Batter up! Batter out!
Three times in an inning. Then the next team gets the field
That's baseball and that's life, right?
Actually, uh, no.
Here's how it goes in baseball (and the case could be made, occaisionally in our life, if we're fortunate.)
"It’s one of the most interesting feats in sports. And the most confusing? Three strikeouts in one inning is definitely respectable, even a pitcher’s dream, but FOUR in one inning? Yes, it happens, and more often than you’d think.
Just how is this feat achievable? A batter with two strikes on him
takes a swing at strike three; however, the catcher does not field the
ball cleanly, and instead of tagging the runner out, the runner reaches.
The strikeout is recorded, but not the out."
Brad,
Good point...yet even Griffey struck out. That was my point. Not just the unique roll of 4 strike outs, but that when the catchers of our lives "drop the ball", we can SOMETIMES advance to first base.
Thanks for visiting the site.
Den
Posted by: Dennis Mansfield | September 23, 2012 at 03:45 PM
It looks like Ken Griffey Jr. was about to hit that pitch solidly. Griffey wasn't especially known for his strikeouts, so, as an extremely biased Mariners fan, I don't appreciate his picture in this story. Why not show his capable, photogenic teammate, Felix Hernandez, who shows up on this list? Or how about former Mariner All Star Kazuhiro Sasaki? Or the most recent pitcher to accomplish the feat, former Mariner and substitute teacher (and current Blue Jay) Steve Delabar?
Posted by: Brad | September 21, 2012 at 10:09 AM