The Greatest Pitching Achievements in MLB History
Baseball is a team game, but at its heart, it is a game of individuals. That’s never more apparent than when one man stands alone on the pitcher’s mound, destined to be the game’s winner or its loser. Pitching is a unique science and a daunting challenge, and its moments of excellence call for recognition. While we wait for next year, let’s look back on a few of the greatest pitching achievements in MLB history.
7/21/97: Shellacked, 78
If there’s one thing Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux loved more than catching a batter looking at a pitch on the low-outside corner, it was golf. The Mad Dog must have had a tee time in Chicago on July 22, 1997, when he and the Braves defeated the Cubs 4-1 at Wrigley Field using only 78 pitches for an average of 2.5 pitches per at-bat. Even more impressive was that 63 of those 78 pitches were strikes. The official time of the game was only two hours and seven minutes. Attendees still paid full price.
5/26/59: 12 Innings, No Hits, No Glory
One of baseball’s greatest achievements is also one of its most tragic. Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates took a perfect game into the bottom of the 13th in an extra-innings battle with the Milwaukee Braves. After 36 up and 36 down, Felix Mantilla reached first on an error, ending Haddix’s bid for perfection, and a ground-rule double from Joe Adcock gave Milwaukee the win. Even though Haddix retired 27 consecutive batters, Major League Baseball will still not recognize this as a perfect game.
5/11/22: A One-Man No-Hitter in 2022?
We’re writing this one with tongue firmly in cheek. Grueling plate appearances, rigid pitch counts, and specialized bullpens have limited the exposure of starting pitchers, with five-inning outings becoming the norm and complete games becoming rarities. When Reid Detmers pitched a no-no for the Los Angeles Angels last season, it was a notable achievement of 2022 because it was the only no-hitter a single pitcher completed. Perfect games, no-hitters, and even complete-game shutouts were special occasions in the recent past. Still, now, a starter heading to the ninth with zero hits should practically interrupt regularly scheduled programming.
2020: The Triple Corona
With a lower emphasis on starters’ wins, the Triple Crown is another achievement that modernity is seizing from pitchers. Tradition struck back, however, during a most untraditional year. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Shane Bieber of the Indians led the American League in pitching’s three most prominent metrics: wins, earned run average, and strikeouts. Bieber’s Triple Crown season, only the third in the twenty-first century, may be the last we see.
6/12/70: Ellis, D.
Sportswriters have spilled a lot of ink regarding baseball’s legacy of performance-enhancing drugs. Let’s celebrate an achievement under performance-reducing drugs. On June 12, 1970, Pittsburgh pitcher Dock Ellis took the mound in San Diego in the opening half of a doubleheader he had forgotten he was scheduled to pitch. Thinking he had the day off, Ellis had indulged in some LSD beforehand, but miraculously, this chemical imbalance worked to his advantage. Ellis retired 27 batters against eight walks, three stolen bases, and one hit batsman. It was no perfect game, but considering the psychedelic odyssey that was transpiring, it may be the greatest achievement in baseball history anyway.