In case you haven’t been paying attention to the playoffs, you might have missed Shohei Ohtani’s performance Friday night in game four of the National League Championship series. Ohtani struck out ten batters
in six scoreless innings, giving up just a pair of hits, while walking three. That alone isn’t that impressive, considering that feat has been equaled or bettered 56 times, but what makes it so much more impressive is that only twenty five times has a pitcher hit a homerun in a playoff game, and none have hit more than one. Today I thought I’d go over some the outings that came closest that I think came closest to what Ohtani did on both the pitching mound and at the plate.
Orel Hershiser Game 2, 1988 World Series
9IP 3H 2BB 8 SO 0 Runs 3-3 with a pair of double and an RBI
This is the game that I think comes closest to what Ohtani did. While Hershiser may not have hit any homeruns, he pitched three more innings than Ohtani as a part of a complete game shutout. You can actually watch the whole game on Youtube
Rick Sutcliffe Game 1, 1984 NLCS
7IP 2h 5BB 8SO 0R 0ER, 2-4 with a HR
The 1984 NLCS was a mess due to Wrigley’s lack of stadium lights at the time.
Jesse Haines, Game 3, 1926 World Series
9IP 5h 3BB 3SO 0 runs 2-3 with a HR, 2 RBIs
Haines did this against a Yankees lineup that had Ruth and Gehrig still in their prime1. Coincidentally, the opposing pitcher, Dutch Ruether is another pitcher I’ll be discussing in this article.
Rube Foster, Game 2, 1915 World Series
9IP 3h 0BB 8S0 1ER, 3-4 with a double, RBI
There’s really not much I can say about this one. Just an all around solid start by Foster, at the plate and on the mound.
Bob Gibson, Game Four, 1968 World Series
9IP, 5H 2BB 10 SO 1ER, 1-3 with a HR and a walk.
After having one of the most dominant World Series starts ever in game one, striking out 17 batters in a complete game shutout, Gibson had another dominant outing in game four while having a solid day at the plate for a pitcher. Surprisingly, this wasn’t even Bob Gibson’s first homerun in a World Series, as he also hit one the year before in Game 7 of the 1967 world series. Even more surprising, Gibson isn’t the only pitcher with a homerun in two world series. Dave McNally hit a homerun in the 1969 and 1970 world series as well.
The ‘68 world series also had another standout performance by a different pitcher, Mickey Lolich of the Tigers. In game 2, Lolich gave up one run on six hits and two walks, while striking out nine batters. At the plate, Lolich went 2-4 with a HR and a walk.
Dutch Ruether, Game One, 1919 World Series
9IP 6H 1BB, 1SO 1 Unearned Run, 3-3 with two triples and a walk.
Let’s get this out of the way, this one probably shouldn’t count, considering y’know the whole fact that the White Sox were trying to lose in one of the biggest scandals in baseball history. Still, Ruether is one of only a very small handful of pitchers to reach base four times with multiple extra base hits.
Is there a pitcher missing here with a more dominant outing than the ones I mentioned? Let me know in the comments with a link to the boxscore! (Someone with much more patience and a better knowledge of how to use stathead could probably find one, but I’m still new to searching the database)
