And now still more of the Strange but True Feats of the Year:
After they ran out of pitchers in a 16-inning game with Houston on May 16,
the Brewers actually had their bullpen coach (Bill Castro) start warming up
in the bullpen, in the subterfugian act of the year.
The Twins staged the rundown of the year April 19 -- a three-chase-scene
extravaganza that was scored 2-6-5-2-5-3-7 -- and ended with the left fielder
(Jacques Jones) diving to tag out Carlos Beltran between third base and home
plate.
|  | | Bobby Abreu is congratulated after completing quite a day (see below) at the Vet in Philly. |
In a span of four days in June, the A's were in first, second, third and
fourth place.
Through the miracle of modern scheduling, the Giants played more games
between opening day and April 28 in Florida (six) than in San Francisco
(five).
Oakland did something on opening day that no team was able to pull off on
any day in the '90s. They got only four hits against the Tigers -- but all
four were home runs.
On June 3, in the first pitching matchup in history between pitchers who
had won nine Cy Young awards, Roger Clemens (five) and Greg Maddux (four)
combined to give up 19 hits and 13 runs. Of course.
In their 19-inning marathon in Seattle on Aug. 1, the Red Sox and Mariners
bullpens combined to throw 20 shutout innings. So of course, after all that,
the winning pitcher -- Kazuhiro Sasaki -- was the pitcher who threw the fewest
pitches (five). And the losing pitcher -- Jeff Fassero -- faced exactly one
batter.
The Red Sox opened the season by going 14 straight games without a stolen
base -- the second-longest swipless streak to start a season in history.
Three times in five days (May 6-10), a team took a lead of four runs or
more into the ninth inning at Wrigley Field -- and blew it.
The Rockies scored 18 runs in one game July 18, then got one hit the next
day (off Kevin Brown). Of course, the first game was at Coors Field, the
other on planet earth.
The Pirates turned a June 1 double play without a ball being put in play
(thanks to a botched double steal by the Rockies).
On July 29, the Brewers drew 23,000 fans for Bob Wickman Poster Night -- an
event not attended by Bob Wickman, because he'd been traded to Cleveland the
day before.
In an Aug. 27 game in which his team scored no other runs, Phillies
outfielder Bobby Abreu hit an outside-the-park homer and a game-ending
inside-the-park homer.
On the same road trip in September, the Tigers had two games in which they
finished with more ejections (one) than runs (none).
On the same homestand in April, the Blue Jays managed to give up 10 runs or
more in three straight games for the first time in franchise history and also
score 10-plus in three straight games for the first time in franchise history.
In a span of just 10 days in August, Mets pitcher Pat Mahomes gave up the
40th homer of the season to two different hitters (Gary Sheffield's on Aug.
19, Jeff Bagwell's 10 days later).
Steve Trachsel somehow made seven straight starts on the road in April and
May.
In a May 26 game at Coors Field, the pitchers drove in more runs (two) than
the hitters (one). Francisco Cordova had an RBI single for the Pirates.
Masato Yoshii hit a solo homer for the Rockies. And all the non-pitchers
combined to go 12 for 60 (.200), with one RBI (by John Vander Wal).
On May 24, Giants pitcher Shawn Estes became the first National League
pitcher in a half-century to hit a grand slam and throw a shutout in the same
game.
All you need to know about modern baseball is that Texas' Matt Perisho
gave up 10 runs in relief May 5 -- in a game his team won (17-16).
After giving up no grand slams in the first five seasons of his big-league
career, Toronto reliever Pedro Borbon then gave up two in one series in April
(to Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez).
In the fourth inning of their game April 21 in Tampa Bay, Anaheim's Mo
Vaughn, Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus all hit home runs. Then, in the ninth
inning, they all hit home runs in the same inning again.
Red Sox flutterballer Tim Wakefield pitched in relief May 10, then started
May 11.
Greg Maddux went 348 consecutive starts over 10 years without giving up
five runs in the first inning. Then he somehow did it two starts in a row
(Aug. 28, Sept. 2).
And from Sept. 7-12, those hackamatic Devil Rays went five days -- and 41
straight innings -- without drawing a walk.
Jayson Stark is a Senior Writer at ESPN.com. | |
ALSO SEE
Stark: Strange but true
Jayson Stark archive
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