Quick – What baseball accomplishment is rarer than a no-hitter or even hitting for the cycle?

If you guessed an immaculate inning, you’d be correct.

Since 1876, there have been 296 no-hitters thrown and 319 cycles hit. Yet to date, there have been only 89 immaculate innings thrown.

Ironically (but not surprisingly), Dodgers Hall of Fame left-hander Sandy Koufax is the only pitcher in MLB history to have thrown three of them; and amazingly, an MLB record eight immaculate innings were tossed during the 2017 season.

For those unfamiliar with what an immaculate inning is, it is when a pitcher, during his half-inning, throws only nine pitches, each of which is a strike, and strikes out three consecutive batters.

On Sunday afternoon, February 25, 2018, Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw did not throw an immaculate inning. But what the future Hall of Famer did do was retire the first – and only – three batters he would face on 11 pitches, of which nine were strikes.

Of the 11 pitches Kershaw threw in his spring training debut on Sunday afternoon, only two were balls and three were fouled off. He also fooled Mariners slugger Robinson Cano badly on this absolutely filthy curveball.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

So what’s the big deal about Kershaw retiring the side in the bottom of the first inning – his only inning pitched – during a “meaningless spring training game,” as they are all too often called, you ask? The big deal is that, in addition to coming very close to tossing an immaculate inning, albeit not via strikeouts, it was Kershaw’s first start of the spring which, as you might imagine, caused a flood of comments on social media, such as “mid-season form” and “bubble wrap him, he’s ready.”

Kershaw would throw a second simulated game inning in the bullpen following his 11-pitch first inning to stretch him out (as they say) under a controlled environment where his pitch count could be closely monitored this early in the spring.

“It felt good to get back out there again,” Kershaw told SportsNet LA’s Alanna Rizzo after his spring training debut. “It actually felt better in the game than it has in the bullpen and stuff. I think that with the crowd and the batter, a little bit of Adrenalin, it helped out.”

Asked about what he had hope get out of the game and work on in the bullpen, the Dodgers ace gave one of his typical humble yet analytical Kershaw answers that separates him from the rest of the pack.

“Nothing specific at this point, just trying to… the crispness, I guess, of the pitches, trying to make sure that you’re executing a little bit,” answered Kershaw. “For the most part, for the first one, I’ll take it, for sure.

“Just consistency. I think every time you just want to be able to feel like you’re getting better and not taking steps backward,” he added. “Regardless of the results, you always want to be able to feel like you can throw any pitch at any time and get guys out with it too. For me, I just look at the hitters and if they’re not getting hits, I’ll be OK.”

Clayton Kershaw is OK.

Late Sunday night, former MLB manager and current Dodgers broadcaster Kevin Kennedy posted on Twitter something that opened the eyes of every Clayton Kershaw fan; he posted a photograph from Kershaw’s outing on Sunday and one of the aforementioned Sandy Koufax. The similarities were both stunning and remarkable.

Just wow.

Immaculate innings notwithstanding, we are witnessing a greatness that we haven’t seen in over half a century.

Embrace and enjoy it, my friends.