Whats Harder – Pitching A Perfect Game Or Hitting 4 Home Runs In A Game?
VS.
So Josh Hamilton went absolutely berserk last night, 5-5 with 4 HRs to become just the 16th dude in MLB history to hit 4 bombs in a game. And this stirred up a bit of debate throughout the interweb regarding the difficulty of tossing perfect games. A lot of people were throwing out the stat that there’s only been 16 guys to hit 4 home runs in a game versus 21 perfect games. Therefore its more rare and in turn, more difficult.
I debated this all last night. Went back and forth and convinced myself of both cases like 10 times. Its one of the harder questions out there I think. First off, I think a lot of people are confusing rarity with difficulty. Like yes, only 16 guys have hit home runs while 21 have pitched a perfect game. I don’t think that means its more difficult to go out there and put 4 swings into a ball than it is to go out 9 straight innings and get 21 outs. I’d say its infinitely more grueling and taxing to keep you focus and make pitch after pitch after pitch to go 27 up, 27 down.
I also think it takes more luck to hit 4 home runs, which again I don’t think translates into more difficult. Obviously it takes a ton of luck for a perfect game as well – as evidenced by how some bum like Humber can toss one. But by the same token Mike fuckin Cameron has hit 4 HRs in a game, so there’s no doubt theres a crapshoot element to that feat as well. Its more lucky in the sense that chances are you’re only gonna get 4 at bats in a game. I mean you step up to the plate in the first inning and the pitcher loses one and drills you and in all likelihood there goes your chances to hit 4 dingers. Or more likely, you’ve hit 3 bombs and obviously most pitchers with a brain are pitching around you. Don’t even get the opportunity.
But then I say to myself, because of the rarity element and the luck element and the fact that baseball is just about the most variable sport out there, maybe it is hitting 4 bombs. All that, round bat on a round ball, game of inches, wind blowing in/out, varying ball parks etc etc. Maybe it takes an even more exceptional day of hitting to over come all those factors working against you. At the end of the day though, I still say pitching 9 innings of perfect baseball is a more physically and mentally difficult task than 4 home runs. It might not be as rare and it might not take as much luck, but its the more difficult accomplishment.
Vote 1 for 4 home runs Vote 10 for Perfect Game
(391 votes, average: 5.01 out of 10)
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In every game, there are only 2 people who can throw a perfect game – each team’s starting pitcher. In every game, there are 18 different batters that have the opportunity to hit 4 HRs. Even though the number of instances the feats have been accomplished is nearly the same, the number of opportunities for 4 HRs is 9 times greater in any game. Would seem to say that 4 HRs is a much harder accomplishment.
Good point bogdogg. Also looking at the list of people who have done each, it seems like the 4-homer people are for the most part good players, hell even mike cameron hit 20 homers a ton of times and made all star teams. Pitching a perfect game is amazing but can happen to anyone
Dro Man has done both. In the same game
“9 straight innings and get 21 outs”
what the fuck kind of league are you in?
perfect game is also a team effort, 4 dingers is all one man. 4 homers seems harder for sure…and less flukey
Wouldnt that be a reason why a perfect game is more difficult? You need to rely on good defense. You could pitch the best game of your life and a booted ball or sloppy D and you’re cooked. Flip side is that you could benefit from great D, just another argument that can go either way.
Dro Man should have blogged this, cuz he is dro man, he knows all, the Yoda of blogging
KFC, I am wasting time out of my day to post because your logic is just baffling. The rarity of events is precisely how we can measure how difficult something is. That means my many people have done it because it was either, too hard, took too much skill, too much time, all which make things hard. Luck is always a factor in everything, but we have to assume luck stays constant for everyone. So, onto difficult feats that are rare examples, triple crown winners, 3000 hit club, KFC having sex, el pres spelling properly, fiets graduating, Harvard acceptance rate, winning 8 gold medals while eating big macs all day, scoring 50 points in a basketball game, I think you get my point. Rarity is one of the key measurements to measure difficulty, how many people have plowed Paris Hilton and Lindsey Logan… Hundreds… Not a rare event… Therefore it’s easy.
