Immaculate Innings: 9 Pitches - 9 Strikes - 3 Outs

After a really great game, it might be said of a pitcher that he was throwing "nothing but strikes." Every once in awhile, at least for one inning, this is completely correct. Some pitchers have the idea that a perfect inning consists of three pitches.

Three fly balls, three groundouts, whatever. Just get it over with and let the defense win it for you. But these pitchers realize the beauty of a truly perfect inning. A nine strike inning. You can imagine how it goes...

The first batter comes up, just wanting to get on base. Strike one-he shakes it off, lucky pitch. Strike two-he swings for it, just over anxious, he'll get the next one. Strike three-he returns to the bench, mumbling something about how the pitch was actually inside. Next guy up. He falls prey to the breaking ball, gets him every time. Two outs. Last one comes to the plate. He has a hungry look in his eye, he'll at least battle for a walk. He is mistaken.

No matter how it happens, when a pitcher's on, he's on. So here's to Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan. To Lefty Grove and Randy Johnson. To the men who redefined just what it means to have an immaculate inning.

"Ryan is the only guy who puts fear in me. Not because he can get you out, but because he can kill you." - Reggie Jackson (on Nolan Ryan : a two-time member of the 9 pitch / 9 strike Club) in Baseball Digest (December 1974, Jackie Lapin, 'Nolan Ryan: The Pitcher Batterts Hate to Face', Page 41)
Immaculate Innings / 9 Pitches — 9 Strikes — 3 outs

American League

American League Immaculate Innings In Chronological Order

# Name (Quantity) Team Date / Box Batters Inn.
01.

Rube Waddell (1)

Athletics

07-01-1902 Billy Gilbert, Harry Howell, Jim Cronin

3rd

02.

Sloppy Thurston (1)

White Sox

08-22-1923 Beauty McGowan, Chick Galloway, Sammy Hale

12th

03.

Lefty Grove (1)

Athletics

08-23-1928 Eddie Morgan, Luther Harvel, Chick Autry

2nd

04.

Lefty Grove (2)

Athletics

09-27-1928 Moe Berg, Tommy Thomas, Johnny Mostil

7th

05.

Billy Hoeft (1)

Tigers

09-07-1953 Jim Rivera, Mike Fornieles, Chico Carrasquel

7th

06.

Jim Bunning (1)

Tigers

08-02-1959 Sammy White, Jim Mahoney, Ike Delock

9th

07.

Al Downing (1)

Yankees

08-11-1967 Tony Horton, Don Demeter, Duke Sims

2nd

08.

Nolan Ryan (2 [1 in NL])

Angels

07-09-1972 Carlton Fisk, Bob Burda, Juan Beniquez

2nd

09.

Ron Guidry (1)

Yankees

08-07-1984 Carlton Fisk, Tom Paciorek, Greg Luzinski

9th

10. Danny Jackson (1) Royals 10-24-1985 Terry Pendleton, Tom Nieto, Brian Harper 7th
11.

Jeff Montgomery (1)

Royals

04-29-1990 Pete Incaviglia, Geno Petralli, Thad Bosley

8th

12.

Pedro Martinez (1)

Red Sox

05-18-2002 Ichiro Suzuki, Mark McLemore, Ruben Sierra

1st

13. Rich Harden (1) Athletics 06-08-2008 Maicer Izturis, Howie Kendrick, Garret Anderson 1st
14. Felix Hernandez (1) Mariners 06-17-2008 Jeremy Hermida, Jorge Cantu, Mike Jacobs 4th
15. A.J. Burnett (1) Yankees 06-20-2009 Josh Johnson, Chris Coghlan, Emilio Bonifacio 3rd
16. Rafael Soriano (1) Rays 08-23-2010 Erick Aybar, Mike Napoli, Peter Bourjos 9th
17.

Clay Buchholz (1)

Red Sox

08-16-2012 Adam Jones, Matt Wieters, Chris Davis

6th

# Name (Quantity) Team Date / Box Batters Inn.

9 Pitches — 9 Strikes — 3 Outs
American League Immaculate Innings: 16 Pitchers / 17 Instances

Immaculate Innings / 9 Pitches — 9 Strikes — 3 Outs

National League

National League Immaculate Innings In Chronological Order

# Name (Quantity) Team Date / Box Batters Inn.
01. John Clarkson (1) Beaneaters 06-04-1889 Jim Fogarty, Sam Thompson, Sid Farrar

