Baseball Rarities

[SteveA]

Being at the game for Cedric's cycle got me to thinking about baseball rarities.   It was the first time I had ever seen a cycle in the majors in person, and I guessimate I have been to 700+ MLB games in my 59 years.

So I thought about some of the baseball rarities.   There have been 235,000+ MLB games played.

There have been:

• 23 perfect games (0.098% of games played) -- I have never seen one in person
• 318 no hitters (0.14%) -- I have never seen one in person
• 341 cycles (0.15%) -- I just saw my first, Cedric Mullins on Friday
• 733 triple plays (0.31%) -- I have seen one in person, Don Mattingly hit into a 5-4-3 vs the Orioles
• 15 unassisted triple plays (0.007%) -- I have never seen one in person
• 113 immaculate innings (0.048%) -- this is where the pitcher gets 3 strikeouts on 9 pitches.  I have never seen one in person.
• 32 ultimate grand slams (0.013%) -- this is a walkoff grand slam to win a game in the bottom of the 9th or later when the team is down by 3.  I have seen one in person, Chris Hoiles.   However Hoiles ultimate grand slam was with two outs (only 15 of the 32 were) and a full count.   It is the only 2-out full count ultimate grand slam ever recorded in MLB history.  There have been at least a few other 2-out 2-strike ultimate grand slams, most recently David Bote of the Cubs.
• 13 players have hit 2 grand slams in a game (0.006%) -- I have never seen this in person.  3 did it in an Orioles uniform (Gentile, Frank, Hoiles), and Fernando Tatis who did it in one inning later played for the Orioles.
• 18 times that a player has hit 4 HRs in a game (0.076%) -- I have seen one in person (Josh Hamltin vs the Orioles)

Edited May 16, 2023 by SteveA

[CharmCityHokie]

3 hours ago, SteveA said:

Being at the game for Cedric's cycle got me to thinking about baseball rarities.   It was the first time I had ever seen a cycle in the majors in person, and I guessimate I have been to 700+ MLB games in my 59 years.

So I thought about some of the baseball rarities.   There have been 235,000+ MLB games played.

There have been:

• 23 perfect games (0.098% of games played) -- I have never seen one in person
• 318 no hitters (0.14%) -- I have never seen one in person
• 341 cycles (0.15%) -- I just saw my first, Cedric Mullins on Friday
• 733 triple plays (0.31%) -- I have seen one in person, Don Mattingly hit into a 5-4-3 vs the Orioles
• 15 unassisted triple plays (0.007%) -- I have never seen one in person
• 113 immaculate innings (0.048%) -- this is where the pitcher gets 3 strikeouts on 9 pitches.  I have never seen one in person.
• 32 ultimate grand slams (0.013%) -- this is a walkoff grand slam to win a game in the bottom of the 9th or later when the team is down by 3.  I have seen one in person, Chris Hoiles.   However Hoiles ultimate grand slam was with two outs (only 15 of the 32 were) and a full count.   It is the only 2-out full count ultimate grand slam ever recorded in MLB history.  There have been at least a few other 2-out 2-strike ultimate grand slams, most recently David Bote of the Cubs.
• 13 players have hit 2 grand slams in a game (0.006%) -- I have never seen this in person.  3 did it in an Orioles uniform (Gentile, Frank, Hoiles), and Fernando Tatis who did it in one inning later played for the Orioles.
• 18 times that a player has hit 4 HRs in a game (0.076%) -- I have seen one in person (Josh Hamltin vs the Orioles)

This is awesome info, I really appreciate it!

For what ever reason it seems crazy to me that there re so many more no-hitters than immaculate innings. I don't know why that surprises me but it definitely stood out.

[jabba72]

My family had tickets to Dave Stewarts no-hitter in Toronto in 1990. We didnt go for some reason. So that no-hitter always sticks in my mind for whatever reason.

[SteveA]

7 minutes ago, jabba72 said:

My family had tickets to Dave Stewarts no-hitter in Toronto in 1990. We didnt go for some reason. So that no-hitter always sticks in my mind for whatever reason.

I remember that one because it was back when there was a nationally televised doubleheader on (ESPN?) on Friday nights and I believe Stweart pitched a no hitter in the first game and Fernando Valenzuela had one in the late game?   Two MLB no hitters in one night.

[Frobby]

You’ve been fortunate to see a few of these ultra-rare events.  I did see Nestor Cortez pitch an immaculate inning against the Orioles last year, but didn’t even realize it until a Yankee fan sitting behind me asked his friend whether Cortez had thrown any balls that inning.  Even when I heard the question, I didn’t recall whether Cortez had thrown a ball or not, so I can’t say the immaculate inning made much of an impression on me.   

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

You’ve been fortunate to see a few of these ultra-rare events.  I did see Nestor Cortez pitch an immaculate inning against the Orioles last year, but didn’t even realize it until a Yankee fan sitting behind me asked his friend whether Cortez had thrown any balls that inning.  Even when I heard the question, I didn’t recall whether Cortez had thrown a ball or not, so I can’t say the immaculate inning made much of an impression on me.   

O's have had four, most recently Gausman in 2018 (he has two in his career).

That isn't something that was even thought about in the day so who knows, maybe you were there when Jimmy Key did it in 1998.

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

O's have had four, most recently Gausman in 2018 (he has two in his career).

That isn't something that was even thought about in the day so who knows, maybe you were there when Jimmy Key did it in 1998.

It’s become more frequent as strikeouts became more prevalent.  But you’re right.  I’d never even heard the term until a couple of years ago.