# Weird, strange coincidences that sound like fiction but happened in sport **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [July 18, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228 "2023-07-18T19:15:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/1 "2023-07-18T19:15:57Z")
24 years ago today the Yankees had a special day for Yogi Berra. After 14 years of feuding with George Steinbrenner he came back to Yankee Stadium for the first time. As part of the celebration Don Larsen threw out the first pitch to Yogi. Larsen threw the only post season perfect game to Yogi in 1956. Then the game started. With Yogi and Larsen watching, David Cone pitched the 16th perfect game in MLB history on 88 pitches. If you wrote that in a movie no one would find it believable. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/2 "2023-08-20T16:25:19Z")
Going on the No-Hitters. July 4th, 1983 was Dave Righetti’s No Hit victory over the Red Sox. This was not only a Celebration of Independence Day but also owner George Steinbrenner’s 53 birthday. Added bonus, Rags was upset he didn’t make the All Star team and so in the final game before the All Star Game, he really put and exclamation on his season to that point. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/3 "2023-08-20T16:30:22Z")
Keeping this to baseball: Cecil Fielder retired in 1998 with 319 Homers. his son Prince Fielder retired 2016 with **319 Homers.** ---
**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:** [August 20, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/4 "2023-08-20T16:31:26Z")
On November 18th, 1985, Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann suffered a traumatic lower-leg injury – a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula in his right leg – while being sacked; the injury was career-ending. On November 18th, 2018 – thirty-three years, to the day, after Theismann’s injury – Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith suffered a traumatic, nearly-identical injury to the tibia and fibula in his right leg, while being sacked. Joe Theismann was in attendance at that game. Though Smith’s injury nearly led to the amputation of his leg, he was able to rehabilitate, and return to play in 2020, winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/5 "2023-08-20T16:38:01Z")
_ **Minor one:** _ Derek Jeter’s 3000 hit came as a home run during a 5 for 5 day. The 400’ shot was his first home run in over a year. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/6 "2023-08-20T19:16:56Z")
When Gordie Howe played his last few seasons with the Whalers (with his two sons) one of his teammates was Gordie Roberts who was named after Howe. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/7 "2023-08-20T21:56:10Z")
During the 1994 Caribbean Cup soccer tournament, Barbados was playing a game against Grenada. Due to an odd rule, Barbados needed to win the game by two goals, or win it in extra time, to advance to the next round. If not, Grenada would advance. Late in the game, Barbados was leading by one goal. They kicked the ball into their own net to deliberately tie the game. Grenada had a few minutes to score in either goal, but couldn’t. Barbados scored in extra time to advance. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/8 "2023-08-22T20:59:56Z")
An almost perfect one from cricket. Freddie Flintoff (English cricketer) hit a six into the crowd during a Test Match against South Africa - straight into his Dad’s lap. Dad dropped it. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/9 "2023-08-22T21:30:26Z")
This thread is making me feel old. I watched the Righetti no-no on TV and I saw Gordie Howe play in Hartford. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/10 "2023-08-22T22:30:41Z")
Oh, a recent cricketing one - having announced it was his last game of a stellar career, Stuart Broad hit the last ball he ever faced while batting for 6, and then took the match-winning wicket with the last ball he ever bowled. Plus not 1, but 2 wickets were taken the very next ball after he did a silly psychological trick. All 3 elements are too cheesy for fiction. All at once in the same match, they are utterly ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![ThatCanadianGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ThatCanadianGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatCanadianGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/11 "2023-08-24T15:18:30Z")
