27 Up, 27 Down (2010 Edition)

Congratulations to Rob Flynn, owner of the Virginia Vagrants and Pitcher Dallas Braden, who threw the 19th Perfect Game in Major League history yesterday. It is the first perfect game since Mark Buerhle's gem in July of last year and the second no-hitter this season.

The Perfect Game "club"

1. Lee Richmond, June 12, 1880
2. John Montgomery Ward, June 17, 1880
   
3. Cy Young, May 5 1904
4. Addie Joss, October 2, 1908
5. Charlie Robertson, April 30, 1922
6. Don Larsen, October 8, 1956 (during the World Series)
7. Jim Bunning, June 21, 1964
8. Sandy Koufax, September 9, 1965
9. Catfish Hunter, May 8, 1968
10. Len Barker, May 15, 1981
11. Mike Witt, September 30, 1984
12. Tom Browning, September 16, 1988
13. Dennis Martinez, July 28, 1991
14. Kenny Rogers, July 28, 1994
15. David Wells, May 17, 1998
16. David Cone, July 18, 1999
17. Randy Johnson, May 18, 2004
18. Mark Buehrle, July 23, 2009
19. Dallas Braden, May 9, 2010
    

Unassisted Triple Plays and Immaculate Innings

On the day when both the Baltimore Orioles and the Washington Nationals won a game, another team (well, one member of the team) pulled off another rarity in baseball. The unassisted Triple Play. In the continuing saga of the New York Mets in freefall, their game with the Philadelphia Phillies ended abruptly in the ninth inning, when Eric Bruntlett pulled off the three outer by himself. In the modern era of baseball, it has happened only 15 times and only twice has the triple play ended the game. On a similar note, I spotted this in my reader, where "immaculate innings" are being tracked. What's an "immaculate inning," you ask? That's when a pitcher strikes out the side on nine pitches. It has happened only 42 times. Three pitchers have done it twice, but none have ever done it three times.

Here's the list of unassisted triple plays.

• Neal Ball (SS) of the Cleveland Naps SS, July 19, 1909 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Bill Wambsganss (2B) of the Cleveland Indians, October 10, 1920 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner in Game 5 of the 1920 World Series
• George Burns (1B) of the Boston Red Sox, September 14, 1923 - Caught line drive, tagged runner, touched 2nd
• Ernie Padgett (SS) of the Boston Braves, October 6, 1923 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Glenn Wright (SS) of the Pittsburgh Pirates, May 7, 1925 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Jimmy Cooney (SS) of the Chicago Cubs, May 30, 1927 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Johnny Neun (iB) of the Detroit Tigers, May 31, 1927 - Caught line drive, tagged runner, touched 2nd (Ended game)
• Ron Hansen (SS) of the Washington Senators, July 30, 1968 - 1st Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Mickey Morandini (2B) of the Philadelphia Phillies, September 20, 1992 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• John Valentin (SS) of the Boston Red Sox, July 8, 1994 6th Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner
• Randy Velarde (2B) of the Oakland Athletics, May 29, 2000 - Caught line drive, tagged runner, touched 2nd
• Rafael Furcal (SS) of the Atlanta Braves, August 10, 2003 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Troy Tulowitzki (SS) of the Colorado Rockies, April 29, 2007 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Asdrúbal Cabrera (2B) of the Cleveland Indians, May 12, 2008 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner.
• Eric Bruntlett (2B) of the Philadelphia Phillies, August 23, 2009 - Caught line drive, touched 2nd, tagged runner (Ended game)

Two Grand Salamis in One Game

cross posted from my regular blog . . .

"Who are Those Guys?"

First off, name the movie for the above line. Bonus points for actually identifying the names of "those guys."

Last night, Mark Buehrle, not content to have thrown a perfect game in his last outing, decided to break the record of retiring 41 straight batters by getting past 45 (that's 27 from the perfect game and 18 more from last night's game).

Now as to this team that plays here in Washington, DC. What has gotten into them? They seem to have found something and have been cracking their bats over their opponents, now having won four in a row and six of their last eight. So when do playoff tickets go on sale? Yes, well, don't get your hopes up, they are still more than 25 games out of first place in the NL East.

A significant record was notched by Nationals outfielder, Josh Willingham in the game against the Brewers on Monday night. Willingham hit two grand slams in the same game, only the 13th time this has happened in the era of modern baseball. Please note this is five less occasions than the perfect games. Evidently baseball is harder than it looks.

Here's the list, which in of itself is interesting as it does not necessarily feature those marquee names that one might expect (there are only two hall of famers on the list). Further, it is interesting to note (and this was a subject of discussion at the lunch table) that, with only one exception, all of these took place on the road.

• May 24, 1936 - Tony Lazzeri, New York Yankees, away game
• July 4, 1939 - Jim Tabor, Boston Red Sox, away game
• July 27, 1946 - Rudy York, Boston Red Sox, away game
• May 9, 1961 - Jim Gentile, Baltimore Orioles, away game
• July 3, 1966 - Tony Cloninger, Atlanta Braves, away game
• June 24, 1968 - Jim Northrup, Detroit Tigers, away game
• June 26, 1970 - Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, away game
• September 4, 1995 - Robin Ventura, Chicago White Sox, away game
• August 14, 1998 - Chris Hoiles, Baltimore Orioles, away game (active)
  
• April 23, 1999 - Fernando Tatís, St. Louis Cardinals, away game
• May 10, 1999 - Nomar Garciaparra, Boston Red Sox, home game (active)
  
• July 29, 2003 - Bill Mueller, Boston Red Sox, away game
• July 27, 2009 - Josh Willingham, Washington Nationals, away game

Induction Sunday

Congratulations to Ricky Henderson, Jim Rice and the late Joe Gordon.

27 Up, 27 Down

Tomorrow night I will be at Nationals Park to see the Nats take on the San Diego Padres. It features two really bad teams. Today, the country's number 1 White Sox fan got to see a rare gem in baseball. It's only happened 18 times in the modern era. Congratulations Mark Buehrle, who threw the no-no today in Chicago. It was the first perfect game in five seasons.

The Perfect Game "club"

1. Lee Richmond, June 12, 1880
2. John Montgomery Ward, June 17, 1880
   
3. Cy Young, May 5 1904
4. Addie Joss, October 2, 1908
5. Charlie Robertson, April 30, 1922
6. Don Larsen, October 8, 1956 (during the World Series)
7. Jim Bunning, June 21, 1964
8. Sandy Koufax, September 9, 1965
9. Catfish Hunter, May 8, 1968
10. Len Barker, May 15, 1981
11. Mike Witt, September 30, 1984
12. Tom Browning, September 16, 1988
13. Dennis Martinez, July 28, 1991
14. Kenny Rogers, July 28, 1994
15. David Wells, May 17, 1998
16. David Cone, July 18, 1999
17. Randy Johnson, May 18, 2004
18. Mark Buehrle, July 23, 2009
    

Transactions

• Hot-N-Spicys will be renamed the Brave Astronauts and will be under full control of John LeGloahec at the beginning of the draft. I will remain co-owner until the draft and will then become full time commissioner for this season.
• Pretzels trade Chien-Ming Wang and a 2008 #2 (from the Federals) to the Dons for their 2008 #1Minor League pick.
• Brave Astronauts trade Hank Blalock to the Phooeys for Jamie Walker, Adam Lind, and the Phooeys 2010 #2 Minor League pick