In Major League Baseball, 38 pitchers have thrown a nine-pitch, three-strikeout half-inning, literally throwing nothing but strikes, a total of 41 times. This feat is also known as an immaculate inning.[1]
Player | Date | Team | Inning | Score | Opponent | Batters Faced |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
John Clarkson | June 4, 1889 | Boston Beaneaters (NL) | third | 4-2 W | Philadelphia Quakers | Jim Fogarty Sam Thompson Sid Farrar |
Rube Waddell | July 1, 1902 | Philadelphia Athletics (AL) | third | 2-0 W | Baltimore Orioles | Billy Gilbert Harry Howell John Cronin |
Pat Ragan | October 5, 1914 | Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) | eighth | 15-2 L | Boston Braves | Possum Whitted Butch Schmidt Red Smith |
Joe Oeschger | September 8, 1921 | Boston Braves (NL) | fourth | 8-6 L | Philadelphia Phillies | Bevo LeBourveau Cy Williams Ed Konetchy |
Sloppy Thurston | August 22, 1923 | Chicago White Sox (AL) | twelfth | 3-2 L (13) | Philadelphia Athletics | Beauty McGowan Chick Galloway Sammy Hale |
Dazzy Vance | September 24, 1924 | Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) | second | 6-5 W | Chicago Cubs | Sam Bohne Bubbles Hargrave Eppa Rixey |
Lefty Grove | August 23, 1928 | Philadelphia Athletics (AL) | second | 3-1 W | Cleveland Indians | Eddie Morgan Luther Harvel Martin Autry |
Lefty Grove (2) | September 27, 1928 | Philadelphia Athletics (AL) | seventh | 5-3 W | Chicago White Sox | Moe Berg Tommy Thomas Johnny Mostil |
Billy Hoeft | September 7, 1953 | Detroit Tigers (AL) | seventh | 6-2 W | Chicago White Sox | |
Jim Bunning | August 2, 1959 | Detroit Tigers (AL) | ninth | 5-4 L | Boston Red Sox | Sammy White Jim Mahoney Ike Delock |
Sandy Koufax | June 30, 1962 | Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) | first | 5-0 W | New York Mets | Richie Ashburn Rod Kanehl Felix Mantilla |
Sandy Koufax (2) | April 18, 1964 | Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) | third | 3-0 L | Cincinnati Reds | Leo Cardenas Johnny Edwards Jim Maloney |
Bob Bruce | April 19, 1964 | Houston Colt .45s (NL) | eighth | 6-1 L | St Louis Cardinals | Bill White Charlie James Ken Boyer |
Al Downing | August 11, 1967 | New York Yankees (AL) | second | 5-3 W | Cleveland Indians | Tony Horton Don Demeter Duke Sims |
Nolan Ryan | April 19, 1968 | New York Mets (NL) | third | 3-2 L | Los Angeles Dodgers | Claude Osteen Wes Parker Zoilo Versalles |
Bob Gibson | May 12, 1969 | St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | seventh | 6-2 W | Los Angeles Dodgers | Len Gabrielson Paul Popovich John Miller |
Milt Pappas | September 24, 1971 | Chicago Cubs (NL) | fourth | 6-5 L | Philadelphia Phillies | Greg Luzinski Don Money Mike Anderson |
Nolan Ryan (2) | July 9, 1972 | California Angels (AL) | second | 3-0 W | Boston Red Sox | Carlton Fisk Bob Burda Juan Beniquez |
Bruce Sutter | September 8, 1977 | Chicago Cubs (NL) | ninth | 3-2 W (10) | Montreal Expos | Ellis Valentine Gary Carter Larry Parrish |
Ron Guidry | August 7, 1984 | New York Yankees (AL) | ninth | 7-0 W | Chicago White Sox | Carlton Fisk Tom Paciorek Greg Luzinski |
Jeff Robinson | September 7, 1987 | Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) | eighth | 3-2 W | Chicago Cubs | Leon Durham Andre Dawson Rafael Palmeiro |
Rob Dibble | June 4, 1989 | Cincinnati Reds (NL) | eighth | 5-3 W | San Diego Padres | Carmelo Martínez Mark Parent Garry Templeton |
Jeff Montgomery | April 29, 1990 | Kansas City Royals (AL) | eighth | 5-2 W | Texas Rangers | Pete Incaviglia Geno Petralli Thad Bosley |
Andy Ashby | June 15, 1991 | Philadelphia Phillies (NL) | fourth | 3-1 L | Cincinnati Reds | Hal Morris Todd Benzinger Jeff Reed |
David Cone | August 30, 1991 | New York Mets (NL) | fifth | 3-2 W | Cincinnati Reds | Herm Winningham Randy Myers Mariano Duncan |
Pete Harnisch | September 6, 1991 | Houston Astros (NL) | seventh | 3-1 W | Philadelphia Phillies | Wes Chamberlain Dickie Thon Jose De Jesus |
Trevor Wilson | June 7, 1992 | San Francisco Giants (NL) | ninth | 3-0 W | Houston Astros | Jeff Bagwell Eric Anthony Rafael Ramirez |
Mel Rojas | May 11, 1994 | Montreal Expos (NL) | ninth | 4-3 W | New York Mets | David Segui Todd Hundley Jeff McKnight |
Mike Magnante | August 22, 1997 | Houston Astros (NL) | ninth | 9-1 W | Colorado Rockies | Ellis Burks Harvey Pulliam Jeff Reed |
Randy Johnson | August 23, 2001 | Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) | sixth | 5-1 L | Pittsburgh Pirates | Tony McKnight Gary Matthews, Jr. Jack Wilson |
Jason Isringhausen | April 13, 2002 | St. Louis Cardinals (NL) | ninth | 2-1 W | Houston Astros | Daryle Ward José Vizcaíno Julio Lugo |
