91 Things That Never Happened in Baseball Until 2016
The 2016 MLB season will forever be remembered for the Chicago Cubs winning their first World Series title in more than a century. But that historic ending was just one of numerous baseball “firsts” that occurred last season. Here is a rundown of all the history that was made on the diamond in 2016.
Related: The Weirdest Things That Happened in Baseball in 2016
2016 was the first time in baseball history that a team...
» Won an Opening Day shutout by a margin of as many as 15 runs (Dodgers).
» Was victorious on Opening Day despite getting just one hit (Rangers).
» Was shut out in its first three games of a season and/or in five of the first 10 (Padres).
» Had more strikeouts than hits in each of its first nine games of a season (Twins).
» Hit three pinch-hit home runs in one game (Cardinals).
» Won four consecutive contests after losing its first nine of a season (Braves, Twins).
» Had two starters with three or more wins and a sub-1.00 ERA 20 games into a season (Cubs, Jake Arrieta and Jason Hammel).
» Used three pitchers who failed to record an out, yet finished with a shutout (Marlins).
» Lost a home game despite erasing deficits in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings (Pirates).
» Was saddled with a bullpen that allowed a run in 23 consecutive games (Reds).
» Got home runs from its first two batters of a game, both of whom were 22 or younger (Rangers, Rougned Odor and Nomar Mazara).
» Had four players simultaneously carrying 12-game hitting streaks in home games (Red Sox).
» Got a home run from two Canadian-born players in the same game (Blue Jays, Michael Saunders and Russell Martin).
» Gleaned 52 strikeouts from its pitchers in a three-game series (Astros vs. Orioles).
» Compiled a slugging percentage as high as 1.2051 in a game (Rockies).
» Received multiple-home run performances from four different players in four successive games (Mariners).
» Lost a game despite hitting six more homers than its opponent (White Sox vs. Blue Jays).
» Assembled a streak of 41 strikeouts between walks from its bullpen (Yankees).
» Turned a 3-3-5 triple play (Nationals).
» Got a home run from all four infielders and an assist from all three outfielders in the same game (Indians).
» Struck out 61 opposition batters in a four-game series (Astros vs. Blue Jays).
» Allowed exactly one run, each via a solo homer, in four consecutive contests (Royals).
» Hit four home runs in a game before making an out (Orioles, who lost anyway).
» Collected 17 pinch-hit homers (Cardinals).
» Put 28 players on the disabled list (Dodgers — including Andre Ethier, who broke his leg during spring training).
» Won 76.6 percent of its one-run games (Rangers).
» Connected on multiple home runs in the first inning of three straight games (Angels).
» Allowed 103 home runs by its relievers and/or 258 by its entire staff (Reds).
» Utilized nine pitchers in a shutout of nine or more innings (Indians).
» Won a game in which it overcame multiple two-run deficits with home runs in the ninth inning and later (Mets over Phillies).
» Struck out 1,543 times in one season (Brewers).
» Prevailed in 10 straight win-or-go-home postseason games (Giants).
» Received its first complete game of the year in a postseason contest (Blue Jays, Marco Estrada).
» Threw five shutouts in a single postseason (Indians).
A player...
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» Hit 42 home runs for a 100-loss team (Brian Dozier).
» Who won the batting title the previous year ripped three extra-base hits in his first game of the next (Dee Gordon).
» Produced a multi-homer game in each of his first 14 seasons in the majors (Miguel Cabrera).
» Hit three home runs in a game, one of which was a grand slam in extra innings (Aaron Hill).
» Was walked six times and hit by a pitch in the same contest (Bryce Harper).
» Hitting out of the 9-hole drove in at least six runs in a game for a second time in his career (Jackie Bradley Jr.).
» Homered in each of the first two innings of back-to-back tilts (Mookie Betts).
» With an average below .050 (min. 25 ABs) homered for the sole run of a game (Erik Kratz).
» Tripled and hit a grand slam in the first inning of a game (George Springer).
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» Recorded his first 18 home runs of a season in games in which he which he also struck out (Chris Carter).
