5 HR's or 21 K's in a game?

[OleMissCub]

Which do y'all think is more likely to happen?

[Sammy Sofa]

5 dingers.

[KyHen]

Without question 21 strikeouts; we've seen 20 strikeouts four times in history.

 

Granted, four home run games are a lot more common than 20 strikeout games (15 : 4), but lets face it... if a guy has hit four homers in a game, do you really expect him to get pitched to in his fifth at-bat? Maybe the opposing manager would do it out of respect of him challenging a record, but I find that pretty unlikely.

 

If a pitcher is on (see: Wood, Kerry -- 1998), there's no way around it. He's going to come right at you and there's nothing you can do about it. There's no taking him out of the game like you can a hitter.

 

While both are obviously unbelievably unlikely, I think a 21-strikeout game will occur first, and I think by a fairly wide margin.

[Sammy Sofa]

I think pitch counts are too much of an issue these days for a pitcher to get to having a decent shot of 21. Unless they're on and really not wasting any pitches, I don't see it happening.

[Omar]

You'd think the team will stop pitching to em' after the 4th home run.

[Lockes Eye Scar]

You'd think the team will stop pitching to em' after the 4th home run.

 

you'd think they'd stop pitching to him after the 2nd or 3rd.

[Balsa]

By one player or a team?

 

As in one team hitting 5 home runs or striking out 21 times over a game?

 

Or one player hitting 5 home runs or striking out 21 by himself?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Granted, four home run games are a lot more common than 20 strikeout games (15 : 4), but lets face it... if a guy has hit four homers in a game, do you really expect him to get pitched to in his fifth at-bat? Maybe the opposing manager would do it out of respect of him challenging a record, but I find that pretty unlikely.

 

Didn't Mike Cameron get pitched to and just miss it?

[soccer10k]

By one player or a team?

 

As in one team hitting 5 home runs or striking out 21 times over a game?

 

Or one player hitting 5 home runs or striking out 21 by himself?

 

I'm guessing by one player.

[Derwood]

21 K's is more likely. 5 HR would have to be accomplished by a player who is not normally a home run threat, so the manager would keep saying "there's no way he hits another one"

[UK1679666180]

If a player has 4 HRs and still has an AB left, that came is probably out of reach to where his managerial decision to decide whether or not to pitch to him doesn't matter. Maybe a position player would be on the mound at that point.

[UMFan83]

Granted, four home run games are a lot more common than 20 strikeout games (15 : 4), but lets face it... if a guy has hit four homers in a game, do you really expect him to get pitched to in his fifth at-bat? Maybe the opposing manager would do it out of respect of him challenging a record, but I find that pretty unlikely.

 

Didn't Mike Cameron get pitched to and just miss it?

 

I think it was just short of the warning track, but it was hit well.

[Friendly Confines]

My vote is for 5 HR, but it was a tough choice. Heck, some Cubs havent even hit 5 all year...

[chuckywang]

By one player or a team?

 

As in one team hitting 5 home runs or striking out 21 times over a game?

 

Or one player hitting 5 home runs or striking out 21 by himself?

 

Obviously by a player. 5 HR's by one team in a game has been done many many times.....per season.

[Cynosure]

Has anyone EVER hit 5 HR in one game?

[nilodnayr]

Has anyone EVER hit 5 HR in one game?

 

Thats the whole point of the question. 4 homers and 20Ks are the records.

[Burtonbell]

If he hits 5 HR's or strikes out 21 batters I sure hope he is on my fantasy baseball team!

 

I vote for 21k's.

[nilodnayr]

There are a ton of other ways to think about this...

 

What is easier to do, hit 1 homer or strike out 1 batter?

 

5 homers is 25% more than the current record (of 4), whereas 21Ks is 5% more than the current record (of 20).

 

21Ks is 77.7% of outs in a 9 inning game, whereas 5 homers is 83.3% of a 6 PA game.

 

There averages roughly 1 HR per game (the record is 5 x the average) and roughly 6.5 Ks per game (the record is roughly 3.2 x the average).

 

Those are some pretty simplistic ways of thinking about it, but all roads lead to 21K in a game being easier.

[shnsajax]

I would say 5 hr's only because it could happen in extra innings. When was the last time a pitcher actually pitched 10 innings in a game. Throwing 20 K's in 9 innings is hard enough, and he doesn't have enough to go further. Plus he will get pulled simply because of pitch count.

[nilodnayr]

I would say 5 hr's only because it could happen in extra innings. When was the last time a pitcher actually pitched 10 innings in a game. Throwing 20 K's in 9 innings is hard enough, and he doesn't have enough to go further. Plus he will get pulled simply because of pitch count.

 

It'd be interesting for some sort of analysis, but just my guess is that most extra inning games go into extras with a low score, so the player would have to be hitting extraordinarily better than his teammates, which doesn't happen too often.

[shnsajax]

How many times has 3 hr's been hit and how many times has a pitcher thrown 15 strikeouts. Its going to take 2 more innings in all likelyhood before any player has any chance at any record.

 

Just getting to 15 K's is much harder IMO and getting to pitch another two innings after doing so it even more difficult. Getting to 3 Hr's is not as hard and getting to hit for another 2 innings is much more easy.

[Roast]

To me, 21 K's is the obvious answer. I can't imagine a team pitching to a player after he has hit 4 hr that game.

[nilodnayr]

How many times has 3 hr's been hit and how many times has a pitcher thrown 15 strikeouts. Its going to take 2 more innings in all likelyhood before any player has any chance at any record.

 

Just getting to 15 K's is much harder IMO and getting to pitch another two innings after doing so it even more difficult. Getting to 3 Hr's is not as hard and getting to hit for another 2 innings is much more easy.

 

But 3 homers and 15Ks aren't equivalent in this discussion.

 

Unless you bat around in each inning, its going to take more than 2 innings for the batter to get 2 more chances to hit homers. The picther will definitely get 6 more chances for Ks if he is pitching 2 more innings.

[ConstableRabbit]

To me, 21 K's is the obvious answer. I can't imagine a team pitching to a player after he has hit 4 hr that game.

[XZero771679666304]

To me, 21 K's is the obvious answer. I can't imagine a team pitching to a player after he has hit 4 hr that game.

 

I can if the game is already a blowout.