KFC, I am wasting time out of my day to post because your logic is just baffling. The rarity of events is precisely how we can measure how difficult something is. That means my many people have done it because it was either, too hard, took too much skill, too much time, all which make things hard. Luck is always a factor in everything, but we have to assume luck stays constant for everyone. So, onto difficult feats that are rare examples, triple crown winners, 3000 hit club, KFC having sex, el pres spelling properly, fiets graduating, Harvard acceptance rate, winning 8 gold medals while eating big macs all day, scoring 50 points in a basketball game, I think you get my point. Rarity is one of the key measurements to measure difficulty, how many people have plowed Paris Hilton and Lindsey Logan… Hundreds… Not a rare event… Therefore it’s easy.
If you go by number there are 18 guys that can potentially hit 4 HR’s in one game.
So times that by each potential at bat (18) by each game (162) by number of teams (30). and it has still happened less times than a perfect game.
Therefor 4 HR’s is WAY harder than a perfect game. With each being hard as fuck.
so 87,480 opportunities for 4 HR game each season (rough numbers)
9,720 opportunities for perfect games.
happens much less frequently for 4 hr’s
Interesting blog….i live in dallas and am a huge josh hamilton fan….but my enthusiasm for him is always tinged with a bit of melancholy….wow, what could have been….he is the real life roy hobbs….
4 home runs. pitching a perfect game is nuts, but its understandable. you start the game with the first innings going 1-2-3, you get in a groove, all your pitches are working, your facing a shitty team, get a couple defensive plays and you can go all the way. 4 homers is NUTS. its so difficult to hit one and four is nuts, to square up four pitches perfectly in a night so that you hammer them four home runs. thats absolutely crazy.
Where was this debate you speak of? The only debate is from the bloggers at barstool who just want to stir things up, get the commenters going, and drive up pageviews….
In terms of what is takes physically, perfect games are harder. In a perfect game your are dealing with 27 matchups. You are working non-stop the whole game (even when you are on the bench during your teams at-bats, you need to stay loose).
- Pitchers arms/shoulders/back get more fatigued than position players who take 5 at bats.
- Batters tend to get walked a lot after they keep hitting HRs in a game, one of the reason why less players have hit 4 HRs. Would you throw strikes to a guy who already hit 2 HRs in a game? Fuck it, walk him Barry Bonds style, and focus on the next batter
- Josh Hamilton had 5 ABs. That’s a total of about 20 minutes or less at the plate. Plus, he was strolling the outfield fielding a few hits.
Throwing a perfect game is much harder. It is not overrated. It is a big deal. A pitcher who throws a perfect game beats up his body much more than a guy slamming 4 HRs.
What’s harder to do physically, throw 100 or so pitches, or take 4 or 5 at-bats?
Hrs definitely happen less frequently but looking at it statistically they are about equally as hard to do.
Ex. If verlander has a whip of .92 he has a .00507% chance of throwing a perfect game, Ryan Howard hits a hr every 12 at bats (active leader). Given 4 at bats in a game, he has a .00482% chance. Obviously the league ab/hr rate is much different. Assuming there are only a few guys per game with a ab/hr rate even close to that it actually makes sense.
I’m gonna go give myself a swirly now.
percentages are way lower of hitting 4 than perfect game. Baseball is a game of stats so you go by STATS,, there is no debate on this.
Rarity argument doesn’t work because most batters aren’t trying to hit 4 HRs in a game whereas every pitcher is trying to throw a perfect game.
4 home runs and he didn’t even kill a fan! impressive!
i voted 5 for baseball is a fake sport
Humber is no bum. He was drafted third after Justin Verlander. Its only fitting that he pitches a perfect game after Verlander did a couple years ago, there is no excuse for him being bad