It has only ever happened once...
 

I was watching a YouTube video today, This Week In Baseball from August 9, 1977. One of the plays was an inside-the-park Grand Slam. Uncommon, yes; however, that has probably happened at least one other time. It got me thinking, though. What are some things that have only ever happened once in MLB history?

Two that immediately came to my mind were Johnny Vander Meer's back-to-back no-hitters and Fernando Tatis' two Grand Slams in the same inning.

Another (sorry, Yankees fans) was the Boston Red Sox winning a playoff series after they had fallen behind 3-0.

Let's see what we can come up with here.

Nice thread:

Bryce Harper reached base 7 times without an at bat on May 8, 2016 in a 13 inning game.
He was walked 6 times and hit by a pitch once. Still, the Nats lost to the Cubs, stranding 14 baserunners.

Shawn Green had 19 total bases in a game in 2002: 4 home runs, a double and a single.

Bret Boone and Mike Cameron of the Seattle Mariners are the only players to each hit two home runs in one inning on the same day (May 2, 2002), in the same game, in the same inning (1st inning), in a pair of back-to-back at bats.

The Minnesota Twins are the only team to record two triple plays in the same game--against Boston on July 17, 1990. Each went 5-4-3; Gaetti to Newman to Hrbek.

Johnny Burnett is the only MLB player to get 8 hits in a game, an 18 inning contest in 1932.

He's also the only one to get 9 hits in a game.

It looks like they took his picture right after he did it too lol! Smug as all get out.

And, Fred Clarke got 5 hits in his 9 inning debut game in 1894. Hasn't happened in a players first game since.

On October 22nd 2012 in a playoff game against the St Louis Cards Hunter Pence hit the ball 3 times in one swing. The hit produced a 3 RBI double.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ar7OEU3b8

It may have happened before but has never been caught on camera.

On September 15, 1971 Larry Yount made his major league debut against the Braves to pitch the 9th inning. He hurt his elbow during warm ups and never faced a batter. He also never appeared in another major league game and is the only pitcher never to have faced a batter.

Roberto Clemente hit an inside the park grand slam. His was unique because it is the only one that was a walk off.

Robby Thompson is the only player to be caught stealing 4 times in a game.

I always like him on The Hollywood Squares.

Chan Ho Park gave up two grand-slams to the same player in the same inning.


Joe Torre grounded into four double-plays in the same game.



In 1977, Reggie Jackson hit four World Series homers on four consecutive swings. He had a four pitch walk between the first one in the eight inning of game 5 and the three he hit in game 6.




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On May 21, 1930, Max Bishop walked 8 times in a doubleheader to set the MLB record for most walks in a day.

4 years alter, he did it again in the American League.

It's happened twice, once in each league, but by the same player both times.

Holy crap!

Holy crap +1

Okay it happened twice but........
 

An Inside the Park grand Slam by a PITCHER!!!!
Deacon Philippe did it in 1910 and the only time since was when Mel Stottlemyre did it on July 20, 1965. Only reason I know this is because of a scrapbook with a few tickets in it I bought last year..... in researching the tickets it turns out that a pair was from that game!!! I saw somewhere where he said it was the most he ever had to run and he almost didnt make it!!! RIP Mel thanks for all the great memories!

To my knowledge, Willie Mays is the only player to hit his first home run off of a Hall of Fame Pitcher.

On May 28, 1951 Mays, who was 0-12 in his Rookie Season, took Warren Spahn deep for 450 feet.

It would be the first of 18 HRs Mays hit off Spahn--the most off any single pitcher in his career.

Mays mentions his slow start in this video: Leo Durocher encouraged Mays who was feeling down after being hitless in his first 3 games.
After Durocher's encouragement, Mays hit his first HR the next day.https://youtu.be/2SixtuO41L0

By the way, Duke Snider has the record for most HRs off a single pitcher (Robin Roberts) in his career with 19. Musial also had success against Spahn, hitting 17.

Will Clark of the Giants hit his first career home run off of Nolan Ryan.

Interesting.

Maybe its that Mays is the only Hall of Famer to hit his first Home Run off a Hall of Famer. (Or maybe I am just completely wrong:))

Gentlemen, for the first 60 feet that was a hell of a pitch.

- Warren Spahn, post-game interview

I believe it was in his 1st career at bat, as well, to dead center at the Astro Dome.

That is correct

Joaquin Benoit 7 inning save vs the Orioles. Rangers starter was thrown out for trying to beam the lead off batter in retaliation for hit batter a rod in top of first. Next night starter comes in and pitched 2 innings Todd Van Poppel. Joaquin Benoit came in and pitched the last 7 innings for the one and only 7 inning save in MLB history. It was a September game early 2000s.

That reminds me of Ernie Shore.

Babe Ruth started a game and walked the first batter. He was ejected from the game before the second batter came up.

