A MLB Record That May Never Be Broken

[silverscreenselect]

Edwin Encarnacion was the designated hitter for the New York Yankees in today's game against the Boston Red Sox in London. He also played in the season-opening series with Seattle in Tokyo and, of course, numerous games in the United States in between. That makes him the only player to play games on three continents in the same season, something I doubt will be topped.

Encarnacion was not with the Yankees on their first trip to Toronto, and Seattle won't play in Toronto until later this season, but if he does play in the Yankees' next trip, that will make four different countries as well.

[littlebeast13]

I would never underestimate MLB's desire to want to play regular season games in every remote corner of the world it can think of. I might even live long enough to see the first season opener ever played on the moon...

lb13

[lilclyde54]

A real "travelin' man"

[Ritterskoop]

It will happen again.

MLB is crazy for international games.

But it's cool that he was first.

[Bob78164]

It will happen again.

MLB is crazy for international games.

But it's cool that he was first.

Kind of like the record I saw a little more than 20 years ago -- most grand slams by a player in a single inning. It may get tied some day. But I can't imagine it will ever be broken. --Bob

[BackInTex]

It will happen again.

MLB is crazy for international games.

But it's cool that he was first.

Kind of like the record I saw a little more than 20 years ago -- most grand slams by a player in a single inning. It may get tied some day. But I can't imagine it will ever be broken. --Bob

I'm assuming two? That would be a great thing to see. I've never seen a no-hitter or surprise like that. I saw Nolan Ryan throw his 5,000th strikeout and Craig Biggio get his 3000th hit. While both of those are pretty spectacular, they were expected (though Biggio needed 5 hits to get it which was spectacular in and of itself).

[silverscreenselect]

I've never seen a no-hitter or surprise like that. I saw Nolan Ryan throw his 5,000th strikeout and Craig Biggio get his 3000th hit. While both of those are pretty spectacular, they were expected (though Biggio needed 5 hits to get it which was spectacular in and of itself).

I saw Hoyt Wilhelm (the original knuckleball specialist) pitch in his 1,000th game, at the time a record no one thought would be broken because Wilhelm was 48 years old when he pitched in game 1,000 (he wound up with 1,070). Since then five pitchers have appeared in more games than Wilhelm, with the leader being Jesse Orosco (who will never get anywhere near the Hall of Fame) at 1,203.

I also attended the game after Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run. I was in law school at the time and planned a trip to Atlanta for the Braves' first homestand of the year, but couldn't get up there until the second game of that homestand. The Braves opened their season with three road games in Cincinnati, and Aaron hit the record-tying 714 in the season-opener. The Braves wanted to hold him back for all three games, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said he had to play in at least two games, which he did. Unfortunately for me, he chose to break the record in his very first home game (a national TV game, which was a lot less common back then than today). The only consolation for me was that tickets were very easy to get the next night.

[BackInTex]

The Braves wanted to hold him back for all three games, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said he had to play in at least two games, which he did.

Hard to believe the Commissioner had any say in the line-up a manager would put on the field. I doubt that would fly today.

Both Ryan's 5,000th and Biggio's 3,000th came on the first game of a homestand after a road trip. In May or so of 1989 a co-worker and I scheduled out the Ranger's rotation and Ryan's projected strikeouts per start. He was due to pitch (with our projection of the 5,000th) the game (or maybe 2 games) before they returned home. We knew that they wouldn't start him on the road if he were close so we bought tickets for the first game back. Three months later it paid off.

For Biggio's 3000th I did a similar thing before the season started. I was in a group of 4 splitting season tickets. We held a draft a month before the season started to pick the games we wanted. I projected his 3,000th hit during a road trip so I selected the first home game back. It was my first year in the group so I got last pick in each round. For round 1 the first three guys picked weekend games with the Cubs, Dodgers, or strong division opponents. My first pick was an obscure Thursday night game against the Rockies. They all laughed at my "rookie mistake". I should have kept my mouth shut so the 2nd game of the series would be available for me in round 2, but I was too quick to let them know why. So the next guy took the Friday game. Luckily Craig got 3,000 in the game I had.

Correction to the previous post: While Craig got 5 hits that game, his 3,000th was the 3rd one. I remember it not being a sure thing though and regretting not having that Friday's ticket as well.

[T_Bone0806]

I would never underestimate MLB's desire to want to play regular season games in every remote corner of the world it can think of. I might even live long enough to see the first season opener ever played on the moon...

lb13

In which case, when a home run is hit, the description of it as a "moonshot" would be quite literal...

[silverscreenselect]

The Braves wanted to hold him back for all three games, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said he had to play in at least two games, which he did.

Hard to believe the Commissioner had any say in the line-up a manager would put on the field. I doubt that would fly today.

Here's what the NY Times said at the time. Braves manager Eddie Matthews was a teammate of Aaron's in Milwaukee and a good friend.

https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/07/arch ... sists.html

[littlebeast13]

I've seen three players hit for the cycle (Kevin McReynolds, Daryle Ward and Mark Grudzielanek), but have never seen a no hitter. Not even a team one-hitter, in about 300 lifetime games.

I was one of a handful who saw Mark Quinn become (at the time) the third player in the modern era to homer twice in his MLB debut. JP Arencibia and Trevor Story have since joined that list.

I saw an unknown, never amounted to anything catcher named JR Towles collect 8 RBI's in a game, which still stands alone as the Houston Astros franchise record. He also did it in his 6th career game, by far the fastest player to have an 8 ribbie or more game.

