Quiz – Winning Weirdly (stumped)

These are the only pitchers of the past 30 seasons (since 1985) with an unusual single game accomplishment. What is it?

Hint: there is a career context for this single game feat

Looks like I have another stumper! Voomo Zanzibar zeroed in on the main point straight off, that all of these pitchers have recorded an unlikely shutout with zero strikeouts. The extra wrinkle that eluded our readers was that each did so in the first whiff-less CG of his career. More after the jump.

Here are those games.

Rk Name Strk Start End Games W L GS CG SHO IP H BB SO ERA Tm
1 Rick Porcello 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 4 0 0 0.00 DET
2 Scott Erickson 2002-04-28 2002-04-28 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 4 2 0 0.00 BAL
3 Jim Bullinger 1997-06-23 1997-06-23 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 4 1 0 0.00 MON
4 Roger Bailey 1997-04-16 1997-04-16 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 5 1 0 0.00 COL
5 Zane Smith 1994-08-11 1994-08-11 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 5 2 0 0.00 PIT
6 Jeff Ballard 1989-08-21 1989-08-21 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 7 0 0 0.00 BAL
7 Brian Holman 1989-06-27 1989-06-27 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 7 3 0 0.00 SEA
8 Tom Glavine 1989-06-06 1989-06-06 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 6 2 0 0.00 ATL
9 Neil Allen 1986-07-20 1986-07-20 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 2 0 0 0.00 CHW
10 Walt Terrell 1985-06-29 1985-06-29 1 1 0 1 1 1 9.0 2 2 0 0.00 DET
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/4/2014.

Related Tidbits

  • Roger Clemens had two whiff-less CGs in his career … both in the same month
Rk Date Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
1 1987-07-21 BOS CAL W 3-0 SHO9, W 9.0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
2 1987-07-01 BOS BAL W 6-2 CG 9, W 9.0 6 2 2 2 0 0 2.00
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/4/2014.
  • Only these expansion era hurlers had “streaks” of 3 such shutouts, getting the whitewash in successive (but widely-spaced) CGs with no punchouts
Rk Name Strk Start End Games W L GS CG SHO IP H BB SO ERA Tm
1 Jerry Reuss 1974-07-18 1985-07-26 3 3 0 3 3 3 27.0 22 5 0 0.00 PIT-LAD
2 Mike Caldwell 1979-06-04 1983-05-22 3 3 0 3 3 3 27.0 19 2 0 0.00 MIL
3 Ken Holtzman 1969-08-19 1976-07-16 3 3 0 3 3 3 27.0 7 9 0 0.00 CHC-BAL-NYY
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/4/2014.
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Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
9 years ago

Pitched a shutout, no strikeouts.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
9 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Got the clue from Neil Allen’s bullpen page, where it mentions his two-hitter with no BB or SO.

David P
David P
9 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Voomo – That’s likely a large part of it but there are 15 pitchers who have done that since 1985 (including, oddly, Roger Clemens).

Doug’s hint says there’s also a “career context” which I assume is the other part of the puzzle.

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
9 years ago

Allen’s 0BB-0K game was his second straight shutout. Terrell never had consecutive ShO, but he did twirl a 2-hitter without a strikeout (he walked 2 in that game). ZSmith’s best CG with no strikeouts was a 5-hitter.

koma
koma
9 years ago

Career IP < 2500 fits for 9.
Only Glavine has more.

koma
koma
9 years ago
Reply to  koma

and it deletes the 5 others from the list of 15 SO=0 CG SHO pitchers

Doug
Doug
9 years ago
Reply to  koma

Nothing like that.

See comment above re: Zane Smith.

The Goof
9 years ago

I toyed around with the idea of career K/BB ratios and K/IP, but it didn’t quite work.