OPS) in 39 plate appearances. Clark had ownage on a number of pitchers -- for example, he was 7/10 off of Mario Soto in his career -- but Ryan was the one pitcher he had his most homers off of. He tagged Ron Darling 5 times.

130. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 14, 2009 at 01:00 AM (#3218389)

It really is remarkable how casually used racial slurs were back in the day.

Ironically, there were 14 players in the black major leagues with the nickname Honky and three others called Cracker.

131. Santanaland Diaries Posted: June 14, 2009 at 01:25 AM (#3218408)

Have any pitchers other than Hoyt Wilhelm led the league in ERA without starting a single game? Between the only career HR and first AB, and winning the ERA crown in his first year completely as a reliever, that's a hell of a good rookie year for trivia.

132. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 14, 2009 at 01:53 AM (#3218435)

Ironically, there were 14 players in the black major leagues with the nickname Honky and three others called Cracker.

Hell, the Atlanta team in the Negro Leagues was known as the Atlanta Black Crackers, after the Atlanta Crackers team in the Southern Association. Similar to the New York Black Yankees.

Another interesting historical footnote along this line is that back in 1947, when Florida State students voted to name their team the Seminoles, the runnerup in the student vote was---Crackers. Too bad it didn't win, since it would have spared us all those godawful tomahawk chop chants, both in Tallahassee and Atlanta.

133. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 14, 2009 at 01:57 AM (#3218445)

It really is remarkable how casually used racial slurs were back in the day.

There were likely scores of pre-WWII movies, including at least one in William Powell's The Thin Man series, where "that's mighty white of you" was used. That was a common playground expression well into the 50's, and probably later.

And then of course there's Fawlty Towers, and the Major's famous rambling speech about a woman he once took to "India."

134. Cblau Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:13 AM (#3218607)

The Schaefer story is true, but he wasn't the first to do it. Harry Davis was the original in 1902. stealing first base

135. Cblau Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:16 AM (#3218609)

Speaking of Otis Nixon: 180 extra base hits, 186 times caught stealing!

136. AADeuce Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:54 AM (#3218660)

My personal favorite, simply because I was there, was Scott Hatteburg hitting into a triple play, then hitting a grand slam in his next at bat.

137. Rich Rifkin Posted: June 14, 2009 at 04:14 AM (#3218673)

There were likely scores of pre-WWII movies, including at least one in William Powell's The Thin Man series, where "that's mighty white of you" was used.

Pre-WWII? The most famous use of that line was not in After The Thin Man, which did use it. More famously, it was uttered in a 1976 Dirty Harry movie called, "The Enforcer."

Clint Eastwood (Harry) was trying to get a black militant group to help him stop a terrorist group called The People's Revolutionary Strike Force. The leader of the black group said he would only speak with Harry, not his partner (Tyne Daly). The camera panned around to show a group of tough looking black guys and I think one of them said they wouldn't hurt her. Clint responded, "That's mighty white of you."

All of the early Dirty Harry movies were politically incorrect for their time, the 1970s. In a sense, Harry was a vigilante with a badge. A big theme in The Enforcer was that women should not be cops. A group of black thugs in the original Dirty Harry conducts a violent robbery, to which Harry responds by shooting and killing a bunch of them. One black guy gets out onto the street, where Harry stands over him and famously says:

I know what you're thinking. "Did he fire six shots or only five?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?

At the end of the movie, he has a different guy, this time the white bad guy, cornered, and he repeats the line to him:

Ah-ah, I know what you're thinking, punk. You're thinking, "Did he fire six shots or only five?" And to tell you the truth, I've forgotten myself in all this excitement. But being this is a .44 Magnum - the most powerful handgun in the world and will blow your head clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya, punk?!

138. Devin has a deep burning passion for fuzzy socks Posted: June 14, 2009 at 05:04 AM (#3218699)

I was at the Giants game last year in which Bengie Molina hit a home run but was not credited with a run scored. Pretty sure that's never happened before or since.

Robin Ventura would like a word with you. Heck, it's got it's own Wikipedia page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_Single

139. JJ1986 Posted: June 14, 2009 at 05:22 AM (#3218701)

I think Gabe Kapler hit a home run and couldn't finish running the bases. Or he may have been the pinch runner. It involved him somehow.

140. SoSHially Unacceptable Posted: June 14, 2009 at 05:30 AM (#3218703)

Robin Ventura would like a word with you. Heck, it's got it's own Wikipedia page.

