# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/21 "2019-04-26T12:55:22Z")
How about a[Bald Eagle landing on player pre-gam](https://www.mlb.com/video/must-c-winker-eyes-some-nachos)e? ---
**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, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/22 "2019-04-26T13:38:11Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > How about a[Bald Eagle landing on player pre-gam](https://www.mlb.com/video/must-c-winker-eyes-some-nachos)e? Were those nachos covered in shredded bald eagle or something? ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/23 "2019-04-26T13:48:22Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Were those nachos covered in shredded bald eagle or something? Try [this link](https://www.mlb.com/cut4/a-bald-eagle-landed-on-james-paxton-before-the-game/c-270959234) ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/24 "2019-04-26T14:05:39Z")
My favorite is Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin hitting home runs back to back in their first ever at-bats. So many variables, so unlikely to happen again. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/25 "2019-04-26T18:04:19Z")
Here’s something interesting: There has been only one triple play accomplished in any MLB postseason, and it was of the [unassisted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unassisted_triple_play) variety. And there has been only one no-hitter in the World Series, which was a perfect game. ---
**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, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/26 "2019-04-26T18:25:07Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Here’s something interesting: > > There has been only one triple play accomplished in any MLB postseason, and it was of the [unassisted](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unassisted_triple_play) variety. > > **And there has been only one no-hitter in the World Series, which was a perfect game.** Interestingly, Larsen is the [last living member of the starting lineups](https://www.cdapress.com/local_news/20171228/don_larsen_happy_at_homein_north_idaho). > [@](#): > > Larsen said he’s the last living “Brownie” from the St. Louis team he played on and the last starter left from both teams during his perfect game. > > “That carries a little weight by itself, but I’m just not sure how much,” he said with a smile. “The last one to go was Yogi (Berra, who caught for Larsen) in 2015. It’s lonesome when you get to the top.” ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/27 "2019-04-27T23:46:47Z")
Five years ago today the Giants turned a 4-6-3 double play. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that this play went from second baseman Brandon Hicks to shortstop Brandon Crawford to first baseman Brandon Belt…making it quite possibly the only “All Brandon Double Play” in baseball history. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/28 "2019-04-28T03:52:53Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s especially silly in that you can always make an event more improbable by adding more qualifiers. Well, that’s kind of the basis of a whole lot of baseball announcer discourse. The permutations are infinite–you can always just put together a new condition with another qualifier. So you just arbitrarily stipulate some conditions as though it were truly meaningful, and it gives you something to talk about. It’s like 80% of what TV sports announcers do. Announcer A: “Smith is the first relief picture to bunt two times in consecutive extra innings with an intervening single resulting from both a shortstop and third baseman error.” Announce B: “Wow, how about that.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/29 "2019-04-28T05:39:34Z")
How about a father and son hitting back-to-back home runs? On September 14, 1990, Ken Griffey and his son, Ken, Jr., playing for the Seattle Mariners, hit back-to-back homers off the Angels’ Kirk MacCaskill. They are the only father and son ever to do so. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/30 "2019-04-28T15:23:08Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Five years ago today the Giants turned a 4-6-3 double play. Nothing out of the ordinary, except that this play went from second baseman Brandon Hicks to shortstop Brandon Crawford to first baseman Brandon Belt…making it quite possibly the only “All Brandon Double Play” in baseball history. They did it again the next day. 🙂 > **[San Diego Padres vs San Francisco Giants Box Score: April 28, 2014 |...](https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN201404280.shtml)** > > San Diego Padres beat San Francisco Giants (6-4). Apr 28, 2014, Attendance: 41533, Time of Game: 3:29. Visit Baseball-Reference.com for the complete box score, play-by-play, and win probability Granted, that one was Brandon-Brandon-Brandon, instead of Brandon-Brandon-Brandon. They never pulled off the more difficult Brandon-Brandon-Brandon that I can see. They also did it May 3. That was Brandon Hicks’s last year in the majors. Maybe it was the .162 batting average, but maybe they put in a rule about limits on Brandons. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/31 "2019-04-28T19:38:52Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > In 1970, Pittsburgh Pirate Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter while tripping on LSD. > > Duplicate _that_, I dare ya. [\* Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No\*](https://youtu.be/_vUhSYLRw14) (With the immortal Bob Prince stroking his Green Weenie. ;)) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/32 "2019-04-28T22:36:20Z")
[From Wikipedia] On July 29, 2016, in a game between the Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants, the Giants loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 8th inning. Brandon Crawford hit a line drive that was caught by Nationals’ first baseman Ryan Zimmerman for the first out. Zimmerman then touched first base before Buster Posey could tag up, for the second out. Zimmerman then threw to third baseman Anthony Rendon, who stepped on third before Denard Span could tag up, for the third out. It was the first 3-3-5 triple play in MLB history. I was watching when it happened. I believe it was also the first triple play of any kind in Nationals franchise history. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/33 "2019-04-30T16:07:26Z")
Since you’re talking about birds, what happens if a batter hits a ball which strikes a bird in the air and the ball then falls to the ground? Does the ball remain in play, or is the at-bat nullified? Presumably, this has happened a few times. ---
**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 30, 2019, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/34 "2019-04-30T17:16:58Z")
2001 World Series, Game 6. > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The Cardinals set two World Series milestones in their Game 6 win—the first team to come back from deficits in both the 9th and 10th innings, and the first team to score in the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th innings.[32] On Mike and Mike in the Morning the next day, ESPN senior baseball analyst Buster Olney called it the greatest game in the history of baseball.[33] Not to mention that David Freese, a Cardinal who appeared in fewer than 100 games that season, got the hit that tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, then led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk-off home run. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/35 "2019-04-30T17:23:48Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > 2001 World Series, Game 6. > > Not to mention that David Freese, a Cardinal who appeared in fewer than 100 games that season, got the hit that tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, then led off the bottom of the 11th with a walk-off home run. Can you link to that Wikipedia article? IIRC, the 2001 World Series was between the Diamondbacks and the Yankees. Or do you mean the 2011 World Series? ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2019, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/36 "2019-04-30T17:36:06Z")
[\*\*I’d say this is pretty unusual. \*\*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwpRHrAh3pk) It’s the only recorded instance on record of a bird being tagged by a pitch, though birds have been hit by fly balls on more than one occasion. ---
**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 30, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/37 "2019-04-30T17:52:39Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > [\*\*I’d say this is pretty unusual. \*\*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwpRHrAh3pk) > > It’s the only recorded instance on record of a bird being tagged by a pitch, though birds have been hit by fly balls on more than one occasion. Already mentioned by **running coach** in post #3. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/38 "2019-05-03T03:09:59Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > Since you’re talking about birds, what happens if a batter hits a ball which strikes a bird in the air and the ball then falls to the ground? Does the ball remain in play, or is the at-bat nullified? Presumably, this has happened a few times. It’s ruled as a “no pitch”. Add one to the pitcher’s pitch count for fatigue factors, but do not advance the count. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/39 "2019-05-03T05:03:47Z")
How about Phillip Humber’s perfect game? His career was awful by any measurement: only 16 career wins, 5.31 ERA, 0.9 WAR. Even the year he pitched his perfect game (2012) he had a 6.44 ERA and a zero WAR. Amazingly enough, that game was his only career complete game. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2019, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053/40 "2019-05-03T06:34:39Z")
For an event - probably the image of Pablo Sandoval’s bare, flabby tummy flesh caught on camera, mid-throw. No other exposed (and quite gross) gut-flesh has ever been documented. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-unlikely-event-record-in-major-league-baseball-histoty/833053.md?page=3)