When Max Scherzer Whiffed 20 in a Game
PLUS: Nearly two-dozen Cooperstown denizens are foreign imports
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Picked 11 times, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is the only 2025 All-Star selected at least 10 times, with Freddie Freeman and Chris Sale right behind him with nine each . . .
Kershaw is one of five All-Stars, most in either league, and gives the Dodgers at least five All-Stars six years in a row . . .
The Giants have three pitchers on the NL roster in Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Randy Rodriguez . . .
The father-and-son tandem of Vladimir Guerrero Sr. and Jr. has combined for 14 All-Star appearances . . .
Mickey Mantle (11 years, 13 games) and Yogi Berra (10 years, 11 games) are the Yankees with the most All-Star selections . . .
Rookie Jacob Wilson (Athletics) and his father Jack are the only father-son tandem to both be All-Star shortstops . . .
Brent Rooker, also with the Athletics, is an All-Star this year after being snubbed in 2024 . . .
Versatile Javy Baez of the Tigers will be the fourth man to start All-Star games at three or more positions, joining Pete Rose, Harmon Killebrew, and Albert Pujols . . .
The Cubs duo of Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong is the first to start in the same All-Star outfield since 1936, when Frank emaree and Augie Galan did it.
Leading Off
May 11, 2016: Max Scherzer’s 20-strikeout game
By Andrew Sharp
Washington baseball fans of the past decade no doubt have many fond memories of the great left-hander Max Scherzer.
In 2015, Scherzer signed a seven-year contract to pitch for Washington in a deal that set the Nationals up as force in the National League, culminating in a World Series title in 2019.
He won two Cy Young Awards with the Nationals and threw two no-hitters while here. The first, in June 2015, came within a strike of being a perfect game. He followed that gem with a one-hitter, the best back-to-back starts since Johnny Vander Meer’s two straight no-hitters in 1938. The next season, Scherzer won 20 games.
Yet arguably, his most dominant performance came on May 11, 2016, against the Tigers at Nationals Park. He tied the nine-inning-game record by striking out 20 batters, walked nobody and threw one of his rare complete games, winning 3-2.
Detroit’s two runs came on solo homers, one of them by J.D. Martinez in the ninth inning to bring the tying run to the plate in the person of Miguel Cabrera. Scherzer struck him out swinging at a 1-2 pitch. But then Vic Martinez, who went 3-for-4 and was the only Tiger Scherzer didn’t strike out, lined a single to left.
Manager Dusty Baker must have been getting nervous by now, but this was Max Scherzer, after all, with 19 Ks. The lefty quickly disposed of Justin Upton, fanning him on three pitches for no. 20. That left it to catcher James McCann, who hit Max’s second pitch on the ground to third for a force at second.
Scherzer already had 18 strikeouts headed to the ninth. That gave him a chance to the all-time record of 21 in a single-game of any length. Coincidentally, that was set by Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators in September 1962. He did it pitching 16 innings up the road in Baltimore against the Orioles.
“It crossed my mind,” Scherzer said of Cheney’s record. “I was thinking of all the different scenarios in an 0–2 count that I could do to be able to get that last strikeout.”
Of the 20 Ks, 14 were swinging and eight required only three pitches. Scherzer threw just 23 pitches that were called balls, the fewest by any of the four pitchers (Roger Clemens did it twice) who have struck out 20 batters in nine innings.
“There’s something about 20,” Scherzer told reporters. “Tonight was an emotional game, facing a former team and all those guys I have so much respect for. And so to have a game like this against that caliber of hitter on their side, it really puts a feather in my cap.”
When it became clear by the trade deeadline in 2021 that the aging Nationals weren’t going to make the playoffs, GM Mike Rizzo began dismantling the roster in search of prospects. Scherzer, his contract expiring, was traded along with fellow All-Star Trea Turner to the Dodgers. Washington got back righty Josiah Gray, catcher Keibert Ruiz and two other minor leaguers who haven’t panned out.
A sure first-ballot Hall of Famer, Scherzer might enter Cooperstown with a Nationals’ cap on his plaque, if he chooses to show any team. That would be a great day for Nationals’ fans.
Andrew C. Sharp is a retired daily newspaper journalist and a SABR member. He lives in central New Jersey, but was raised the D.C. area. He blogs about D.C. baseball at washingtonbaseballhistory.com
Cleaning Up
Growing Number of Hall of Famers Have Foreign Roots
By Dan Schlossberg
A little guy with a long list of firsts on his resume, Ichiro is the 21st Hall of Famer born outside the United States.
The first Japanese position player to reach the U.S. majors is also the first to reach Cooperstown. All of Japan will celebrate Ichiro, who was elected to the American Baseball Hall of Fame a week after winning election to the Japanese version.
As they say in at least a few American baseball circles, Mazel Tov !
Translated from Hebrew into English, those two words mean “good luck” or “nice going.”
And Ichiro is hardly the only Hall of Famer born abroad to deserve them.
Consider the Dominican Republic, which has four players in Cooperstown — Juan Marichal, Pedro Martinez, David (Big Papi) Ortiz, and Vladimir Guerrero, Sr. — and Albert Pujols virtually certain to be the fifth the minute he qualifies for election.
Cuba does one better, with Tony Perez, Minnie Minoso, Tony Oliva, and Negro Leagues greats Cristobal Torriente, Martin Dihigo, and Jose Mendez.
Puerto Rico, officially a U.S. territory with statehood aspirations, has its own team in the World Baseball Classic and celebrates its heroes as if it were a separate country. So kudos to Roberto Alomar, Ivan (Pudge) Rodriguez, Orlando Cepeda, and of course Roberto Clemente, the first Latino enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Mexico has yet to produce a Hall of Famer but Panama has two in Rod Carew and Mariano Rivera, the only unanimous selection.
Even the United Kingdom has one: Harry Wright, who founded the first professional team in the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, was inducted in 1953.
Although Japan has sent 73 players in the major leagues, Ichiro is the only one who advanced to the highest league — the one headquartered in Cooperstown.
The Hall of Fame has no members from Ireland, Germany, or even Australia but could soon have its first from the island of Curacao, with Andruw Jones a strong contender to headline the Class of 2026.
If Puerto Rican outfielder Carlos Beltran is also elected by the writers the next time they vote, he and Jones would be the 22nd and 23rd Hall of Famers born outside the United States. Puerto Rico has sent 302 men to the majors, trailing the Dominican (895), Venezuela (462) and Cuba (387).
HtP weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers the game for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, and many other outlets. His latest book is The New Baseball Bible: Notes, Nuggets, Lists & Legends from Our National Pastime. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Extra Innings: All-Star Notebook
Clayton Kershaw, the Commissioner’s Legacy Pick, is among 14 players selected at least five times . . .
Nineteen players are first-time All-Stars . . .
Twenty-one of the 2025 All-Stars are 26 or younger . . .
Rookie AL shortstop Jacob Wilson is second only to Judge in hits and batting average by an American League player . . .
National League shortstop Francisco Lindor is a starter for the first time in his 11-year career after beating out Trea Turner . . .
Shane Smith is not only the first rookie White Sox pitcher to make the All-Star squad but the second player since 2000 (with Dan Uggla) to make the All-Star team in the season that followed his selection in the Rule 5 draft . . .
Chris Sale (fractured left rib cage) can’t pitch this year but shares the record of three straight All-Star starts with Hall of Famers Lefty Gomez and Robin Roberts.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@outlook.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
In the interest of extreme accuracy, Henry Chadwick, father of the box score, is a Hall-of-Famer born in England., albeit not as a player.