MLB: Hardest thing to do in baseball

[besserheimerphat]

unassisted triple play isn't really skill related though. It's a mixture of timing, positioning of players, reaction of runners, etc. Everything has to come together at the right time, more of a fluke.

ALL of these things require a fair amount of random chance (aka luck) though. If a pitcher had the pure skill to get 20Ks in a game, it would happen more often. Don't under estimate how much random chance plays in sports. In half a million baseball games, you should expect a least a few perfect games/20K games/4HR games just due to random chance. How many HOF guys never had a perfect game or hit 4 HR? How many of the guys that did have incredible games aren't in the HOF?

 

[Wappadu]

I suggest we compromise and say the hardest thing to do in a single game is to be an NL pitcher that throws a perfect game with 27 strikeouts, hits for the cycle, and tacks on 3 additional home runs, calling each shot to dead center field.

I tried to work in the triple play, but perfect game and all...maybe he can steal home after the triple or something.

 

[iacyguy]

ALL of these things require a fair amount of random chance (aka luck) though. If a pitcher had the pure skill to get 20Ks in a game, it would happen more often. Don't under estimate how much random chance plays in sports. In half a million baseball games, you should expect a least a few perfect games/20K games/4HR games just due to random chance. How many HOF guys never had a perfect game or hit 4 HR? How many of the guys that did have incredible games aren't in the HOF?

pitchers DO have the skill to throw 20ks. But even more teams have two or three guys that fight off strike out pitches, hence hard to strikeout. Perfect games dont just happen by chance either. Everyone on the other team knows when the pitcher has a perfect game going and will do anything they can to stop it as the game goes into later innings. Also if you are pitching are you going to be able to handle that intense pressure out there on the mound? When i played in high school if one of our guys had a no hitter going and he came into the dugout, we didnt say a word to him. Baseball is a superstitious sport, but so much more, baseball is a mental game. You dont get lucky, you make your own "luck"

 

[Hawkeye11en1]

The Unassisted Triple play......there was only one unassisted triple play in the major leagues, made in July 1968

Unassisted triple play - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

debatable

Black bears.


But yes, nick, you are mistaken.

 

[Senolcyc]

Taking a home run ball off the nuts and having it ricochet and hit your gal in the face.


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6GDXvh8yCo]Brandon Inge homerun hits two fans - Nut shot and facial - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Doc]

Some VERY rough, simplified numbers. Calcs may be wrong, plus I don't know statistics well enough to do some of these very accurately. The thing about the cycle is that it's happened about 12x as much as the perfect game, but players have 9x as many chances to do it. It's probably comparable to the perfect game in terms of difficulty. I think getting 20Ks is probably more difficult than both, but am having trouble with the calc. Assume 30% K-Rate and a number of batters per game, and it should be done pretty easily...

Perfect Game
Average players' OBP ~ .320
Chance of perfect game: (1-.320)^27 = 1 in 33,000

4 HRs in A Row
Great Hitter HR Percentage ~ 10%
Chance of 4 HRs in a Row: .10^4 = 1 in 10,000 (odds get easier with more at-bats in game)

Calling a Shot
Great Hitter HR Percentage ~ 10%
Pitches Per At-Bat ~ 4
1 in 400 (assuming no effect on pitcher. Also, odds will go up if batter selects a 2-0 or 3-0 count to call his shot)

Cycle in 4 At-Bats
HR Percentage ~ 7%
3B Percentage ~ 1%
2B Percentage ~ 7%
1B Percentage ~ 20%
(.07*.01*.07*.20) 1 in 100,000 (will go down in a hurry with more than 4 at-bats in the game)

 

[Clark]

The 20K game is the hardest one (I'm not counting the calling your shot one because nobody even tries it. Kinda hard to determine the difficulty if nobody even attempts it).

Not only would a pitcher have to face a minimum of twenty batters, he also has to actually have the stuff to strike out twenty people. You can throw a perfect game with marginal stuff.

 

[Naughtius]

Was going to say 4 HRs/game, but good luck hitting a dinger after calling your shot, especially when the next pitch is at your ear hole.

 

[Naughtius]

Chuck Norris hits leadoff grand slams. Just sayin'

 

[oldman]

The 20K game is the hardest one (I'm not counting the calling your shot one because nobody even tries it. Kinda hard to determine the difficulty if nobody even attempts it).

Not only would a pitcher have to face a minimum of twenty batters, he also has to actually have the stuff to strike out twenty people. You can throw a perfect game with marginal stuff.

When Kerry Wood did it vs Astros, Riggleman kept him in, even though his pitch count was really getting up there. Nowadays, because the coaches watch that so closely, we might never see it again.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I think a Perfect Game is tougher than 4 homers though because it requires so much more effort and there are so many more factors in play. You have to have defense behind you and you have to best the entire other team, not just a few pitchers like a 4 HR game.

Both are tough as crap though, and a 4 HR game can be ruined by a decision to just walk a guy (or plunk him).

 

[3TrueFans]

but good luck hitting a dinger after calling your shot, especially when the next pitch is at your ear hole.

Lol, this is a contingency I hadn't thought of.

 

[cyhiphopp]

The 20K game is the hardest one (I'm not counting the calling your shot one because nobody even tries it. Kinda hard to determine the difficulty if nobody even attempts it).

Not only would a pitcher have to face a minimum of twenty batters, he also has to actually have the stuff to strike out twenty people. You can throw a perfect game with marginal stuff.

Just like Humber. Marginal stuff, but excellent control and pitch location on one night in particular.

Then he got shelled in his next start.

 

[cyhiphopp]

When Kerry Wood did it vs Astros, Riggleman kept him in, even though his pitch count was really getting up there. Nowadays, because the coaches watch that so closely, we might never see it again.

Yeah, I would rather have had 4 more years of Kerry Wood in his prime than a 20 K game and all of the other games he pitched too much too early.

 

[Clark]

When Kerry Wood did it vs Astros, Riggleman kept him in, even though his pitch count was really getting up there. Nowadays, because the coaches watch that so closely, we might never see it again.

I remember that game well. He even had a no hitter going for much of it until that ******* third baseman misplayed a grounder. I'm still mad that wasn't scored an error.

 

[cyhiphopp]

I remember that game well. He even had a no hitter going for much of it until that ******* third baseman misplayed a grounder. I'm still mad that wasn't scored an error.

Crap, who was that. I can't remember now.

 

[Clark]

Yeah, I would rather have had 4 more years of Kerry Wood in his prime than a 20 K game and all of the other games he pitched too much too early.

He came back for the most part after that but I'll never forgive Dusty Baker for the damage he did to the Cubs organization. I hope he chokes on his toothpick.

 

[Cyballz]

Crap, who was that. I can't remember now.

Kevin Orie

 

[Clark]

Crap, who was that. I can't remember now.

Kevin Orie. Just another in a long line of stellar thirdbasemen for the Cubs in between Santo and Aramis.

 

[gocubs2118]

Just like Humber. Marginal stuff, but excellent control and pitch location on one night in particular.

Then he got shelled in his next start.

He's gotten shelled every start since his perfect game. To throw a perfect game, you have to have an extreme amount of luck. Obviously it takes a lot of skill but it probably take more luck than any of the other ones listed.