Mets: Jacob Degrom Joins Short list of Pitchers Ever to Do This
By Manny Gómez
Bob Gibson, 8/30/1972
Kind of ironic that Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom inspired this list. Especially since in the same game that he accomplished this feat he also tied a 51-year-old record of consecutive quality starts that belonged to the next member of this list, Bob Gibson.
Gibson is often recognized as one of the greatest pitchers of all time. So much so that he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1981.
Among all of Gibson’s accomplishments – MVP, 2x World Series MVP, 2x Cy Young Award winner, and 9x All-Star – this is certainly the oddest. It happened on 8/30/1972 when the St. Louis Cardinals faced off against the San Francisco Giants.
After trailing the Giants by a score of 1-0, Gibson decided to take matters into his own hands by drilling a home run off of Jim Willoughby to tie the game. Eventually, Gibson and the Cardinals would surrender the lead in the 9th, ultimately losing the game by the score of 3-2
Gibson finished the game with 9 IP, 3 ER, 14 Ks.
Pedro Ramos, 7/31/1963
Pedro Ramos is probably the least known member of this exclusive list. Having only one All-Star appearance on his list of accomplishments, the native-born Puerto Rican righty is the only pitcher ever to strike out at least 14 batters and hit TWO home runs in the same game.
It all went down on 7/31/1963 when the Cleveland Indians took on the Los Angeles Angels. After surrendering a home run to Lee Thomas in the first inning, the game would remain 1-0 until the bottom of the third when Ramos drilled his first run of the game. A game-tying home run no less.
Later, in the 6th inning, Ramos would become a part of another rare feat, the back-to-back-to-back-to-back (that’s 4-backs) home run. Eventually, the Indians would win the game by a score of 9-5.
Ramos finished the game with 8.1 IP, 5 ER, and 15 Ks.