I saw Tom Henke and Jeff Montgomery get their 300th saves, and Trevor Hoffman get his 400th. I can't think of any other significant milestone of any kind I've seen in person... though I was there for Tony Gwynn's 2,995th hit, which was a no doubter grand slam.

I've seen Major League Baseball played in person at 3:00 in the morning.

I've seen a team (Who went on to lose 108 games that year... hello 1998 Marlins!) come back from a 6-0 9th inning deficit to win the game.

I attended the only Major League Game (At the time I looked it up, probably about five years ago) in which a team's #8 hitter got six hits in a game (Carlos Pena).

And probably a lot more I've forgotten about....

lb13

[BackInTex]

The Braves wanted to hold him back for all three games, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn said he had to play in at least two games, which he did.

Hard to believe the Commissioner had any say in the line-up a manager would put on the field. I doubt that would fly today.

Here's what the NY Times said at the time. Braves manager Eddie Matthews was a teammate of Aaron's in Milwaukee and a good friend.

https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/07/arch ... sists.html

I wonder if Aaron would have been up for just taking pitches or bunting. While the Commissioner forced them to play him, he wasn't calling the plays.

[Bob78164]

It will happen again.

MLB is crazy for international games.

But it's cool that he was first.

Kind of like the record I saw a little more than 20 years ago -- most grand slams by a player in a single inning. It may get tied some day. But I can't imagine it will ever be broken. --Bob

I'm assuming two? That would be a great thing to see. I've never seen a no-hitter or surprise like that. I saw Nolan Ryan throw his 5,000th strikeout and Craig Biggio get his 3000th hit. While both of those are pretty spectacular, they were expected (though Biggio needed 5 hits to get it which was spectacular in and of itself).

Fernando Tatis for the Cardinals on April 23, 1999. We went to the game in the wake of McGwire's 70 home run season hoping to see him hit one. He didn't, but we were not disappointed. --Bob

[danielh41]

I'm assuming two? That would be a great thing to see. I've never seen a no-hitter or surprise like that. I saw Nolan Ryan throw his 5,000th strikeout and Craig Biggio get his 3000th hit. While both of those are pretty spectacular, they were expected (though Biggio needed 5 hits to get it which was spectacular in and of itself).

Hey, I was also at Nolan Ryan's 5000th strikeout game. We were at the edge of the bleachers, section AA, I think. I was also at his 7th no-hitter and his little fracas with Robin Ventura. I tried to go every time he pitched.

[danielh41]

I've seen three players hit for the cycle (Kevin McReynolds, Daryle Ward and Mark Grudzielanek), but have never seen a no hitter. Not even a team one-hitter, in about 300 lifetime games.

I was one of a handful who saw Mark Quinn become (at the time) the third player in the modern era to homer twice in his MLB debut. JP Arencibia and Trevor Story have since joined that list.

I saw an unknown, never amounted to anything catcher named JR Towles collect 8 RBI's in a game, which still stands alone as the Houston Astros franchise record. He also did it in his 6th career game, by far the fastest player to have an 8 ribbie or more game.

I saw Tom Henke and Jeff Montgomery get their 300th saves, and Trevor Hoffman get his 400th. I can't think of any other significant milestone of any kind I've seen in person... though I was there for Tony Gwynn's 2,995th hit, which was a no doubter grand slam.

I've seen Major League Baseball played in person at 3:00 in the morning.

I've seen a team (Who went on to lose 108 games that year... hello 1998 Marlins!) come back from a 6-0 9th inning deficit to win the game.

I attended the only Major League Game (At the time I looked it up, probably about five years ago) in which a team's #8 hitter got six hits in a game (Carlos Pena).

And probably a lot more I've forgotten about....

lb13

I saw Ian Kinsler hit for the cycle in 2009. He also went 6 for 6 in that game, becoming the first player since the 1890s to have six hits AND hit for the cycle in the same game.

[danielh41]

Someone writing for Baseball Almanac called this the new "Greatest Game": http://www.baseball-almanac.com/blog/20 ... es-game-6/ I went to that game, and for someone rooting for the Rangers, it was agonizing....

[Bob78164]

Someone writing for Baseball Almanac called this the new "Greatest Game": http://www.baseball-almanac.com/blog/20 ... es-game-6/ I went to that game, and for someone rooting for the Rangers, it was agonizing....

Hard to argue with Game 7 of the 2001 Series as the greatest ever. For one thing, it was a Game 7. For another, consider not just the baseball context (Games "Aura" and "Mystique" seeming to extend the Yankee dynasty), but the context in the real world.

For my money, Game 6 of the 1986 ALCS was up there with Game 6 of the 2011 Series. --Bob

[silverscreenselect]

For my money, Game 6 of the 1986 ALCS was up there with Game 6 of the 2011 Series. --Bob

Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.

[BackInTex]

For my money, Game 6 of the 1986 ALCS was up there with Game 6 of the 2011 Series. --Bob

Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.

Game 5 of the 2005 World Series.....oh wait.

[kroxquo]

Just don't bring up Game 6 of the 1993 World Series. Stupid Mitch Williams and even stupider Jim Fregosi for letting him in there.

[tlynn78]

... Unfortunately for me, he chose to break the record in his very first home game (a national TV game, which was a lot less common back then than today). The only consolation for me was that tickets were very easy to get the next night.

My dad and older sister were at that game.

[danielh41]

For my money, Game 6 of the 1986 ALCS was up there with Game 6 of the 2011 Series. --Bob

Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.

I have a DVD of that game's telecast, and it was an amazing game even before Mazeroski's home run.