Byung-Hyun Kim | May 11, 2002 | Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) | eighth | 6-5 W (10) | Philadelphia Phillies | Scott Rolen Mike Lieberthal Pat Burrell |
Pedro Martínez | May 18, 2002 | Boston Red Sox (AL) | first | 4-1 W | Seattle Mariners | Ichiro Suzuki Mark McLemore Rubén Sierra |
Brian Lawrence | June 12, 2002 | San Diego Padres (NL) | third | 2-0 W | Baltimore Orioles (AL) | Brook Fordyce Jerry Hairston, Jr. Melvin Mora |
Brandon Backe | April 15, 2004 | Houston Astros (NL) | eighth | 6-2 L | Milwaukee Brewers | Bill Hall Scott Podsednik Craig Counsell |
Ben Sheets | June 13, 2004 | Milwaukee Brewers (NL) | third | 5-4 L | Houston Astros | Pete Munro Craig Biggio José Vizcaíno |
LaTroy Hawkins | September 11, 2004 | Chicago Cubs (NL) | ninth | 5-2 W | Florida Marlins | Jeff Conine Juan Encarnacion Álex González |
Rick Helling | June 20, 2006 | Milwaukee Brewers (NL) | first | 10-1 L | Detroit Tigers (AL) | Curtis Granderson Plácido Polanco Iván Rodríguez |
Buddy Carlyle | July 6, 2007 | Atlanta Braves (NL) | fourth | 7-4 W | San Diego Padres | Khalil Greene Russell Branyan José Cruz, Jr. |
Rich Harden | June 8, 2008 | Oakland Athletics (AL) | first | 7-3 W | Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim | Maicer Izturis Howie Kendrick Garrett Anderson |
Félix Hernández | June 17, 2008 | Seattle Mariners (AL) | fourth | 5-4 W | Florida Marlins (NL) | Jeremy Hermida Jorge Cantu Mike Jacobs |
Trivia[]
Template:Trivia
- The feat has been accomplished in every regulation inning: four times in the 1st, four times in the 2nd, six times in the 3rd, five times in the 4th, once in the 5th (Cone), once in the 6th (Johnson), four times in the 7th, seven times in the 8th, eight times in the 9th, and once in the 12th (Thurston).
- Three pitchers have accomplished the feat twice: Grove, Koufax, and Ryan. Of them, Grove is the only pitcher ever to have achieved the feat twice in the same season, and Ryan is the only pitcher ever to have achieved the feat in both the National and American Leagues, as well as being the only right-handed pitcher to accomplish the feat twice. All three are members of the Hall of Fame.
- Three of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have done so in their rookie seasons: Eller, Thurston, and Ashby.
- Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat are members of the 3000 strikeout club: Johnson, Ryan, Gibson, and Martinez.
- Koufax's first nine-pitch/three strikeout inning came in the first inning of his first no-hitter.
- Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have also thrown perfect games (though not in the same game): Koufax, Bunning, Cone and Johnson.
- Guidry's and Wilson's immaculate innings are the only two to come in the ninth inning of a complete game. Both were shutout victories.
- Nine of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have been elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame: Clarkson, Waddell, Vance, Grove, Bunning, Koufax, Ryan, Gibson, and Sutter.
- Thurston is the only pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat in extra innings.
- Grove and Ryan are the only pitchers with 300 career wins to have accomplished the feat.
- The 24-year-and-345-day gap between Grove's half-inning and Hoeft's half-inning in the longest span without a pitcher achieving the feat; the one-day gap between Koufax's half-inning and Bruce's half-inning is the shortest span.
- 1928 was the first year in which the feat was accomplished twice (both times by Grove); 1964 was the first year in which two pitchers accomplished the feat (Koufax and Bruce); 1991 was the first year in which three pitchers accomplished the feat (Ashby, Cone, and Harnisch); 2002 was the first year in which four pitchers accomplished the feat (Isringhausen, Kim, Martínez and Lawrence)
- José Vizcaíno, Carlton Fisk, Jeff Reed and Greg Luzinski are the only men recorded to have been victims twice.
- Three franchises have seen their pitchers accomplish the feat four times, more than any of the others: The Houston NL franchise, with Bruce, Harnisch, Magnante, and Backe, the Dodgers--in Brooklyn and LA--with Ragan, Vance, and Koufax twice, and the Athletics, with Waddell, Grove twice, and Harden. The Braves and Cubs have each seen the feat performed three times.
- As of the 2008 season, the feat has been accomplished twenty-six times in the National League, twelve times in the American league, and three times in interleague play.
Sources[]
- ↑ Rodriguez, John. "Hernandez's immaculate inning highlights Marlins' loss", Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2008-06-18. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.