# The most unlikely event/record in major league baseball histoty **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 25, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053 "2019-04-25T21:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Steven\_Estes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Steven\_Estes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steven_Estes)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/1 "2019-04-25T21:09:42Z")
A trivia site recently had the question: "what is the unlikeliest even/record that_could_ happen in major league baseball game. The answer given–a game-winning home run is hit in the bottom of the ninth by a pitcher throwing a perfect game against a pitcher who was, till then, also tossing a perfect game. Thus strikes ne as artificial, and rather silly,but suggests a more interesting similar question what was the most unlikely event/record that\* did actually occur\* in a real major league game. Note: The following would be great answer were it true, but it probably is not : When I was a kid, many, many, many years ago, that every kids baseball fans book that had this record. . A third baseman in the nineteenth century once made fur errors o one batted ball. He boggled a grounder, threw over second baseman’s hard, dropped a throw from the right fielder, and threw wildly over the catchers head,permitting the batter to go to first,second, third, and home. Alas, his probably never happened. I sent the piece to Cooperstown HoF. The response was that the player was a real major leaguer, the box score didn’t reflect the claim and hat the payer, who was known s a jokester, probably made it up.p. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/2 "2019-04-25T21:34:13Z")
A batted ball bouncing off an outfielder’s head and into the stands for a home run. [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLs0pjWnzTY) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/3 "2019-04-25T21:40:40Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > A batted ball bouncing off an outfielder’s head and into the stands for a home run. > > [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLs0pjWnzTY) A bird crosses between the batter and pitcher and gets hit by the pitch. [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PyCpG06138) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/4 "2019-04-25T21:42:57Z")
Setting aside ones that are not only improable, but have never actually happened, like the example in the OP’s trivia contest: I’d nominate [Johnny Vander Meer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Vander_Meer) throwing no-hitters in two consecutive starts in 1938. As of today, a total of 299 no-hitters have been thrown in MLB history, thirty-six pitchers have thrown multiple no-hitters, five have thrown multiple no-hitters in the same season, but no one else has matched Vander Meer’s feat. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/5 "2019-04-25T21:45:03Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > A batted ball bouncing off an outfielder’s head and into the stands for a home run. > > [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLs0pjWnzTY) > [@running\_coach](#): > > A bird crosses between the batter and pitcher and gets hit by the pitch. > > [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PyCpG06138) I remember when both of those happened. Oh they were great. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/6 "2019-04-25T21:48:35Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > A bird crosses between the batter and pitcher and gets hit by the pitch. > > [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PyCpG06138) An outfielder, finishing warmups in between innings, tosses the baseball to the ballboy, and hits and kills a seagull. [Oh wait, that really happened, too.](https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/08/02/the_dave_winfield_seagull_incident_vs_toronto_blue_jays_at_exhibition_stadium_30_years_later_an_oral_history.html) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheBoltEater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheBoltEater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoltEater)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/7 "2019-04-25T22:42:18Z")
I assumed this thread was started to mention the 20th anniversary of what could very well be the strangest thing that ever actually happened in a baseball game - Fernando Tatis hitting 2 Grand Slams in a single inning… off the same pitcher (Chan Ho Park). Meanwhile his kid is an early favorite for rookie of the year. Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/8 "2019-04-25T23:11:26Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > A batted ball bouncing off an outfielder’s head and into the stands for a home run. > > [Oh wait, that really happened.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLs0pjWnzTY) Is anyone else surprised at how unfazed Canseco is? I’d think a batted ball (albeit, a high fly vice a line drive) could do pretty serious damage. But seconds later, he was laughing about it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/9 "2019-04-25T23:40:44Z")
> [@](#): > > A trivia site recently had the question: "what is the unlikeliest even/record that_could_ happen in major league baseball game. > The answer given–a game-winning home run is hit in the bottom of the ninth by a pitcher throwing a perfect game against a pitcher who was, till then, also tossing a perfect game. > Thus strikes ne as artificial, and rather silly,… It’s especially silly in that you can always make an event more improbable by adding more qualifiers. For instance, what’s more unlikely than that? A game-winning home run is hit in the bottom of the ninth _with a full count_ by a pitcher throwing a perfect game against a pitcher _who was his brother_ who was, till then, also tossing a perfect game _in Game 7 of the World Series_. And you can do this with the real events that actually happened, too. Like, what’s more unlikely than a ball bouncing off of a fielder’s head for a home run? A ball bouncing off of the head of a fielder who wrote a successful book, for a home run. It’s like the old joke, “The odds of this poker hand are only 1 in 2.6 million!” Yes, but nobody won any bets by that hand coming up. To get anything meaningful, you have to say something like “the most unlikely event that anyone anticipated”. