In baseball, a strikeout occurs when a pitcher throws three strikes to a batter during his time at bat.[1] Twenty different pitchers have struck out at least 18 batters in a single nine-inning Major League Baseball (MLB) game,[a] the most recent being Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals on May 11, 2016.[4] Four players have accomplished the feat more than once in their career; no player has ever struck out more than 20 batters in a nine-inning game. Charlie Sweeney was the first player to strike out 18 batters in a single game, doing so for the Providence Grays against the Boston Beaneaters on June 7, 1884.[5] In spite of this, Bob Feller is viewed as the first pitcher to accomplish the feat,[6][7] since his then-record 18 strikeouts was the first to occur during the 20th century and the live-ball era.[8]
Out of the twenty pitchers who have accomplished the feat, fifteen were right-handed and five pitched left-handed. Five of these players have played for only one major league team. Six pitchers—Steve Carlton, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, and Max Scherzer—are also members of the 3,000 strikeout club. Sweeney has the fewest career strikeouts in the group with 505, while Nolan Ryan, with 5,714, struck out more batters than any other pitcher in major league history.[9] Bill Gullickson and Kerry Wood are the only rookies to have achieved the feat.[10][11] Tom Seaver concluded his milestone game by striking out the final ten batters he faced, setting a new major league record for most consecutive strikeouts.[12][13]
Of the eleven players eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame who have struck out 18 batters in a game, six have been elected; all six were elected on the first ballot.[14] Players are eligible for the Hall of Fame if they have played in at least 10 major league seasons, and have either been retired for five seasons or deceased for at least six months.[15]
Players
[edit]![An elderly almost-bald man wearing a striped button-up shirt and a tie adorned with a pattern of baseballs waves a cap from a convertible.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Bob_Feller.jpg/170px-Bob_Feller.jpg)
![A smiling man in a white baseball jersey and dark baseball cap with an interlocked white "LA" on the front.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Sandy_Koufax.jpg/170px-Sandy_Koufax.jpg)
![A man sporting a goatee and wearing a dark blue baseball cap with "C" in the middle, a pinstriped jersey and black Nike cleats delivers a pitch.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/Kerry_Wood_2008.jpg/170px-Kerry_Wood_2008.jpg)
![A man in white pants and a navy blue baseball jersey with "Nationals" written across the front throws a pitch.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2c/Max_Scherzer_%2851122172059%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/170px-Max_Scherzer_%2851122172059%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Pitcher | Name of the pitcher |
---|---|
Date | Date of the game |
Team | The pitcher's team |
Opposing team | The team against whom the pitcher struck out 18 players |
Score | Final score of the game, with the pitcher's team score listed first |
Strikeouts | Number of strikeouts the pitcher recorded |
Career Ks | Career strikeouts |
† | Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame |
* | Player is active |
‡ | Indicates the player's team lost the game |
MLB pitchers with 18 strikeouts in a nine-inning game
[edit]18 strikeouts in extra-inning games
[edit]![A man in a white baseball jersey with "ASTROS" on the chest and orange and yellow stripes on his shoulders pitches a baseball with his right hand.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Nolan_Ryan_in_Atlanta_close-up.jpg/170px-Nolan_Ryan_in_Atlanta_close-up.jpg)
Seven different pitchers have struck out at least 18 batters in an extra-inning Major League Baseball (MLB) game to date. Only Nolan Ryan accomplished the feat more than once in his career and no player has ever struck out more than 21 batters in a game.
The following list is kept separate from the above list of pitchers who have struck out 18 or more batters in a nine-inning game. This is due to the differing number of innings pitched during an extra-inning game, the lack of a definitive endpoint to the game that would otherwise allow for a fair comparison to be made, and the advantage of having more opportunities to strike out players during an extra-inning game as opposed to one lasting nine innings.
IP | Innings pitched by the pitcher in the game |
---|
Pitcher | Date | Team | Opposing team | Score | Strikeouts | IP | Career Ks | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Cheney | September 12, 1962 | Washington Senators | Baltimore Orioles | 2–1 | 21 | 16 | 345 | [60][61] |
Randy Johnson† | May 8, 2001 | Arizona Diamondbacks | Cincinnati Reds | 4–3 | 20 | 9[b] | 4,875 | [23][62] |
Luis Tiant | July 3, 1968 | Cleveland Indians | Minnesota Twins | 1–0 | 19 | 10 | 2,416 | [63][64] |
Nolan Ryan† | June 14, 1974 | California Angels | Boston Red Sox | 4–3 | 19 | 13 | 5,714 | [28][65] |
Nolan Ryan† | August 20, 1974 | California Angels | Detroit Tigers | 0–1‡ | 19 | 11 | 5,714 | [28][66] |
Nolan Ryan† | June 8, 1977 | California Angels | Toronto Blue Jays | 2–1 | 19 | 10 | 5,714 | [28][67] |
Warren Spahn† | June 14, 1952 | Boston Braves | Chicago Cubs | 1–3‡ | 18 | 15 | 2,583 | [68][69] |
Chris Short | October 2, 1965 | Philadelphia Phillies | New York Mets | 0–0 | 18 | 15 | 1,629 | [70][71] |
Jim Maloney | June 14, 1965 | Cincinnati Reds | New York Mets | 0–1‡ | 18 | 11 | 1,605 | [72][73] |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ 18 strikeouts is utilized as the benchmark as that is normally two-thirds of a nine-inning game's 27 outs (while uncommon, a pitcher can record a strikeout that does not result in an out due to the uncaught third strike rule).[2][3]
- ^ Although the game went into extra innings (11 total), Johnson was relieved by Byung-hyun Kim after nine innings.[62]
References
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External links
[edit]- Top Individual Performances – List Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Retrosheet (scroll down)