The 5 best pitching duels of all time

[cj's dad]

http://baseballguru.com/attiyeh/analysismikeattiyeh04.html

very good read for those interested in baseball history

Examples:

Spahn vs. Marichal 16 innings - both finished the game

Harvey Haddix - 13 perfect innings

[witchdoctor]

This one from Ron Wolforth was also pretty good.

Pitch counts were not kept in MLB until 1971. So since 1971 what is the record for pitches in a single game?

Answer:

Nolan Ryan in 1971 at 244 pitches in a 15 inning game. In that same game, Luis Tiant threw 189.

If a pitching coach or manager allowed that today, they both would be summarily fired that night. They would be excoriated on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight. The next day we would hear about this incredible abuse on Good Morning America, Fox and Friends and all the morning TV shows…and it would almost certainly be the lead sports story for the next 24 hour news cycle. Those two probably would never be able to find a job in baseball again. They would go down in history as bad, selfish guys and their names would be spoken in the same breath as Bernie Madoff, Ken Lay & Jeff Skilling.

But let’s look further shall we!

Nolan Ryan never missed a start that year and continued to pitch 17 more years. Luis Tiant never became the giant Nolan Ryan did but his performance over the remainder of that year didn’t suffer either.

I often joke that the 244 pitch night hurt Nolan so much that had to quit pitching 17 years later.