The Immaculate Inning: Unassisted Triple Plays, 40/40 Seasons, and the Stories Behind Baseball's Rarest Feats

by Joe Cox, Jessica Mendoza (Foreword by)

Overview

The Immaculate Inning shines a light on the miracle of baseball’s endless possibility—the way that on any given day, someone (maybe a star, or maybe a scrub) could perform the rarest of single-game feats or cap off a seemingly unobtainable chase for a record. Covering a selection of the most unusual, significant, and rare feats in baseball history, both in the context of single-day (and sometimes even single-play) events and those that require a longer streak or a full season’s excellence to reach or complete, the book clearly defines how each task is amassed, provides historical background, and tells riveting stories of the ballplayers that did the unthinkable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493032136
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	02/01/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	9 MB

About the Author

Joe Cox is the author of Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching’s Holy Grail. A member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Cox is a coauthor of several other sports books. He lives with his family near Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jessica Mendoza vii

Author's Note x

1 Turning an Unassisted Triple Play 1

2 Pitching an Immaculate Inning 9

3 Striking Out 20 Batters in a Single Game 17

4 Two Grand Slams in One Game 25

5 Four Strikeouts in an Inning 33

6 Position Players Pitching 41

7 Hitting for the Cycle 49

8 Hitting Four Home Runs in a Game 57

9 Six Walks in a Game 67

10 Knocking in 10 Runs in a Game 75

11 Homering on First Pitch Faced in the Major Leagues 83

12 Six Hits in a Game 91

13 The Super Slam 101

14 Stealing for the Cycle in One Inning 109

15 Stealing Six Bases in a Single Game 117

16 Getting On Base in 17 Consecutive Plate Appearances 125

17 Getting a Hit in 12 Consecutive At-Bats 131

18 Hitting a Home Run in Eight Consecutive Games 137

19 40/40 Season 145

20 Hitting .400 155

21 Hitting 50 Home Runs in a Season 163

22 Surviving Shenanigans to Win a League Batting Title 171

23 Hitting Streaks of 40+Games 179

24 Winning the Triple Crown (as a Batter) 187

25 Stealing 100 Bases in a Season 195

26 Striking Out 300 Batters in a Season 205

27 Winning 30 Games in a Season 215

28 Pitching 50+ Consecutive Scoreless Innings 223

29 Winning the Triple Crown (as a Pitcher) 233

30 Saving 50 Games in a Season 241

Acknowledgments 248

Endnotes 250

Bibliography 269

About the Author 278