3rd

02. Pat Ragan (1) Dodgers 10-05-1914 Possum Whitted, Butch Schmidt, Red Smith

8th

03. Joe Oeschger (1) Braves 09-08-1921 Bevo LeBourveau, Cy Williams, Ed Konetchy

4th

04. Dazzy Vance (1) Dodgers 09-14-1924 Sam Bohne, Bubbles Hargrave, Eppa Rixey

2nd

05. Sandy Koufax (1) Dodgers 06-30-1962 Richie Ashburn, Rod Kanehl, Felix Mantilla

1st

06. Sandy Koufax (2) Dodgers 04-18-1964 Leo Cardenas, Johnny Edwards, Jim Maloney

3rd

07. Bob Bruce (1) Colt .45s 04-19-1964 Bill White, Charlie James, Ken Boyer

8th

08. Nolan Ryan (1) Mets 04-19-1968 Claude Osteen, Wes Parker, Zoilo Versalles

3rd

09. Bob Gibson (1) Cardinals 05-12-1969 Len Gabrielson, Paul Popovich, John Miller

7th

10. Milt Pappas (1) Cubs 09-24-1971 Greg Luzinski, Don Money, Mike Anderson

4th

11. Bruce Sutter (1) Cubs 09-08-1977 Ellis Valentine, Gary Carter, Larry Parrish

9th

12. Jeff Robinson (1) Pirates 09-07-1987 Leon Durham, Andre Dawson, Rafael Palmeiro

8th

13. Rob Dibble (1) Reds 06-04-1989 Carmelo Martinez, Mark Parent, Garry Templeton

8th

14. Andy Ashby (1) Phillies 06-15-1991 Hal Morris, Todd Benzinger, Jeff Reed

4th

15. David Cone (1) Mets 08-30-1991 Herm Winningham, Randy Myers, Mariano Duncan

5th

16. Pete Harnisch (1) Astros 09-06-1991 Wes Chamberlain, Dickie Thon, Jose DeJesus

7th

17. Trevor Wilson (1) Giants 06-07-1992 Jeff Bagwell, Eric Anthony, Rafael Ramirez

9th

18. Mel Rojas (1) Expos 05-11-1994 David Segui, Todd Hundley, Jeff McKnight

9th

19. Mike Magnante (1) Astros 08-22-1997 Ellis Burks, Harvey Pulliam, Jeff Reed

9th

20. Randy Johnson (1) Diamondbacks 08-23-2001 Tony McKnight, Gary Matthews, Jack Wilson

6th

21. Jason Isringhausen (1) Cardinals 04-13-2002 Daryle Ward, Jose Vizcaino, Julio Lugo

9th

22. Byung-Hyun Kim (1) Diamondbacks 05-11-2002 Scott Rolen, Mike Lieberthal, Pat Burrell

8th

23. Brian Lawrence (1) Padres 06-12-2002 Brook Fordyce, Jerry Hairston, Melvin Mora

3rd

24.

Brandon Backe (1)

Astros

04-15-2004 Bill Hall, Scott Podsednik, Craig Counsell

8th

25.

Ben Sheets (1)

Brewers

06-13-2004

Peter Munro, Craig Biggio, Jose Vizcaino

3rd

26.

LaTroy Hawkins (1)

Cubs

09-11-2004 Jeff Conine, Juan Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez

9th

27.

Rick Helling (1)

Brewers

06-20-2006 Curtis Granderson, Placido Polanco, Ivan Rodriguez

1st

28.

Buddy Carlyle (1)

Braves

07-06-2007

Khalil Greene, Russell Branyan, Jose Cruz, Jr.

4th

29. Ross Ohlendorf (1) Pirates 09-05-2009 Khalil Greene, Julio Lugo, Jason LaRue 7th
30. Jordan Zimmermann (1) Nationals 05-06-2011 Giancarlo Stanton, Greg Dobbs, John Buck 2nd
31.

Juan Perez (1)

Phillies

07-08-2011 Jason Heyward, Nate McLouth, Wilkin Ramirez

10th

32. Wade Miley (1) Diamondbacks 10-01-2012 Jonathan Herrera, Drew Pomeranz, Josh Rutledge 3rd
# Name (Quantity) Team Date / Box Batters Inn.

9 Pitches — 9 Strikes — 3 Outs
National League Immaculate Innings: 31 Pitchers / 32 Instances



When Nolan Ryan retired the side on nine pitches / nine strikes with the California Angels he became the first and only pitcher to accomplish this unique feat once during both the American (1972) & National League (1968).

Did you know that the only three pitchers in Major League history to accomplish this feat twice happen to be members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame?

Over one-hundred twenty-five years of Major League Baseball history, millions of pitches thrown by thousands of different pitchers and only forty-nine known / recorded instances by forty-six different pitchers — this is truly an amazing feat!

     

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