Fewest Pitches
Sunday, July 31st, 2011In baseball, pitchers sometimes throw a “perfect” game, that is that no batter reaches a base.
But, in an absolute sense, a perfect game (for a pitcher) would be 81 pitches, which would be 3 pitches per batter, resulting in three strikes per batter, resulting in that batter being out.
Or, alternatively, you might consider a perfect game (for a team) would be 27 pitches, each one resulting in a hit that was caught out. In other words, each batter hits the first pitch thrown and is caught out.
Before checking, in my mind, such a feat would be easier to achieve the lower down the rung you are in the game. That is, you have countless people playing baseball when they are kids. Virtually every grade school has a sports program with baseball. Now, as those kids get older, they are typically merged into larger schools, which means fewer will play junior high baseball. Likewise with the move to high school baseball. And, again, likewise with a move to college baseball.
Then, they may move into the minor leagues. Fewer will reach the major leagues. So, basically, the standout players at the lower levels move up to being professional players. Not always, of course, but generally speaking. So, the standout players in little league are playing against other players far under their skill level. But, once they hit the higher leagues, they progressively are playing others closer to their skill level. So, it’s rarer that someone will standout far beyond the rest.
Now, as far as I can find, no one in Major League Baseball has thrown 27 pitches to win a game. According to Baseball Almanac, the fewest pitches thrown in a complete baseball game was fifty-eight by Red Barrett in 1944.
I haven’t been able to find any games in MLB that were won by 81 pitches, each resulting in a strike. But, in line with my thinking espoused above, it has happened in Little League. In 2009, 12-year old Colby Gage struck 18 batters with 81 pitches in 9 innings of play.
Now we just have to see if any Major League Baseball pitcher will be able to achieve that.
