By its very nature, baseball is the sport that most leads to endless debates and arguments about the relative merits of its players. Since every stadium is unique in the size and shape of its outfield and the height of its fences, there will never be a logical way to determine the ultimate “best” pitcher or hitter. Unlike basketball or tennis, for example, baseball is not played in a uniform environment, making comparison of the statistics of players, who play half of their games in their own home stadiums, dubious in general. The best case.
However, there are rare player accomplishments in baseball history that transcend differences in playing fields, or the weather conditions at the time, or anything else. They’re notable for both their tremendous infrequency and their high level of achievement…and they also make excellent material for baseball trivia questions. I suspect fans will argue over which feat is the most awesome for some time to come. Here are a few to consider:
- The Immaculate Entrance – Three batters are struck out in the same half inning on just 9 pitches thrown by the same pitcher. This feat has been accomplished just 47 times in Major League history. Forty-four pitchers have done it once during their career while 3 have done it twice. You realize it’s a rare event when you look at the number of possible opportunities compared to the number of actual occurrences. In each game, pitchers get 8 or 9 chances to pitch a half inning. Each of the 30 teams plays 162 games each. That’s a range of 38,880 to 43,740 chances for all pitchers to throw an Immaculate Inning…and that’s only for ONE season! Multiply those numbers by, say, just 30 seasons, and you get 1,166,400 – 1,312,200 opportunities. Now compare that to just 47 actual occurrences. it’s amazing!
- 4 home runs in a game by the same batter – Only 16 players in Major League Baseball history have hit 4 home runs in one game. No batter has hit more than that and no player has hit 4 in a game more than once during his career. Again, the numbers are staggering: 9 players have a chance to hit 4 home runs in each of the 162 games. There are 30 teams. The total chances are 43,740 in a season. If we multiply that number like we did in the first illustration by just 30 seasons, we get a grand total of 1,312,200 opportunities. Then we compare 16 occurrences with that number. I would say the 4 home run game is a rarity in baseball!
- Baseball’s triple crown for hitting – This award is given to the hitter who led his league in home runs, RBIs and batting average, all in the same season. Since baseball’s first Triple Crown was awarded for batting in 1878, only 17 players have won it, making it one of the rarest achievements in baseball. 17 winners in 135 years!
- Baseball’s triple crown for pitching – To earn this award, a pitcher must lead his league in wins, strikeouts and earned run average, all in the same season. While not as rare as the beating Triple Crown, this award has been awarded just 38 times since it was first presented in 1877.
- the perfect game – A perfect game is achieved when a pitcher pitches to the minimum number of batters on the opposing team and none of them reach base in nine innings. This means no hits, walks, hit batters, errors, catcher interference, or strikeouts on passes or wild pitches. Since there are 3 outs per inning and there are 9 innings, a pitcher must retire 27 batters in a row to achieve a perfect game. How weird is this? A total of just 23 perfect games have been thrown in Major League history since the first in 1880. Statistically less rare (due to far fewer playoff games) but equally impressive is the only perfect game thrown in postseason history. ; Don Larsen of the New York Yankees needed just 97 pitches to make history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
- Home run during the first at bat – In Major League Baseball history, only 113 batters have hit a home run in their first at-bat. Of those 113 batters, only 28 hit home runs in the first. passed. They were all rookies at some point in their careers, so every player who ever came to the plate had a chance to hit a home run in their first at-bat. As it turns out, this achievement is one of the rarest events in baseball history.
In the Major Leagues, teams play 162 regular season games. The length of the games is determined only by the time it takes to play 9 or more innings and not by a time clock. The pace is generally slow and deliberate. Winners and losers are not determined until the final out is recorded. Teams come back from big deficits to win games when the odds are overwhelmingly unfavorable. Just one last pitch or swing of the bat can make history. The lack of time constraints can provide moments of high drama and rare feats of achievement.
We’ve discussed some of these rare feats, some of which took just seconds to accomplish while others occurred over the course of a game or an entire season. Our list was far from exhaustive, but it does include some great material for baseball trivia questions! Did you think of other baseball oddities? If so, we invite you to share them on our site.
