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In Major League Baseball, 36 pitchers have thrown a nine-pitch, three-strikeout half-inning, also known as an immaculate inning, literally throwing nothing but strikes, a total of 39 times.
| Player |
Date |
Team |
Inning |
Score |
Opponent |
Batters |
| John Clarkson |
June 4, 1889 |
Boston Beaneaters (NL) |
third |
4-2 W |
Philadelphia Quakers |
|
| Rube Waddell |
July 1, 1902 |
Philadelphia Athletics (AL) |
third |
2-0 W |
Baltimore Orioles |
|
| Pat Ragan |
October 5, 1914 |
Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) |
eighth |
15-2 L |
Boston Braves |
|
| Hod Eller |
August 21, 1917 |
Cincinnati Reds (NL) |
ninth |
7-5 W |
New York Giants |
|
| Joe Oeschger |
September 8, 1921 |
Boston Braves (NL) |
fourth |
8-6 L |
Philadelphia Phillies |
|
| Sloppy Thurston |
August 22, 1923 |
Chicago White Sox (AL) |
twelfth |
3-2 L (12) |
Philadelphia Athletics |
|
| Dazzy Vance |
September 24, 1924 |
Brooklyn Dodgers (NL) |
second |
6-5 W |
Chicago Cubs |
|
| Lefty Grove |
August 23, 1928 |
Philadelphia Athletics (AL) |
second |
3-1 W |
Cleveland Indians |
|
| Lefty Grove (2) |
September 27, 1928 |
Philadelphia Athletics (AL) |
seventh |
5-3 W |
Chicago White Sox |
|
| Billy Hoeft |
September 7, 1953 |
Detroit Tigers (AL) |
seventh |
6-2 W |
Chicago White Sox |
|
| Jim Bunning |
August 2, 1959 |
Detroit Tigers (AL) |
ninth |
5-4 L |
Boston Red Sox |
Sammy White
Jim Mahoney
Ike Delock |
| Sandy Koufax |
June 30, 1962 |
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) |
first |
5-0 W |
New York Mets |
Richie Ashburn
Rod Kanehl
Felix Mantilla |
| Sandy Koufax (2) |
April 18, 1964 |
Los Angeles Dodgers (NL) |
third |
3-0 L |
Cincinnati Reds |
Leo Cardenas
Johnny Edwards
Jim Maloney |
| Bob Bruce |
April 19, 1964 |
Houston Colt .45s (NL) |
eighth |
6-1 L |
St Louis Cardinals |
Bill White
Charlie James
Ken Boyer |
| Al Downing |
August 11, 1967 |
New York Yankees (AL) |
second |
5-3 W |
Cleveland Indians |
Tony Horton
Don Demeter
Duke Sims |
| Nolan Ryan |
April 19, 1968 |
New York Mets (NL) |
third |
2-1 W |
St. Louis Cardinals |
Claude Osteen
Wes Parker
Zoilo Versalles |
| Bob Gibson |
May 12, 1969 |
St. Louis Cardinals (NL) |
seventh |
6-2 W |
Los Angeles Dodgers |
Len Gabrielson
Paul Popovich
John Miller |
| Milt Pappas |
September 24, 1971 |
Philadelphia Phillies (NL) |
fourth |
6-5 L |
Montreal Expos |
Greg Luzinski
Don Money
Mike Anderson |
| Nolan Ryan (2) |
July 9, 1972 |
California Angels (AL) |
second |
3-0 W |
Boston Red Sox |
Carlton Fisk
Bob Burda
Juan Beniquez |
| Bruce Sutter |
September 8, 1977 |
Chicago Cubs (NL) |
ninth |
3-2 W (10) |
Montreal Expos |
Ellis Valentine
Gary Carter
Larry Parrish |
| Ron Guidry |
August 7, 1984 |
New York Yankees (AL) |
ninth |
6-3 L |
Chicago White Sox |
Carlton Fisk
Tom Paciorek
Greg Luzinski |
| Jeff Robinson |
September 7, 1987 |
Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) |
eighth |
3-2 W |
Chicago Cubs |
Leon Durham
Andre Dawson
Rafael Palmeiro |
| Rob Dibble |
June 4, 1989 |
Cincinnati Reds (NL) |
eighth |
5-3 W |
San Diego Padres |
Carmelo Martinez
Mark Parent
Garry Templeton |
| Jeff Montgomery |
April 29, 1990 |
Kansas City Royals (AL) |
eighth |
5-2 W |
Texas Rangers |
Pete Incaviglia
Geno Petralli
Thad Bosley |
| Andy Ashby |
June 15, 1991 |
Philadelphia Phillies (NL) |
fourth |
3-1 L |
Cincinnati Reds |
Hal Morris
Todd Benzinger
Jeff Reed |
| David Cone |
August 30, 1991 |
New York Mets (NL) |
fifth |
3-2 W |
Cincinnati Reds |
Herm Winningham
Randy Myers
Mariano Duncan |
| Pete Harnisch |
September 6, 1991 |
Houston Astros (NL) |
seventh |
3-1 W |
Philadelphia Phillies |
Wes Chamberlain
Dickey Thon
Jose De Jesus |
| Trevor Wilson |
June 7, 1992 |
San Francisco Giants (NL) |
ninth |
3-0 W |
Houston Astros |
Jeff Bagwell
Eric Anthony
Rafael Ramirez |
| Mel Rojas |
May 11, 1994 |
Montreal Expos (NL) |
ninth |
4-3 W |
New York Mets |
David Segui
Todd Hundley
Jeff McKnight |
| Mike Magnante |
August 22, 1997 |
Houston Astros (NL) |
ninth |
9-1 W |
Colorado Rockies |
Ellis Burks
Harvey Pulliam
Jeff Reed |
| Randy Johnson |
August 23, 2001 |
Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) |
