FOUR STRIKEOUTS IN ONE INNING

Major League Pitchers Who Struck Out Four Batters in an Inning

It's one of the most interesting pitching feats in baseball. Maybe one of the most confusing as well. Three strikeouts in one inning is definitely respectable, a pitcher's goal every time they toe the rubber, but FOUR in one inning? Yes, it happens, and more often than you'd think.

So how are four strikeouts in an inning possible? 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.

It takes a special battery (catcher / pitcher) to shake off the embarrassment of allowing a runner you just struck out to get on base. Ed Crane was the first pitcher to strikeout four batters in the same inning. Walter Johnson did it first in the American League. Here are the twirlers who defied the odds, and struck out four batters in a single inning.