» Went deep three times and doubled twice in one game (Kris Bryant).
» Reached on catcher’s interference 12 times in a season (Jacoby Ellsbury).
» Batted above .450 with a minimum of 50 at-bats prior to an All-Star Game (Sandy Leon).
» Aged 40 or older batted cleanup in an All-Star Game (David Ortiz).
» Hit safely in each of his first five All-Star Games (Mike Trout).
» Homered off a 16th different Cy Young Award winner (David Ortiz).
» Struck out 221 times in his first 150 major league games (Miguel Sano).
» Fanned four times in a game as both a teenager and a 40-year-old (Alex Rodriguez).
» Did not draw a walk until the 282nd plate appearance of his career (Bartolo Colon).
» Went 5-for-5 or better five times in a two-year span (Yunel Escobar).
» Homered multiple times in a 5-for-5 performance more than once in a season (Kris Bryant).
» Racked up more than 30 hits, with at least 10 of them leaving the yard, in the first 22 games he played in a season (Gary Sanchez).
» Hit a 134th first-inning home run in a career (Albert Pujols).
» Drew 21 walks as a pinch-hitter (Matt Joyce).
» Passed 400 career home runs before hitting his first regular-season walk-off (Mark Teixeira).
» Was batting below .200 for his career at the time he hit his 50th home run (Mike Zunino).
» Struck out 174 times in a 50-stolen base season (Jonathan Villar).
» Amassed as many as 216 hits in a 20-homer/30-stolen base campaign (Jose Altuve).
» Went deep twice hitting out of the 9-hole in a World Series game (Roberto Perez).
» Homered to lead off a World Series Game 7 (Dexter Fowler).
A pitcher...
» Won a third consecutive Opening Day start for a third different team (David Price).
» Pitched a postseason game for a different team in four consecutive seasons (David Price).
» Was removed with a no-hitter as late as the eighth inning only to see a reliever ruin the no-no (Ross Stripling).
» Made two scoreless starts of at least six innings and also won two games in relief, all in April (Logan Verrett).
» Was removed from a no-hitter as late as 23 outs into a game (Adam Conley).
» Lost five decisions out of the bullpen in April (Brett Cecil).
» Struck out at least 10 batters while issuing no more than one walk in six straight starts (Clayton Kershaw).
» With an ERA of 8.00-plus after a minimum of five starts allowed no runs and struck out 12 or more batters in his next one (Matt Shoemaker).
» Threw at least six scoreless innings and allowed three or fewer hits in four straight starts of the same season (Michael Fulmer).
» Pitched six or more innings and allowed fewer than six hits in 12 consecutive games (Marco Estrada).
» Allowed 12 runs in a modern-era start in which he failed to record four outs (Edinson Volquez).
» Gave up only one hit in a start of at least five innings with that hit being a grand slam (Kyle Hendricks).
» Made 43 straight appearances without surrendering an earned run (Zach Britton).
» Saved 56 games prior to his 22nd birthday (Roberto Osuna).
» Walked five or more batters in three consecutive appearances of less than four innings (Brandon McCarthy).
» Roped the first nine hits of his season for extra bases (Adam Wainwright).
» Had issued only nine walks at the time of his 150th strikeout (Clayton Kershaw).
» Retired the first 21 batters of a game, then was yanked (Rich Hill).
» Saved at least 30 games for one team and 15 for another in the same campaign (Mark Melancon).
» Struck out eight batters in the first three innings of a postseason game (Corey Kluber).
A rookie...
» Homered in each of his first three MLB games (Trevor Story).
» Hit 10 home runs in the month of his big-league debut (Trevor Story).
» Homered three times in a game while playing shortstop (Corey Seager).
» Produced an ERA below 0.95 in any 10-start stretch of his debut season (Michael Fulmer).
» Homered in his first MLB at-bat immediately following a teammate who did the same (Aaron Judge, after Tyler Austin).
» Included 38 extra-base hits among his first 50 knocks in the majors (Ryan Schimpf).
» Drove in the first run of four postseason games (Corey Seager).
— Compiled by Bruce Herman for Athlon Sports
