I’m not a big baseball fan, but I and some of my cow-orkers got free tickets to a Memphis Redbirds minor-league game yesterday afternoon and hey, it beats working. But me, I’m pretty much in it for the Rendezvous barbecue nachos, beer, and various other ballpark foods.
But yesterday, the Redbirds, who have been on something of a slump, hit two grand slam home runs and won the game 14-4. After the first one, I turned to my friend and said “Wow! I’ve never seen one of those before.” Then, a couple of innings and a big-assed swirled ice cream cone later, there was ANOTHER one! Damn! I was stunned. I was under the impression that a grand slam was a rare event on the order of a hole-in-one in golf. Was I mistaken and they are common as garden gnomes, or was I an audience to a truly exceptional day of baseball?
Not a “once in a lifetime” event, but still pretty darn rare I’d expect. I’ve never seen a grand slam live, but I have seen an inside-the-park HR, which I’d expect is somewhat rarer. Triple plays are probably rarer still.
I think the pinnicle of rarity would be unassisted triple plays and perfect games.
Now, two in one game would be a pretty amazing day. I believe that it may have happened in a single inning once.
Pretty rare, yes indeed, although a regular grand slam is not that uncommon either… Looks like Manny Ramirez has at least 16 in his career. Lou Gerhig had 23.
I think a few years ago, some guy in the MLB (Fernando Tatis maybe?) hit two grand slams in one inning. Yes, the same guy, same inning… Now THAT is unbelievable, and will almost surely never, ever, happen again, at least not in MLB…
Grand slams are not particularly rare, but how many of these have there been:
bottom of ninth, two outs, down by 3, bases loaded, and the batter hits a come from behind game ending grand slam. What you dream of when you’re a kid.
I’ve actually seen this in person (Alan Trammel vs Yankees in Detroit) but have never seen it on TV and don’t know of other occurences. Does anybody else?
I was lucky enough to catch a two-grand-slam game live in 1987, Red Sox-Orioles in Baltimore. Boston won, 15-4; Jim Rice hit one of the slams, can’t remember who popped the other.
As a diehard, life-long Dodger fan, I’d like to thank you and all who came after you for bringing up that lovely memory, particularly after the Dodgers just got thrashed, yet again, today by the Cardinals. I’m going to go home and cry now.
Having said that, the last grand slam I got to see in person was Paul LoDuca’s (yes, when he was still a Dodger) last year. What was particularly cool about it was the fact that it was the first of his career, it gave the Dodgers what turned out to be the winning run in the game, and he was jumping around like a little kid afterward.
I know this gets said often, but it’s so nice to see that there are professional athletes making millions out there who truly still have a love for the game.
Well, the pinnacle of rarity might be Tyrone Horne homering for the cycle for the visiting Arkansas Travelers against the San Antonio Missions in the Class AA Texas League on July 27, 1998. “Hitting for the cycle” means hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game. “Homering for the cycle” was apparently coined in response to Horne’s feat, which was to hit solo, 2-run, 3-run, and grand slam home runs in the same game. Horne’s is the only instance in professional baseball history where it’s known to have happened (A-Rod almost did it in a game earlier this year, missing only the solo shot).
Unassisted triple plays are actually slightly rarer than perfect games – there have been 12 UATPs in major league baseball history, the last being Rafaels Furcal’s for Atlanta against St. Louis on August 10, 2003. There was once a 41-year gap between times it happened, from 1927 until 1968. There have been 17 perfect games, the last being Randy Johnson’s for the Arizona Diamondbacks against Atlanta last May.
Garden-variety triple plays are certainly rarer than grand slams (most teams will rack up a few grand slams in the course of a season, but more than one TP per year per team doesn’t happen much, and sometimes teams go several years without turning one), but two grand slams in a game happens much less frequently than that. Tatis’ two grand slams in an inning is the sort of thing that isn’t likely to happen again in the lifetime of anyone now alive, but could also happen tomorrow – like Horne homering for the cycle, it’s a complete fluke, requiring a set of circumstances that come about only rarely.
A day game at AutoZone Park on a pleasant May afternoon? I’m jealous! I love old ballparks, but I when a new one is well-designed and superbly located in a downtown area like AutoZone is, where you can take a vintage streetcar to within a block of the game from almost anywhere in downtown, I can get to love the new one too (and McCarver was no antique gem). I’ve got a couple of trips to Memphis coming up this month, but only two possible home game dates, one of which will be Memorial Day, which would probably mean heat (day game) and a huge crowd.
I saw Cal Ripken, one not known as a power hitter, hit 3 home runs against the Seattle Mariners, one was a slam. I left in the 6th inning, the score was already 13-2.
Ripken may not have been known primarily for power, but it was certainly no surprise when he hit homers. But, the real reason I felt the need to respond to your post, racer was to say that I’m from Covington, too. Just, you know, Covington in a good many states away.
Gotta argue with the idea that Ripken wasn’t known as a power hitter; he’s 33rd on the all-time home runs list with 431, just behind Yastrzemski, Dave Kingman, and Andre Dawson, and just ahead of Duke Snider, Al Kaline, Dale Murphy, Joe Carter, and Johnny Bench. Pretty powerful company.
Hey there, cards, you need to slow it down a little bit. You haven’t even gotten into the playoffs yet. What about the Cubs, eh? Yeah, so what if we don’t have a middle infield, nobody is hitting other than Derek Lee, and we don’t have a closer. . . .AGAIN.
My grandson and I went to an Angels game one time and the first guy up in the top of the first inning hit the first ball pitched for a home run. The second one hit another home run although not on the first pitch to him. Darn.
It probably gave the pitcher the old “You know it’s going to be a bad day when …” feeling.
Have fun with the Dodgers.