This might be a stupid question, but....
According to MLB.com, there have been 90 cases of a pitcher striking out four batters in an inning.... yet 53 of these have come since the year 2000, and 37 since the start of the 2010 season. Is there a reason why 41.1% of four-strikeout innings have come within the last 9 seasons when this has been recorded since 1888 (which means 41.1% of the feat has happened in 0.7% of baseball history)? I'm assuming what MLB.com has isn't an incomplete chart, so this is just kind of shocking.
According to MLB.com, there have been 90 cases of a pitcher striking out four batters in an inning.... yet 53 of these have come since the year 2000, and 37 since the start of the 2010 season. Is there a reason why 41.1% of four-strikeout innings have come within the last 9 seasons when this has been recorded since 1888 (which means 41.1% of the feat has happened in 0.7% of baseball history)? I'm assuming what MLB.com has isn't an incomplete chart, so this is just kind of shocking.