Ernie Shore took the mound in relief. The inherited runner was thrown out Shore set down the 26 batters he faced.

https://baseballhall.org/discover/ba...om-ernie-shore

Johnny Sain. The first pitcher Jackie Robinson faced in his MLB debut and the last MLB pitcher to pitch to Babe Ruth.

Sain had the distinction of being the first pitcher in the Major Leagues to face Jackie Robinson. In 1943, while participating in a benefit game for the Red Cross, Sain became the last man to pitch against Babe Ruth in organized baseball.

Bill Wambsganss - October 10,1920. Only player to ever have an unassisted triple play in the World Series, against the Brooklyn Robins in an 8-1 win. Also in that same game, Elmer Smith hit the first ever grand slam in WS history, and Jim Bagby hit the first ever home run by a pitcher in WS history. All three players were Indians.

Ray Chapman - August 17, 1920. Only MLB player to die as a direct result of an injury incurred playing in a ML game when he got hit in the head by a pitch from Carl Mays.

Bob Feller - April 16, 1940. Pitched the only Opening Day no hitter in MLB history, for a 1-0 win over the White Sox. August 23, 1936. In his first ever ML start, Feller struck out 15 batters, setting the MLB record for strikeouts by a pitcher in their ML starting debut. Mother's Day, May 14,1939, Feller's Mother is in attendance to watch him pitch, and gets hit in the face by a foul ball off the bat of the White Sox' Marv Owen. Feller goes on to win the game. In 1936, Feller was signed to a professional contract by Indians scout, Cy Slapnicka, for $1 and an autographed baseball, and then ended up playing not even one second in any minor league game before making his ML debut with the Indians, which was against MLB rules at the time stating only minor league teams could sign amateurs to contracts. Then MLB Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis investigated and decided the Indians did break the rule with both Feller and Tommy Heinrich, another Indians signee that same year they tried to take straight to the ML club, and fined the team $7,500. Landis also ruled Feller and Heinrich as free agents, and allowed them to go and sign with any team they wanted, as at least a partial result of Feller's father threatening to sue Landis and MLB if they tried to stop his son playing for the Indians. Of course, Feller stayed with Cleveland while Heinrich ran off to the Yankees (just another reason Feller was beloved by Cleveland fans). I believe this technically makes Feller (and Heinrich) the first ever declared free agent(s) in MLB history, far earlier than Catfish Hunter in 1974. After his inaugural season with the Indians, Feller returned home to Iowa to start his senior year of high school, only to be greeted and welcomed home by the governor of Iowa himself. Feller's fame from his record setting 1936 rookie season, when he equaled the then all-time single game strikeout record of 17, also held by Dizzy Dean, was so great and received such national attention that he was considered by some as the most famous young person in America at the time, maybe second only to Shirley Temple. Feller is arguably the first pitcher to ever have one of his pitches determined to be faster than 100MPH (and by some accounts may be considered the second fastest pitcher of all time, behind only Nolan Ryan). Could continue with Feller, but will stop here.

Addie Joss - July 24, 1911. That was the date of the in-season memorial game to honor Addie Joss who had prematurely died back in April of that year from tubercular meningitis. That was an exhibition game, solely to raise money for Joss' widow and children, between the Cleveland Naps and a team of stars and other well-known players from the AL. Because Joss was so well liked and respected around the league, pretty much everyone enthusiastically volunteered, including the likes of Ty Cobb and Walter Johnson. The only AL team that wasn't represented was the White Sox. Ed Walsh couldn't get to the game due to Chicago's travel schedule. This marked the first ever ML type game like this, during the regular season, featuring a team of current all-stars. It was also credited by many as the inspiration and forerunner of the official MLB All-Star game, which began in 1933. And it was also the only time in history, to my knowledge, Ty Cobb ever appeared in a ML type/level game in anything other than a Tiger's uniform. Cobb's Detroit uniform got misplaced/lost, so he had to borrow and wear a Cleveland uniform for the game.

Larry Doby - July 5, 1947. Doby made his debut as the first ever black player in the AL for the Indians during a road game in Chicago. He was second only to Jackie Robinson to being the first ever black player in MLB history by about three months. Doby was the first ever black player to go right from a Negro League team to an MLB team, without ever playing in the minors. And Doby, along with Satchell Paige, were the first ever black players on a World Series championship team when Cleveland won the AL pennant and WS title in 1948.

Frank Robinson - April 8, 1975. Robinson debuts as the first ever black manager (and player manager) in MLB history for the Indians in the season's home opener against the Yankees in Cleveland. And not only does the Tribe triumph 5-3 behind a complete game performance by starter Gaylord Perry, in his very first at bat as a manager/Indian in the bottom of the first, Robinson belts a home run.

Cleveland Indians -1932-1946. Though not exactly a single event, despite the opening of Clevend's Municipal Stadium in 1932, the Indians continued to split playing their regular season games between Municipal Stadium and League Park, which had been in use since the 1890's, from 1932 all the the way through the end of the 1946 season. Due to the much larger size and costs to operate Municipal Stadium, most all weekday games during those 15 years were played at League Park, with games played at Municipal Stadium mostly relegated to weekends and holidays, when the crowds would typically be bigger. Don't believe anything was done like that, and for such a prolonged period of time, by any other team in MLB history.

