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What is the rarest hit in baseball?

Author

Emily Ross

Published Jan 17, 2026

For more than fifty years after the founding of the major leagues, the home run was the rarest hit, followed by the triple, double, and single. The logic behind this was obvious: The farther a batter struck the ball, the more bases he could reach.

What is the rarest thing in baseball?

The unassisted triple play, a triple play in which only one fielder handles the ball, is the least common type of triple play, and is arguably the rarest occurrence in baseball: it has happened only 15 times since 1900 at the major league level.

What is the rarest feat in MLB?

The rarest type of triple play, and one of the rarest events of any kind in baseball, is for a single fielder to complete all three outs. There have only been 15 unassisted triple plays in MLB history, making this feat rarer than a perfect game.

Is a triple the rarest hit in baseball?

Triples are the rarest type of hit in Major League Baseball by a long shot. Over this season and last, only roughly 2% of all hits have been triples. This wasn't always the case. Until 1930, there were more triples in baseball than home runs.

Has anyone thrown a 27 pitch game?

Necciai is best remembered for the unique feat of striking out 27 batters in a nine-inning game, which he accomplished in the Class-D Appalachian League on May 13, 1952. He is the only pitcher ever to do so in a nine-inning, professional-league game.

39 related questions found

Who is the hardest player to strikeout?

Contents. Over nearly 145 years of professional baseball, no player was tougher to strike out than Hall of Fame shortstop Joe Sewell. In 7,132 career at-bats, Sewell heard the umpire say “Strike three” just 114 times. That's one strikeout for every 63 at-bats, or once every 17 games, or in just .

How rare is a triple play in baseball?

Triple plays happen infrequently – there have been 727 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of approximately five per season – because they depend on a combination of two elements, which are themselves uncommon: First, there must be at least two baserunners, and no outs.

Has anyone lost a no-hitter?

On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt .45s became the only pitcher to lose a complete game no-hitter in nine innings when he was beaten, 1–0, by the Cincinnati Reds. The winning run was scored by Pete Rose in the top of the ninth inning via an error, groundout, and another error.

Why are strikes called K?

A “K” is used to refer to a strikeout in baseball because the letter “S” was already used to score a sacrifice. So Henry Chadwick, the inventor of the box score, began using the letter “K” in the 1860s because it is the last letter of “struck”, which was the common term for a strikeout at the time.

Has anyone made all 3 outs in an inning?

Caruso set a record that might never be broken: he made all three outs in the inning, against three New Jersey pitchers. Caruso led off the inning by grounding out to third.

What is the rarest occurrence in sports?

Unassisted Triple Play

The unassisted triple play is one of the rarest occurrences in MLB and baseball in general.

How rare is a perfect game?

Perfect games are rare in baseball. There have only been 23 perfect games ever played in Major League Baseball history, and only 21 since the modern era of baseball started in 1901 as of August 2021.

What is more rare than a perfect game in baseball?

One batter hitting 4 HR's in a game has happened only 18 times which is rarer than the perfect game. Amazingly it happened twice in 2017 (Scooter Gennett - CIN & J.D. Martinez - ARZ).

Who pitched a no-hitter on acid?

SIMONE: On June 12, 1970, 51 years ago this week, Dock Ellis was written into sports history as the pitcher who threw a no-hitter... while tripping on LSD.

Has anyone hit a homerun cycle?

Though multiple home run cycles have been recorded in collegiate baseball, the only known home run cycle in a professional baseball game belongs to Tyrone Horne, playing for the Arkansas Travelers in a Double-A level Minor League Baseball game against the San Antonio Missions on July 27, 1998.

What is it called when you strike out 5 times in a game?

The "Olympic Rings" or platinum sombrero applies to a player striking out five times in a game. A horn refers to a player striking out six times in a game; the term was coined by pitcher Mike Flanagan after teammate Sam Horn of the Baltimore Orioles accomplished the feat in an extra-inning game in 1991.

Why are there 4 balls and 3 strikes?

That created a bit of a pace problem, so in 1858, called strikes were implemented with one caveat: batters would receive one "warning" call for the first hittable pitch they let pass. So, effectively, it would require four strikes to make an out.

What does Kkkk mean in baseball?

If the batter gets called out on strikes without swinging the bat on the third strike, the sign will be reversed to a backward K. What is this? Report Ad. If the batter gets called looking, it often means the pitcher fooled them or perfectly located a pitch that the batter thought would be a ball.

What is a BB in baseball?

Definition. A walk (or base on balls) occurs when a pitcher throws four pitches out of the strike zone, none of which are swung at by the hitter. After refraining from swinging at four pitches out of the zone, the batter is awarded first base. In the scorebook, a walk is denoted by the letters BB.

Who has thrown the most perfect games?

No pitcher has ever thrown more than one. The perfect game thrown by Don Larsen in game 5 of the 1956 World Series is the only postseason perfect game in major league history and one of only two postseason no-hitters.

Did Nolan Ryan throw 108 mph?

1. Nolan Ryan. There have been pitchers who can throw harder than Ryan's 100.9 mph fastball. But there will never be another strikeout pitcher who played as long as Ryan did (27 seasons) for as well as he did.

What is sho baseball?

Definition. A starting pitcher is credited with a shutout when he pitches the entire game for a team and does not allow the opposition to score. By definition, any pitcher who throws a shutout is also awarded a win. Because he recorded every out for his team and didn't allow a run, his team could only have won.

What pitch is illegal in baseball?

This seems to meet the definition of "illegal pitch" in the MLB rulebook, which reads, "An ILLEGAL PITCH is (1) a pitch delivered to the batter when the pitcher does not have his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher's plate; (2) a quick return pitch. An illegal pitch when runners are on base is a balk."

Who has hit for the cycle the most?

The MLB single-season and all-time leader in home runs is Barry Bonds, who hit 73 home runs in the 2001 season and notched 762 in his 22-season career.

What is the greatest comeback in baseball history?

T-1. 3 Runs

  • Oct. 15, 1986 (NLCS Game 6): New York Mets at Houston Astros, Trailed 3-0 (Top 9), Won 7-6 (16)
  • Oct. 12, 1986 (ALCS Game 5): Boston Red Sox at California Angels, Trailed 5-2 (Top 9), Won 7-6 (11)
  • Oct. 11, 1986 (ALCS Game 4): California Angels vs. Boston Red Sox, Trailed 3-0 (Bottom 9), Won 4-3 (11)