Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Welcome to Crooked Numbers, a monthly column dedicated to Minor League Baseball on-field oddities and absurdities. Keeping track of this type of thing is a team effort, so get in touch if you've witnessed something weird at a Minor League game (benjamin.hill@mlb.com).
Mother nature claps back
Norfolk Tides (Triple-A BAL) pitcher Roansy Contreras balked in a run in the first inning of the July 8 game against Jacksonville (MIA), but at least he had a good excuse. As Contreras began to deliver a pitch to Graham Pauley, a cacophonous rumble emanating from the heavens caused him to cease his motion. And thus a new baseball term was born: The thunder balk.
Contreras' quite understandable miscue put Jacksonville on the board, but no matter. He, having overcome nature's momentary wrath, went on to be the game's winning pitcher.
The thunder balk was perhaps the most memorable weather-aided balk in the Minor Leagues since May 6, 2017, when a formidable gust of wind blew Salt Lake Bees pitcher Troy Scribner off the mound.
The unrivaled perfection of the Grasshopper
Three Greensboro Grasshoppers (High-A PIT) hurlers combined to pitch a perfect game on July 4. It was the first perfect game in franchise history and the first nine-inning perfect game thrown in the Minor Leagues since Connor Grey’s gem for the Kane County Cougars on Sept. 1, 2017.
Amazingly enough, it took just nine more days for another perfect game to be thrown in the Minors. And, even more amazing, it was once again thrown by -- wait for it -- the Greensboro Grasshoppers!
The July 13 masterpiece was another combined effort, this time with four pitchers utilized. The only hurler who appeared in both perfect games for Greensboro was Jake Shirk, who contributed two innings on July 4 and one on July13.
For context regarding how rare the Grasshoppers' feat was, consider this: No MLB team has ever recorded two perfect games in the span of a calendar year, let alone in the same month.
Nine is not enough
The Pittsburgh Pirates scored nine runs in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 1 and still managed to lose the game. If it’s any consolation, and surely it’s not, they weren’t the first team that week to score nine runs in an inning and lose the game.
Two nights earlier, the Single-A Lakeland Flying Tigers and Dunedin Blue Jays engaged in a wild battle in the first game of a doubleheader. Lakeland was up 8-0 following four and a half innings of play, but Dunedin put up nine in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-8 lead. Lakeland reclaimed the lead with two in the seventh, but Dunedin answered with a run to send it to extra innings, 10-10. Lakeland scored eight in the eighth and won, 18-11.
To recap: Dunedin overcame an eight-run deficit and still managed to lose by seven.
Rich and Nolan, together at last
On July 13, Rich Hill made his ninth and penultimate start for the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers, prior to his callup for a short-lived stint with the Kansas City Royals. In that start he struck out 10 batters over five innings of work, becoming the oldest pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts in a professional game since Nolan Ryan did it for the Texas Rangers on Aug. 6, 1992.
Hill's 10-strikeout outing came when he was 45 years, 4 months and 2 days old. Ryan was 45 years, 6 months and 6 days old.
Hill was designated for assignment by the Royals on July 29 and became a free agent shortly thereafter. He has now pitched for 14 MLB teams and been a member of 16 MLB organizations. Here's hoping a 17th comes calling.
Tyler Naquin, still inside the park
On July 9, San Francisco's Patrick Bailey hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run against Philadelphia, becoming the first Major League player to accomplish the feat since Cleveland outfielder Tyler Naquin in 2016.
Also on July 9: The man himself, Tyler Naquin, played for the Lake County Captains for the first time since the 2012 Midwest League playoffs. The now 34-year-old is attempting to make it back to Cleveland, this time as a pitcher. Naquin went nearly 13 years between appearances for the Captains, the Guardians' High-A affiliate.
An unlikely hero
Fifteen players have earned at least one save as a member of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Triple-A NYY) this season. Fourteen of them are pitchers by trade. The other is catcher Edinson Duran, who recorded the final out of the RailRiders' 8-6, 12-inning victory over Rochester (WSH) on July 23.
Duran entered the game with two outs and a runner on second and walked the first batter he faced before striking out C.J. Stubbs to end the game. Please note that Duran isn't the only position player to earn a save this season, as Daytona's Luis Reyes accomplished the feat on April 11.
From friend to foe
Speaking of the July 23 tilt between Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Rochester: Clayton Beeter was one of the seven RailRiders pitchers who appeared in the game prior to Duran's unlikely save. It was also Beeter's final appearance with the team, as on July 26 he was traded from the Yankees to the Nationals as part of the Amed Rosario deal. Beeter left Scranton/Wilkes-Barre -- the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate -- and joined Rochester -- the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate. To make the trip he simply had to travel from the home dugout to the away dugout. Beeter made his first appearance for the Red Wings on July 27, pitching a scoreless inning against his former teammates.
How convenient
The Orioles and Blue Jays executed a trade on July 29, with Baltimore dealing reliever Seranthony Domínguez to Toronto in exchange for pitching prospect Juaron Watts-Brown. The two teams were playing a series in Baltimore at the time, so Domínguez's commute was from the home dugout to the away dugout.
Remarkably, the same situation played out for Watts-Brown. He had been a member of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Blue Jays' Double-A affiliate. After the trade he was assigned to the Chesapeake Baysox, the Orioles' Double-A affiliate. New Hampshire and Chesapeake were playing each other at the time, so Watts-Brown made Domínguez's journey in reverse and traveled from the away dugout to the home dugout.
Ending how it began
Thanks to loyal reader Eric Murto for bringing the following item to our attention:
The Carolina Mudcats (Single-A MIL) -- who, by the way, have just a few regular-season home games remaining -- hosted the Fredericksburg Nationals on July 12. Cristhian Vaquero hit a home run on the first pitch of the game, giving Fredericksburg an early lead. Braylon Payne hit a home run on the last pitch of the game, a three-run walk-off shot that gave Carolina a 5-3 victory. (And, for what it's worth, both home runs were hit to right field.)
So there you have it: A homer on the very first pitch of the game and the very last pitch of the game. It would take a Herculean effort to unearth the other times this has happened in Minor League history, so in lieu of that let us simply note that it's a rare event. Per Sarah Langs, this has happened nine times at the big league level since 1988.