Albert Belle - July 15, 1994. In the first inning of an Indians-White Sox game in Chicago, White Sox manager Gene Lamont uses a tip and challenges the umpires that Belle is using a corked bat, which is then confiscated and locked in the umpire's dressing room for later examination. However, later on while the game was still in progress, Indians pitcher Jason Grimsley takes a bat of teammate Paul Sorrento, and with a flashlight in his mouth crawls through the area above the false ceiling in the clubhouse to get into the umpire's room and swap the bats. They had to use a different player's bat as apparently the Indians knew all of Belle's bats were corked. But there was a big mess left by Grimsley and the umps knew it was a different bat anyway, so the FBI got called in and the Indians confronted and forced to turn over one of Belle's bats, which was indeed found to be corked. Belle got suspended, but then the whole incident became mute and largely forgotten when not long after the rest of the season got cancelled due to the player's strike. In 1995 Belle becomes the only 50/50 man in MLB history, hitting 52 doubles and 50 home runs during the strike shortened 144 game regular season. And then in 1997 Belle becomes the first player in MLB history to ever receive an annual salary of at least $10M.

Thank you for posting this. When Reggie did that, I thought it was one of the most incredible exploits of hitting dominance ever, but the media never picked up on it. All you ever read about was his 3 HRs in a WS game, never 4 in 4 swings.

Over the years, with the lack of public confirmation and appreciation for this feat, I began to wonder if I was living in an alternative world where it never happened. Thanks for making me sane again!

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I'm not sure it hasn't happened since, but in the 1934 All Star game Carl Hubbell struck out 5 Hall of Famers to be in a row. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin.

On June 23, 1971 Rick Wise put up one of the most dominant individual performances in the history of baseball when he no-hit the Reds AND hit two home runs.

The star-studded Reds featured Pete Rose, George Foster, Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez and Dave Concepción. Concepción was the Reds' only baserunner, having reached on a walk in the 6th inning.

Wise got Rose to line out for the final out on his 93rd pitch. The final score was 4-0, with Wise having driven in 3 of the 4 runs.

Nolan Ryan - everyone knows he threw 7 no-hitters, but did you know he threw them to 7 different catchers?

Ron Hassey was one of them and he is the only catcher to catch 2 perfect games.




...I realize these two tidbits are slightly off-topic (singe game), but I wanted to share.

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Interesting thread and it was moved from the watercooler section to here, so more eyes can see it.
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Good move, Leon.

Eric, that's a GREAT Spahn quote! "Gentlemen... " I'll smile all day when I recall that quote today.

Honus Wagner alone had five of them.

Crazy stats
 

August 4, 1911

Germany Schaefer steals back first base.

Stealing 2 bases on a single play?
 

Seems like it hasn't happened many times, certainly not in the WS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePx54DlQdh0

I once had a 3rd baseman (from one of my my travel teams) make 3 errors on the same batted ball. Great player. We still laugh about it.

I just checked MLB, and it appears that Tommy John also did it in 1988. Didn't research further but it appears the only time.

That was a rough 12 seconds for Tommy :)

August 6, 1941. Detroit pitcher Al Benton becomes the only major leaguer to execute two sacrifice bunts in one inning when the Tigers send 17 to the plate in the third inning against Cleveland.

Benton is also the only pitcher to have faced both Babe Ruth (1934) and Mickey Mantle (1952).

Dolly Gray . . .
 

. . . walked 8 batters in one inning, including 7 in a row.

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1674582363

This made me think of Willie's teammate HOF'er Hoyt Wilhelm
who hit a HR in his 1st at bat. Wilhelm eventually played for 21 years...
& never hit another!

The kick is up, it's good!
 

Can't say I've ever seen a ball kicked as accurately as this one:

https://youtu.be/7mIqBJqPV0o

7 HR allowed in a game - Charlie Sweeney (St. Louis Maroons), June 12, 1886 vs. Detroit Wolverines.

April 14, 2017 White Sox vs Royals

The only time a team's starting outfield all had the same last name.

Sox outfield, from left to right, was Avi Garcia, Willie Garcia, and Leury Garcia.

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How 'bout my Alou boys?

https://www.baseballhistorycomesaliv...same-outfield/

But maybe you're differentiating your situation because the Garcias all STARTED in the outfield together?

He did say 'started'...

Maybe the Alous are the only all-brother outfield, at any point during the game.

And no more than 10 off any other pitcher.

Johnny Vandermeer
Only person in the history of baseball to pitch two consecutive no-hit games.
I work with his grandson.

Baseball > Soccer
 

I had forgotten about this play. Thanks for the laugh!

Probably, although there were very few times when they all three played in the same game for the same team.

They each batted in the 7th inning on Sept 22, 1963