Most folks think 3 strike outs in an inning is the maximum, "striking out the side," since, by definition, 3 outs of any kind means the inning is over. But they still credit the pitcher with a "strike out" even when the last strike is dropped or otherwise hits the ground, and the batter reaches base before being tagged or thrown out. So FOUR strikouts in an inning has been done 46 times over the years. Here's the oddity: only one pitcher has done it more than once (Chuck Finley) and he did it THREE times. Not only that, the three occurrences were all in less than a year's time! (5-15-99, 8-15-99, and 4-16-00). Must have some full moons in the middle of those months!
ANother oddity: I recognize three knuckleballers among those who've done it (that's not so odd, since a knuckleball strike is more likely to be a wild pitch or passed ball). The odd part: Phil Niekro did it in 1977, Charlie Hough in 1988, and Tim Wakefield in 1999.
And what, you may ask, about Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller, Sam McDowell, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens, Sandy Koufax, or Pedro Martinez? Not a one of them did it even once.
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