By its very nature, baseball is the sport that most leads to endless debate and discussion about the relative merits of its players. Since each stadium is unique with respect to the size and shape of its outfields and the height of its fences, there will never be a logical way to determine the ultimate “best” pitcher or batter. Unlike basketball or tennis, for example, baseball is not played in a uniform environment, which makes comparing the statistics of players, who play half of their games in their own stadiums at home, in the doubtful at best.

However, there are rare player accomplishments in baseball history that transcend the differences of the playing fields, or the weather conditions at the time, or anything else to that effect. They are noteworthy for both their tremendous infrequency and high level of achievement … and they also provide excellent material for baseball trivia questions. I suspect fans will argue over what feat is the the majority impressive for some time. Here are a few to consider:

• The immaculate entrance – Three batters are struck out in the same half inning on just 9 pitches thrown by the same pitcher. This feat has been accomplished just 47 times in Major League Baseball history. Forty-four pitchers have done it once during their careers, while three have done it twice. You realize that it is a rare event when you look at the number of possible opportunities versus the number of actual occurrences. In each game, pitchers have 8 or 9 chances to pitch a half inning. Each of the 30 teams plays 162 games each. That’s a range of 38,880-43,740 chances for all pitchers to throw a Immaculate Tackle … and that’s for ONE season only! Multiply those numbers by, say, just 30 seasons and you get 1,166,400 – 1,312,200 chances. Now compare that to only 47 actual occurrences. It’s amazing!
• 4 home runs in a game by the same batter – Only 16 players in Major League history have hit 4 home runs in a game. No batter has hit more than that and no player has hit 4 in a game more than once in his career. Once again, the numbers are staggering: 9 players have a chance to hit 4 home runs in each of 162 games. There are 30 teams. Total chances are 43,740 in one season. If we multiply that number as we did in the first illustration by just 30 seasons, we get a total of 1,312,200 chances. Then we compare 16 occurrences with that number. I’d say the 4 home run game is a rarity in baseball!
• Baseball’s Triple Crown for Batting – This award is given to the hitter who led his league in home runs, RBIs and batting average, all in the same season. Since the first Baseball Triple Crown was awarded for batting in 1878, only 17 players have won it, making it one of the rarest achievements in baseball. 17 winners in 135 years!
• The Baseball Triple Crown for Pitching – To win this award, a pitcher must lead his league in wins, strikeouts and ERA, all in the same season. While not as rare as Triple Crown batting, this award has been awarded only 38 times since it was first introduced in 1877.
• The perfect game – A perfect game is achieved when a pitcher pitches the minimum number of batters on the opposing team and none of them reaches base in nine innings. This means there are no hits, walks, hitters, errors, catcher interference, or strikeouts with wild passes or throwing. Since there are 3 outs per inning and 9 innings, a pitcher must retire 27 batters in a row to achieve a perfect game. How rare is this? A total of only 23 perfect games have been released in Major League Baseball history since the first in 1880. Statistically less rare (due to far fewer playoff games) but equally impressive it is the only perfect game released in postseason history. ; Don Larsen of the New York Yankees needed just 97 pitches to make history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
• Home run during the first at bat – In Major League Baseball history, only 113 hitters have homered in their first at-bat. Of those 113 hitters, only 28 hit their respective home runs in the first pitch. They were all rookies at some point in their careers, so every player who made it to the plate had a chance to hit a home run on their first at-bat. It turns out that this achievement is one of the rarest events in baseball history.

In Major League Baseball, teams play 162 regular-season games. The duration of the games is determined solely by the time it takes to play 9 or more innings and not by a clock. The pace is generally slow and deliberate. Winners and losers are not determined until the final out is recorded. Teams come back from big deficits to win games when the odds are overwhelmingly not in their favor. A single pitch or final swing of the bat can make history. The lack of time constraints can provide moments of great drama and exceptional feats.

We’ve talked about some of these rare feats, some of which took only seconds to accomplish, while others occurred over the course of a game or an entire season. Our list is far from exhaustive, but it includes some good material for baseball trivia questions! Did you think of other baseball oddities? If so, we invite you to share them on our site.