sixth |
5-1 L |
Pittsburgh Pirates |
Tony McKnight
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Jack Wilson |
| Jason Isringhausen |
April 13, 2002 |
St. Louis Cardinals (NL) |
ninth |
2-1 W |
Houston Astros |
Daryle Ward
José Vizcaíno
Julio Lugo |
| Byung-Hyun Kim |
May 11, 2002 |
Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) |
eighth |
6-5 W (10) |
Philadelphia Phillies |
Scott Rolen
Mike Lieberthal
Pat Burrell |
| Pedro Martínez |
May 18, 2002 |
Boston Red Sox (AL) |
first |
4-1 W |
Seattle Mariners |
Ichiro Suzuki
Mark McLemore
Ruben Sierra |
| Brian Lawrence |
June 12, 2002 |
San Diego Padres (NL) |
third |
2-0 W |
Baltimore Orioles |
Brook Fordyce
Jerry Hairston, Jr.
Melvin Mora |
| Brandon Backe |
April 15, 2004 |
Houston Astros (NL) |
eighth |
6-2 L |
Milwaukee Brewers |
Bill Hall
Scott Podsednik
Craig Counsell |
| Ben Sheets |
June 13, 2004 |
Milwaukee Brewers (NL) |
third |
5-4 L |
Houston Astros |
Pete Munro
Craig Biggio
José Vizcaíno |
| LaTroy Hawkins |
September 11, 2004 |
Chicago Cubs (NL) |
ninth |
5-2 W |
Florida Marlins |
Jeff Conine
Juan Encarnacion
Alex Gonzalez |
| Rick Helling |
June 20, 2006 |
Milwaukee Brewers (NL) |
first |
10-1 L |
Detroit Tigers |
Curtis Granderson
Placido Polanco
Ivan Rodriguez |
[edit] Trivia
- The feat has been accomplished in every regulation inning: three times in the 1st, five times in the 2nd, six times in the 3rd, three times in the 4th, once in the 5th (Cone), once in the 6th (Johnson), four times in the 7th, seven times in the 8th, nine times in the 9th, and once in the 12th (Thurston).
- Three pitchers have accomplished the feat twice: Grove, Koufax, and Ryan. Of them, Grove is the only pitcher ever to have achieved the feat twice in the same season, and Ryan is the only pitcher ever to have achieved the feat in both the National and American Leagues, as well as being the only right-handed pitcher to accomplish the feat twice.
- Three of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have done so in their rookie seasons: Eller, Thurston, and Ashby.
- Three of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat are members of the 3000 strikeout club: Johnson, Ryan, and Gibson.
- Koufax's first nine-pitch/three strikeout inning came in the first inning of his first no-hitter.
- Four of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have also thrown perfect games: Koufax, Bunning, Cone, and Johnson; each threw his perfect game after having struck out the side on nine pitches. Martínez deserves honorable mention for having retired the first 27 batters in a June 3, 1995 game against the San Diego Padres that went into extra innings; he lost the perfect game to batter #28, Bip Roberts, in the tenth inning.
- Nine of the pitchers who have accomplished the feat have been elected to the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame: Clarkson, Waddell, Vance, Grove, Bunning, Koufax, Ryan, Gibson, and Sutter.
- Thurston is the only pitcher in Major League history to accomplish the feat in extra innings.
- Grove and Ryan are the only pitchers with 300 career wins to have accomplished the feat.
- The 24-year-and-345-day gap between Grove's half-inning and Hoeft's half-inning in the longest span without a pitcher achieving the feat; the one-day gap between Koufax's half-inning and Bruce's half-inning is the shortest span.
- 1928 was the first year in which the feat was accomplished twice (both times by Grove); 1964 was the first year in which two pitchers accomplished the feat (Koufax and Bruce); 1991 was the first year in which three pitchers accomplished the feat (Ashby, Cone, and Harnisch); 2002 was the first year in which four pitchers accomplished the feat (Isringhausen, Kim, Martínez and Lawrence)
- José Vizcaíno, Carlton Fisk, Jeff Reed and Greg Luzinski are the only men recorded to have been victims of the immaculate inning twice. '
- As of the end of the 2006 season, the feat has been accomplished twenty-nine times in the National League, and eleven times in the American league.
[edit] Sources
http://www.retrosheet.org
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/feats/feats17.shtml
