What is the Rarest Play in Baseball History? (The Ultimate Freak Plays, Explained)

Grab your scorecard and pull up a chair in the dugout. We are about to talk about the strangest, most mind-bending anomalies in the history of the game.

If you ask a casual fan what the rarest play in baseball is, they will probably tell you it’s a perfect game or an unassisted triple play. And sure, those are incredibly rare.

But as a guy who has spent his life around the diamond—first grinding in the minor leagues and now coaching the next generation—I can tell you that baseball’s long history has produced plays so bizarre, they make a perfect game look downright common.

We are talking about plays that have literally only happened once in over a century of professional baseball. Let’s dive into the archives, look at the craziest anomalies fans are still debating, and settle the score on the rarest play in baseball history.

1. The Miracle Single by the Worst Hitter in History (1969)

If you dig through baseball forums, you will hear whispers of July 30, 1969. It was a makeup doubleheader between the Houston Astros and the New York Mets.

The Astros had a relief pitcher named Fred Gladding. Gladding was a reliable, hard-throwing right-hander with a nasty sinker. But at the plate? He was, statistically speaking, the worst hitter in Major League Baseball history. Because of a condition known as “lazy eye” (amblyopia), he was legally blind in his left eye.

As a left-handed batter, he literally could not focus on the pitch. Heading into the top of the ninth inning of this game, he was 0-for-52 in his career. Not a single hit. Not even a walk.

He struck out to lead off the top of the ninth. Business as usual, right? He went back to the dugout to get his glove. But then, the Astros’ offense absolutely exploded. They hit two grand slams in the inning (by Denis Menke and Jimmy Wynn) and batted completely around the order.

Suddenly, Gladding had to grab a bat and walk up to the plate again in the same inning, now 0-for-53. With two outs and the bases loaded, the impossible happened. Gladding swung late and blooped a weak flare over the third baseman’s head. It dropped in for an RBI single.

Fred Gladding finished his career batting .016 (1-for-69). That two-out, bases-loaded blooper remains the only hit ever recorded by the statistically worst hitter to ever pick up a bat.

2. The Triple Play… Where the Batter Survives (2018)

Triple plays are rare, but a triple play where the guy who hit the ball doesn’t even get out? That is pure baseball chaos.

A lot of fans misremember the date of this, claiming it happened in August 2017, but my coach’s log shows it actually happened on August 16, 2018. The Texas Rangers were playing the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels had the bases loaded with no outs.

The batter ripped a low line drive down the third-base line. Rangers third baseman Jurickson Profar made a slick, diving play to trap the ball against the dirt. Because the ball bounced, it wasn’t a catch—it was a live ball.

1. Profar scrambled to his feet and stepped on third base, forcing out the runner coming from second (Out #1).
2. The runner who originally started on third base froze, unsure if the ball was caught on the fly. When Profar aggressively lunged toward him, the runner instinctively stepped off the bag. Profar slapped a tag on him (Out #2).
3. Profar then fired the ball to second baseman Rougned Odor. Odor caught the ball on the bag for a force out on the runner coming from first (Out #3).

The craziest part? Odor actually thought the ball was caught in the air, so he thought he was getting the runner out for failing to tag up. He even chased down another runner just to be safe! Amidst all this wild confusion, the batter casually jogged to first base, completely safe, while his three teammates were wiped off the basepaths in a flash.

You should Read the basic rules of Baseball to enjoy the baseball differently than others. 

3. The “Ultimate” Walk-Off Grand Slam

Hitting a walk-off grand slam is the ultimate childhood fantasy. You are down by three runs, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded. If you make an out, the game is over. If you hit it out of the park, you win by one run.

While walk-off grand slams happen every few seasons, the “Ultimate” grand slam—where the team is specifically losing by exactly 3 runs with 2 outs—is breathtakingly rare.

But we can make it even rarer. What if you do it when you are down to your absolute final strike on a full count? Chris Hoiles of the Baltimore Orioles pulled this off in 1996.

And if you want to talk about modern miracles, look no further than David Bote of the Chicago Cubs in 2018. Down 3-0 against the Washington Nationals, with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth, Bote launched a ball into the center-field bleachers, flipping a 3-0 loss into a 4-3 victory with one swing. It is the definition of clutch.

4. The Preposterous Anomaly: Two Grand Slams, One Inning, Same Player

If we are talking about a play that has only happened once in over 150 years of professional baseball, and likely will never happen again, we have to look at April 23, 1999.

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Fernando Tatis stepped up to the plate in the third inning with the bases loaded against Dodgers pitcher Chan Ho Park and hit a grand slam.

That is a great night for any player. But then, the Cardinals’ offense kept hitting, kept walking, and kept scoring. Unbelievably, in that exact same inning, Tatis came to the plate again with the bases loaded. The pitcher? Still Chan Ho Park.

Tatis worked a full count and then launched another grand slam into the left-field pavilion. Two grand slams. Same inning. Same pitcher. Same batter. He secured 8 RBIs in a single frame.

In today’s era of heavy bullpen usage and pitch counts, a pitcher would never be left in the game long enough to let this happen again. It is a true unicorn event.

5. The Brain-Melting “Fourth Out”

Did you know there can legally be four outs in a half-inning? It sounds like a typo in the rulebook, but Rule 5.09(c) makes it possible, and it actually almost happened to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022!

Here is how the mythical “Fourth Out” works: Imagine there is one out, and you have runners on second and third. The batter hits a deep fly ball to center field. It is caught for the second out. Both base runners tag up and sprint. The runner from third scores easily. However, the runner from second gets gunned down at third base for the third out.

Normally, the inning is over. Since the runner from third crossed the plate before the tag at third base, the run counts, right?

Not necessarily. Let’s say the defense noticed that the runner who scored from third base actually left his bag before the center fielder caught the ball. Even though the third out was already recorded, the defense can appeal to the umpire. They throw the ball to third base and step on the bag. The umpire calls the runner out for leaving early.

This becomes the “Fourth Out.” By rule, this new out replaces the third out, completely wiping the run off the scoreboard! It is a brilliant, highly technical loophole that requires the defense to have an incredibly high baseball IQ to pull off before leaving the field.

The Coach’s Verdict: What is the Rarest?

Every play on this list is a statistical anomaly. The “Fourth Out” is the ultimate trivia question, and Fred Gladding’s single is the ultimate underdog story.

But if you ask me what the absolute rarest, most untouchable play in baseball history is? It’s Fernando Tatis hitting two grand slams in a single inning.

To pull that off, you need a perfect storm of offensive dominance, managerial stubbornness (leaving the pitcher in), and lightning striking the exact same spot twice. We will see another unassisted triple play. We will see another perfect game. But we will never see another player hit two grand slams in one inning.

What do you think is the craziest play in baseball history? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to check out our latest guides on Honest Baseball to keep your own skills sharp!