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/10 "2019-04-26T00:36:48Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > Is anyone else surprised at how unfazed Canseco is? I’d think a batted ball (albeit, a high fly vice a line drive) could do pretty serious damage. But seconds later, he was laughing about it. I always assumed there was a lot of bone above that neck. It also explains the bounce. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/11 "2019-04-26T00:44:47Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > An outfielder, finishing warmups in between innings, tosses the baseball to the ballboy, and hits and kills a seagull. > > [Oh wait, that really happened, too.](https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/08/02/the_dave_winfield_seagull_incident_vs_toronto_blue_jays_at_exhibition_stadium_30_years_later_an_oral_history.html) 😃 How about getting hit by a car in the outfield? Or mauled by a tiger after sliding into 2nd? Or an outfielder getting his head torn off by the ball? Oh wait, that really…uh…was caught on film, therefore happened! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ktE9ZYAV1C4/hqdefault.jpg "Naked Gun - Baseball Bloopers") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktE9ZYAV1C4) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/12 "2019-04-26T00:48:28Z")
How about actually [knocking the cover off](https://youtu.be/P1R2f6153pQ?t=556) a brand-new ball? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/13 "2019-04-26T02:11:31Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’d nominate [Johnny Vander Meer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Vander_Meer) throwing no-hitters in two consecutive starts in 1938. As of today, a total of 299 no-hitters have been thrown in MLB history, thirty-six pitchers have thrown multiple no-hitters, five have thrown multiple no-hitters in the same season, but no one else has matched Vander Meer’s feat. I think the “double no-hitter” by Fred Toney of the Reds against Hippo Vaughn of the Cubs on May 2, 1917, was even more improbable than that. Both pitchers threw nine no-hit innings against one another. Vaughn’s no-hitter was broken up in the 10th, and the Reds scored a run. Toney preserved his no-hitter through the 10th for a 1-0 win. Then you also have to mention hard-luck [Harvey Haddix, who pitched 12 perfect innings](https://www.mlb.com/cut4/harvey-haddix-threw-12-perfect-innings-and-lost/c-126504134) for the Pirates in 1959 _and lost._ ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/14 "2019-04-26T02:39:41Z")
Another of my favorites is [Matt Young’s no hitter that wasn’t.](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-13-sp-105-story.html) I watched the entire game on TV. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/15 "2019-04-26T02:40:09Z")
This week marks the 20th anniversary of [Fernando Tatis hitting two grand slam home runs in the same inning off the same pitcher.](https://www.mlb.com/news/fernando-tatis-two-grand-slams-20-years-ago) > [@](#): > > “What would it be comparable to?” legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch afterward. “I don’t know how you could compare it to anything. One inning is so preposterous.” ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/16 "2019-04-26T04:18:38Z")
[Joey Gallo](https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/rangers-joey-gallo-end-unusual-historic-drought-by-finally-getting-first-career-sacrifice-fly/) registered 1,337 plate appearances before hitting his first sacrifice fly. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/17 "2019-04-26T05:05:35Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Another of my favorites is [Matt Young’s no hitter that wasn’t.](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-13-sp-105-story.html) I watched the entire game on TV. Yes, but not the worst “no hitter” loss by a long shot. The most ridiculous one was by Andy Hawkins of the Yankees who [pitched 8 no-hit innings in 1990 but lost 4-0 on 2 walks and 3 errors](https://www.sbnation.com/2015/7/1/8841355/andy-hawkins-no-hitter-yankees-white-sox) in the bottom of the 8th. As the article says: > [@](#): > > You’re not reading this because of an error and two walks. Those aren’t events that are usually recounted 25 years later, and they shouldn’t be. You’re reading this because something happened. If we’re all lucky, we’ll never see it again in the late innings of a no-hitter. This is the Sistine Chapel of ruining a no-hitter, and it would be sacrilege to recreate it. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/18 "2019-04-26T07:21:58Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > An outfielder, finishing warmups in between innings, tosses the baseball to the ballboy, and hits and kills a seagull. > > [Oh wait, that really happened, too.](https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2013/08/02/the_dave_winfield_seagull_incident_vs_toronto_blue_jays_at_exhibition_stadium_30_years_later_an_oral_history.html) 😃 Best quote from that article: > [@](#): > > Pinchuk: I still remember Billy Martin’s comments: “Cruelty to animals? That’s the first time he hit the cut-off man all year.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/19 "2019-04-26T11:43:19Z")
In 1970, Pittsburgh Pirate Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while tripping on LSD. Duplicate _that_, I dare ya. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/20 "2019-04-26T12:54:30Z")
Surely the most unlikely possible thing is something that has never happened? Incidentally, a player committing three errors on one play has certainly happened, because you can actually look up the video of Tommy John doing it. The four-error story about Mike Grady is absolutely not true. Grady was a character, to use a nice term. He was a pretty good player with a solid bat, but he was equally known for the size and rapidity of his yapping. He was a big-talking, hard-drinking lout who wore out his welcome wherever he went. It would be very much in his character to just make up funny stories about his playing days to amuse an audience, and back then it was hard to look this stuff up. Grady definitely WAS part of a pretty rare play, though; he was one of the runners in a triple steal, I believe the first recorded in MLB history. I don’t think that has happened more than a few dozen times. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053.md?page=2)