Baseball is one of the most famous country games in the US since the 19th century. Teams are representing their clubs in custom baseball uniforms and making history on the ground. Baseball fans spend days supporting their favorites by wearing matching custom baseball uniforms in the days of the Major league.
What makes baseball fun and nerve-wracking at the same time is the rare plays and extraordinarily brilliant feats by some of the legendary baseball athletes. Here are some of the rarest baseball plays written in the golden words in the history of the game.
Two Grand Slams in Single Innings
Baseball has many good hitters who hit two or more home runs in a game. But hitting grand slams is surely the rarest event that happen in the history of the game.
Tonny Lazzeri, wearing the custom baseball uniform of the New York Yankees, did that on 24th May 1936. He cleared the bases twice for the first time ever in the history of the Major Leagues. Until today, only twelve other players are able to achieve this milestone. Hence hitting two grand slams in a single game is one of the outstanding and elite hitting plays in the game.
The beauty of this hitting feat is the team effort. Without the support of the team, one man can just make two solo home runs. Despite that, the players who achieve this milestone deserve to be recognized in history. This is because the player leads his team towards victory by overcoming the pressure twice.
Batting 8 RBI during a single inning
Under the Major League Baseball rule, the most RBI a player can score in a single at-bat is four. This includes a grand slam too. Thus, scoring five or more RBI in one inning requires a minimum of two at-bats. The runs batted in during every single at-bat in one innings are then combined to make this rare occurrence possible.
There are a total of 22 players who have hit greater than six RBI in a single inning since 1900. The first player to achieve this milestone was Fred Merkle from New York Giants, in the year 1911. Bob Johnson was the second to hit six RBI in 1937.
However, one of the rarest plays was when Fernando Tatis batted 8 RBI in a single inning in 1999. He achieves the milestone that no one is able to break until today with his two grand slams against Los Angeles Dodgers. Then, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees set the next highest RBI mark with his seven RBI against Tampa Bay Rays in the 6th inning of the finals of the 2009 MLB season.
Hitting Grand Slam from Both Sides of The Plate
Many players have hit the grand slams. There are few players in history to hit two grand slams in single innings. But there is only one player who has the record of hitting grand slams from both sides of the plate. It is the rarest play to occur in the history of the baseball game.
The player is none other than Bill Mueller. In 2003 in Texas, he became the first and only player in the history of major leagues to hit the grand slams from both sides of the plate in a single game. He connected the three homers with a score of 14-7.
20 Strike Out Game
Talking about the rarest feats to occur in the history of major league baseball, we can not omit this one of the best rare plays. Striking out 20 hitters in a single game is a milestone that only a few players have achieved. It is one of the most, if not the most difficult feat to reach for a pitcher.
In 1962, Tom Cheney became the first-ever player to throw 21 strikeouts in an extra-inning game against Washington Senators. In addition, only two players have managed to achieve the 20-strikeout feat in the game of nine innings. However, Roger Clemens became a legend after achieving this milestone not once but two times in his career.
Triple Play Without Assistance
The unassisted triple play is a move that only occurred 15 times in the modern era of the major league. Out of which, only six occurred in the last two decades.
One of the most recent players to hold the record of achieving the unassisted triple play is second baseman Eric Bruntlett. He may not be a popular league player, but he is indeed one of the rarest record holders. On August 23, 2009, against New York Mets, Eric first caught a line drive. He then stepped on the second base and finally ended the game by tagging out a runner.
Hitting for the Complete Natural Cycle
MLB hitting for the cycle record is one of the rarest plays that occur frequently in the game. The cycle is complete when the player hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in one game.
The first player ever in the history of the major league to hit the complete cycle was John Reily of Cincinnati. In 1883, he hit the cycle twice in one major league inning. Additionally, he is also one of the 6 baseball players of all time to complete 3 natural cycles, most in history, in a single game throughout their career. He is the only player to do so in the Major leagues.
The other players in the list with the most cycle record include Bob Meusel in the 1920s American League and Babe Herman in the 1930s National League. In addition, the other three modern-era era star players Adrian Beltre, Trea Turner, and Christian Yelich has this record in the National and American Leagues.
Triple Stealing
The triple steal feat is the rare play in the history of baseball which has been accomplished seven times only since the major leagues in 1980. The event is rare because stealing home run alone is quite difficult and not so frequent. However, if the player can steal home in the same trip after stealing second and third base, he deserves to go down in the history. The most recent player to accomplish the triple steal feat is Dee Jordan. He achieved this milestone against Los Angeles Angels in July 2011.
40/40 Season
Whether it is day-in or day-out baseball, many legendary players on the field have relentless powers. While many other players have extremely intensive speed on the basepaths. However, it is uniquely rare to find a player who has a blend of both. With impressive speed combined with unmatchable powers on the baseball pitch, the players can do wonders.
There are only four players to ever hit 40 home runs and simultaneously steal 40 bases in a single season in the history of the major league. Hence creating an exceptional record of “40/40”. The most recent player to accomplish this feat is Alfonso Soriano. He hit 46 home runs and have 41 bases stolen for Washington Nationals in the MLB 2006.
Conclusion
So, there is that: Some of the rare feats in baseball. However, the list of the rarest plays in the Major Baseball League is never-ending. Although, the events are very peculiar in occurrence. Some even happened only once or twice throughout history. The star and legendary baseball players in their custom baseball uniforms, who shock the spectators with their exceptional record plays and lead their teams toward victory deserve to be remembered in history.