In baseball, I find lots of things that defy the odds and even logic. David Cone’s perfect game in 1999. Don Larsen and Yogi Berra were in attendance. The odds of this blows my mind. Pitching a perfect game in the World Series seems like unbelievable odds. Can someone calculate the odds of these events? James Paxton, a Canadian, pitching a no-hitter on Canadian soil, not an event I ever thought could happen. Father and son Cecil and Prince Fielder ending their careers with the same number of home runs: 319. Didn’t one of the Niekros hit a home run against his brother? Roberto Clemente getting exactly 3000 hits. This on the last day of the season before he was killed in a plane crash. He apparently during the season said he had to get that hit because he might die. Tony Gwynn’s son Tony with the Brewers getting a hit (a triple) to tie the next to last game of the season with two outs against his dad’s old team, the Padres. In the ninth. As a pinch-hitter. Against Trevor Hoffman no less. The Brewers eventually won in extras thus eliminating San Diego out of the playoffs. That was in 2007. The baseball world celebrating Pete Rose getting his 4192nd hit. Baseball said that was the new all-time record. Problem is, Ty Cobb had 4189 hits. Two of them were double-counted and MLB KNEW that but still insisted Cobb had 4191. Thus, the wrong hit to make Rose the new leader was the wrong one. Rose “broke” the record on 11 Sept 1985. It really was on 8 September in Chicago against Reggie Patterson but nobody celebrated. It’s a game that ended in a 5-5 tie, a rare baseball result. Lou Gehrig dying of a disease called Lou Gherig. How ironic is that? ---
**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:** [August 24, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/12 "2023-08-24T15:23:01Z")
This isn’t a coincidence, but still pretty cool: > On Sept. 14, 1990, Ken Griffey Jr. and Ken Griffey Sr. made history, as they have been known to do, when they became the first father-son duo to hit back-to-back home runs in a game against the California Angels. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/13 "2023-08-24T15:36:30Z")
> [@ThatCanadianGuy](#): > > Lou Gehrig dying of a disease called Lou Gherig. How ironic is that? OK, you know the disease was _named after Gehrig_\*, right? (\*Well, not really. Its official name is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis – or ALS – but has been informally known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease” since he, you know, died from it.) Apologies if you were just whooshing us. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/14 "2023-08-24T15:38:09Z")
It is an old and obvious joke. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/15 "2023-08-24T15:38:48Z")
The Twins’ Denard Span hit his own mother with a foul ball in a 2010 exhibition game. > **[Twins' Span hits mother in stands with foul ball](https://www.espn.com/mlb/spring2010/news/story?id=5043987)** > > Twins outfielder Denard Span hit a foul ball that struck his mother in the chest in the first inning of Wednesday's spring training game against the Yankees. ETA: That’s weird – the review pulls up a picture of someone else. ETA2: Span’s mom was OK. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/16 "2023-08-24T15:40:50Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > It is an old and obvious joke. Yeah, I figured, but I so rarely get to fight ignorance on the SDMB I had to take my shot. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/17 "2023-08-24T15:42:52Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Keeping this to baseball: > Cecil Fielder retired in 1998 with 319 Homers. > his son Prince Fielder retired 2016 with **319 Homers.** I doubt that’s a coincidence. I’m betting the son chose to retire upon matching his father’s record. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/18 "2023-08-24T15:48:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’m betting the son chose to retire upon matching his father’s record. And you would lose that bet. 🙂 [Prince Fielder played 7 more games](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.fcgi?id=fieldpr01&t=b&year=2016) after hitting that final homerun. Also from here: > … On [July 19th](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/July_19), he was hitting a mere .212 with 8 homers in 89 games when he was placed on the disabled list with a sore neck. The problem turned out to require surgery for a herniated disk, bringing his season to a premature end. Worse, on [August 10th](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/August_10), he and the Rangers called a press conference at [Globe Life Park](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Globe_Life_Park) to announce that he was leaving the game at the age of 32, because the second spinal fusion surgery he had undergone on [July 29th](https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/July_29) had left him unable to play baseball anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/19 "2023-08-25T08:25:52Z")
Rusty Torres is the only baseball player to be in the most forfeited games (three) including two of the most infamous forfeit games ever, 10-Cent Beer Night and Disco Demolition. In each case he was on an entirely different team too. ---
**Author:** ![ThatCanadianGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ThatCanadianGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThatCanadianGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228/20 "2023-08-25T20:59:24Z")
I was whooshing as you put it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-strange-coincidences-that-sound-like-fiction-but-happened-in-sport/987228.md?page=2)