# Baseball out fielder, no plays entire game. Unusual? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 2, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752 "2016-09-02T01:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/1 "2016-09-02T01:48:21Z")
How unusual would it be for a major league outfielder to go through an entire game without making a play on any of the 27 (or 24) “outs”? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/2 "2016-09-02T02:04:10Z")
It’s not unusual at all. I just looked at my scorebook for this season. In the first nine games it happened to seven outfielders. A couple of times it happened to both teams. What I haven’t found so far is an instance of there being no outs by a center fielder. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/3 "2016-09-02T02:06:14Z")
Thanks, was it mostly the right fielder? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/4 "2016-09-02T02:56:47Z")
In five cases it was the left fielder, and in two it was the right fielder. I think this is too small a data set to make any meaningful extrapolation. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/5 "2016-09-02T04:25:30Z")
In the interest of science I looked up Blue Jay box scores this year starting right from Opening Day. **On Opening Day** , neither the right fielder (Jose Bautista) OR the left fielder (Michael Saunders) is credited with a putout or an assist. Bautista did make an error, though. In Game 3, neither Bautista nor the center fielder, Kevin Pillar, made any outs. I scanned through about 40 games and lost count eventually, but it’s very common. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/6 "2016-09-02T17:45:50Z")
I wonder if there is a way to determine if a fielder didn’t make any plays at all (not just put outs or assists). It would probably require a game with a lot of strikeouts, and maybe a no-hitter. Are the fielders that touched the ball on a non-out play recorded anywhere? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/7 "2016-09-02T18:04:42Z")
Looks like in Kerry Wood’s 20 K game the left fielder never handled the ball. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/8 "2016-09-02T18:17:21Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > I wonder if there is a way to determine if a fielder didn’t make any plays at all (not just put outs or assists). It would probably require a game with a lot of strikeouts, and maybe a no-hitter. > > Are the fielders that touched the ball on a non-out play recorded anywhere? This is noted in the detailed scoresheets but it’s not an official statistic, so it takes some digging. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/9 "2016-09-02T19:35:44Z")
Wait, so _ **this** _ is why my Little League coach played me in left field! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/10 "2016-09-02T20:19:46Z")
Think that’s strange? [How about an entire game where the first baseman doesn’t record an out](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/david-ortiz-did-something-no-red-sox-first-baseman-has-ever-done-004547771.html)! Something like that could never [happen twice.](http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2011/04/27/not-norm-cash-plays-entire-game-recording-put/) In fact, the odds against it are something like the odds of lightning striking [19 times.](http://www.answers.com/Q/Has_there_ever_been_a_major_league_baseball_game_where_the_first_baseman_had_no_putouts?#slide=2) ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/11 "2016-09-02T21:38:49Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Think that’s strange? [How about an entire game where the first baseman doesn’t record an out](http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/david-ortiz-did-something-no-red-sox-first-baseman-has-ever-done-004547771.html)! > > Something like that could never [happen twice.](http://baseballpastandpresent.com/2011/04/27/not-norm-cash-plays-entire-game-recording-put/) > > In fact, the odds against it are something like the odds of lightning striking [19 times.](http://www.answers.com/Q/Has_there_ever_been_a_major_league_baseball_game_where_the_first_baseman_had_no_putouts?#slide=2) Ortiz had an assist in the game mentioned in your first link, and Cash (second link) played just eight innings. Amateurs! 🙂 The game I remember is Gene Tenace with Oakland in 1974, when he had no putouts and no assists in a game against Detroit that went the full nine innings. (According to your third link, there have been a handful of others that fill the same bill.) Anyway, I looked up the Tenace game on Retrosheet, [Retrosheet Boxscore: Oakland Athletics 5, Detroit Tigers 3](http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1974/B09010DET1974.htm), and I suppose it’s conceivable that he never touched the ball even once while it was live and in play. You can’t be sure from an account like this, of course. –There could have been an unsuccessful toss over to first base to try to pick off a runner. Noted basestealer Ron LeFlore was one of a few Tigers who reached first during the game. I’d actually be more surprised if there wasn’t such an attempt than if there was, but retrosheet only logs it if the runner was tagged out or there was an error. –Singles to the outfield–the Tigers had several in this game–are sometimes followed by a throw over to first, if the batter made a wider turn than usual. No indication that this happened, but no reason to think it didn’t. –There were a couple of force plays at second, such as Bill Freehan forcing a runner on a grounder to short. Easy to imagine the second baseman trying the relay throw to Tenace, especially given Freehan’s lack of speed, only the throw arrived late. –First basemen are sometimes cutoff men on throws from the right fielder or center fielder. There were several points where that could’ve happened. So…probably not. But it _is_ fun to think about. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/12 "2016-09-03T01:05:48Z")
> [@VarlosZ](#): > > Wait, so _ **this** _ is why my Little League coach played me in left field! ☹ I thought all the stiffs got put in right field. I couldn’t catch a high fly ball to save my life. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/13 "2016-09-08T18:10:10Z")
I think the ultimate record might be that of Texas Rangers shortstop Toby Harrah, who once played an _entire double-header at shortstop_ with no assists, putouts, or errors. Random cite: [Toby Harrah - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Harrah) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baseball-out-fielder-no-plays-entire-game-unusual/764752/14 "2016-09-08T18:15:54Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > I think the ultimate record might be that of Texas Rangers shortstop Toby Harrah, who once played an _entire double-header at shortstop_ with no assists, putouts, or errors. > > Random cite: [Toby Harrah - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toby_Harrah) That is the most astounding baseball stat I think I’ve ever seen.