About Geoff Expertise Huge baseball trivia lover! I will attempt to answer anything you can think of when it comes to major league baseball. I have a large reference library of all things baseball. Try to stump me!
Question Geoff, What is the least possible number of pitches that would be needed to complete a nine inning baseball game?
Answer Hi Mike,
Thanks for writing.
I suppose the correct answer to your question would be zero.
According to the official baseball rules:
A batter is out for illegal action when --
Rule 6.06(b) He steps from one batter’s box to the other while the pitcher is in position ready to pitch.
If this were to happen 27 times for each team the pitchers would get credit for a complete game (a perfect game for that matter) without throwing a pitch. If it then started to rain heavily after 9 innings the game could be declared a 0 to 0 tie with no actual pitches thrown.