141. Sleepy supports unauthorized rambling Posted: June 14, 2009 at 07:17 AM (#3218714)

How about a catcher with no putouts (or a team pitching an entire game without a strikeout)?

That can't be too rare; the cardinals did it just the other day against the Marlins.

142. Jolly Old St. Neck Wound, Moral Idiot

Posted: June 14, 2009 at 11:12 AM (#3218726)

There were likely scores of pre-WWII movies, including at least one in William Powell's The Thin Man series, where "that's mighty white of you" was used.

Pre-WWII? The most famous use of that line was not in After The Thin Man, which did use it. More famously, it was uttered in a 1976 Dirty Harry movie called, "The Enforcer."

Clint Eastwood (Harry) was trying to get a black militant group to help him stop a terrorist group called The People's Revolutionary Strike Force. The leader of the black group said he would only speak with Harry, not his partner (Tyne Daly). The camera panned around to show a group of tough looking black guys and I think one of them said they wouldn't hurt her. Clint responded, "That's mighty white of you."

I'm just working my way to many of those 70's movies that I missed at the time, Rich, so thanks for pointing this out. But the fact that you use the words "most famously" to describe Eastwood's use of the expression more or less illustrates the point I was trying to make: In 1936, William Powell's "that's mighty white of you" in After The Thin Man wasn't "famous" at all. It was just another throwaway line. It's only jarring to the modern ear, because in 1936 it was utterly commonplace in everyday usage, with no more shock value than "motherfukcer" has in all but the most straightlaced contexts today.

143. Cblau Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:09 PM (#3218769)

According to David Vincent, there have been 8 times since 1920 that teammates hit back-to-back inside-the-park home runs.

144. Jeff K. Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:36 PM (#3218789)

That's not what the original poster was referring to. Molina hit a ball the umps ruled went off the right field wall and he stopped at first. He was subsequently replaced with a pinch-runner. Replay determined it was a homer, but Molina was not allowed to re-enter the game and was the pinch-runner was credited with the run scored.

Uh, what? That can't be right. If replay determined it was a homer, then Molina would never officially be on first to be able to be replaced with a pinch runner (absent Gabe Kapler.) If this isn't black letter in the rule book, it should be.

It really is remarkable how casually used racial slurs were back in the day.

If "back in the day" means "Christmas this year at extended family in Louisiana" and "remarkable" means "sadly not at all surprising", then yes. I figured the Obama victory would have set off the older relations who still unabashedly use terms as comically anachronistic and over-the-top racist as (obvious warning ahead) 'porch monkey', jigaboo, and spearchucker. I was very disheartened to see the reactions of a couple of aunts and uncles that I had thought were at least mildly enlightened.

145. Jeff K. Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:40 PM (#3218790)

I think Gabe Kapler hit a home run and couldn't finish running the bases. Or he may have been the pinch runner. It involved him somehow.

Kapler hit the homer and tore his Achilles' rounding first. After a conference it was deemed that since the ball was dead, the Sox could replace him.

This does remind of another rare feat: striking out after only seeing two pitches. I may be recalling slightly wrong, but a mid-AB replacement is never charged with the K if that's the result, so I'd imagine it has to be that someone has seen one or two strikes, gotten injured, and hung with the strikeout of the replacement.

146. Random Transaction Generator Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:46 PM (#3218793)

How about a catcher with no putouts (or a team pitching an entire game without a strikeout)?

That can't be too rare; the cardinals did it <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/FLO/FLO200906100.shtml">just the other day</a. against the Marlins.

Ah, but the catcher still ended up with a putout! He caught a foul ball behind home plate.

147. Jeff K. Posted: June 14, 2009 at 03:49 PM (#3218795)

Ah, but the catcher still ended up with a putout!

What does Jesus Flores have to do with this?

148. Petuniaviles Posted: June 14, 2009 at 05:49 PM (#3218934)

Kapler hit the homer and tore his Achilles' rounding first. After a conference it was deemed that since the ball was dead, the Sox could replace him.

Nitpick: Second base, and Graffanino hit the homer, not Kapler.

149. Jeff K. Posted: June 14, 2009 at 06:03 PM (#3218994)

How dare you nitpick two basic facts (out of like 3 total) that were completely incorrect in my post!

150. Misirlou's got a busy day, he's wearing a vest Posted: June 14, 2009 at 06:58 PM (#3219139)

How about a catcher with no putouts (or a team pitching an entire game without a strikeout)?

Ken Holtzman threw a no-hitter that way.

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11 Points: 11 Major League Baseball Feats That Have Only Happened Once

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