9 Weird MLB Stats That Will Leave You Wondering, ‘How?’

Baseball is home to the oldest professional sports league in the United States. As a result, the MLB boasts a number of weird stats that truly don’t seem real.

Those oddities can relate to teammates, rivals, and even family members. They span decades, with some dating back more than a century.

These numbers you have to see to believe.

Weird MLB Stats That Don’t Seem Real

Here, we’ll look at nine strange MLB statistics that stand out above the rest. Most have little to do with memorable marks in the league’s history books.

Instead, they revolve around coincidences and outputs that are somewhat mind-blowing when digging into the numbers. Let’s kick the wackiness off, starting with Joe DiMaggio and his brother, Dom.

Streaky sluggers

Joe DiMaggio is widely remembered for his 56-game hitting streak, which spanned two months in the 1941 season. It remains the longest in MLB history by 11 games.

No other player has broken the 50-game barrier. No one since 1978 has eclipsed 40 games. It’s a mark that may never be broken.

He is not the only DiMaggio, however, to own bragging rights for an AL East competitor. Eight years after Joe’s run, his brother, Dom, hit safely in 34 straight games.

That number is still tops in Boston Red Sox history.

Dom would go onto a notable 11-year career in Boston where he hit .298. His brother, Joe, would go onto stardom with the rival Yankees on his way to nine World Series titles and the Hall of Fame.

More DiMaggio, and Adam Dunn

DiMaggio was known for his ability to make contact, which played an obvious role in his previously mentioned 56-game success. But digging into the numbers makes his knack for avoiding strikeouts all the more impressive.

Up through his final big-league season, he had more home runs than Ks. Seven times, he more frequently rounded the bases than was called out on strikes.

Adam Dunn represents the polar opposite. He had more strikeouts than hits in each of his 14 MLB seasons.

That was highlighted by 222 Ks in the 2012 season, more than DiMaggio totaled in his first eight pro campaigns, combined.

Speaking of strikeouts…

Mark Reynolds owns the record for most strikeouts in a season as a batter with 223. That came in the 2009 season with the Diamondbacks.

The total is just 27 strikeouts less than Joe Sewell and Willie Keeler totaled in their careers – combined! In one year, Reynolds nearly matched 33 years of plate production.

Sewell and Keeler rank first and second in MLB history in terms of lowest strikeout rate. Together, they totaled just 250 Ks across 15,723 at-bats.

Reynolds, meanwhile, went down on strikes 223 times in 578 at-bats for a rate of 39%. It took Sewell and Keeler around 10,000 extra tries to hit that mark.

Brotherly love

Justin and BJ Upton were both first round MLB Draft picks, though three years apart. Each enjoyed careers that spanned longer than a decade.

In 2012, they both experienced breakout seasons. BJ hit a career-high 28 home runs with the Rays while Justin batted .280 with 17 bombs.

On July 20, each sat at 98 MLB home runs. They’d both smack their 99th dinger on the same day.

The coincidence would continue into the next landmark, with both eclipsing the 100-home run mark two weeks later. Their stat lines in between those two long balls were eerily similar, too.

During the 10-game stretch, both brothers recorded seven hits with exactly one extra bagger.

Justin would eventually best his brother, hitting 325 career homers to BJ’s 164.

Brotherly hate

Phil Niekro was a Hall of Fame pitcher, spending 21 of his 24 professional seasons with the Braves. His brother, Joe, also enjoyed a lengthy pitching career that spanned longer than two decades.

The two were teammates in Atlanta for a period of time in the 1970s before Joe was sold to the Astros for $35,000. As rivals, the two faced off on multiple occasions.

At the time, pitchers still hit in the National League. Phil Niekro batted .316 against his younger brother, but it was Joe that got bragging rights in 1976.

The younger sibling hit exactly one home run in his MLB career. It came off of his brother in a 4-3 victory. The blast proved to be the difference in the ballgame. Joe Niekro picked up the win while sending Phil home with a loss.

Like father, like son

Maybe the weirdest family stat line in MLB history involves Cecil Fielder and his son, Prince. The two left-handed sluggers posted nearly identical numbers in a variety of different hitting categories.

Cecil Fielder made his pro debut with the Blue Jays in 1985. He’d later become a star with the Tigers. Across a 13-year career, he hit 319 home runs, twice leading the American League in dingers.

His son, Prince, was a two-time HR Derby champ. He led the National League in homers in 2007. His career was cut short by injury after 12 seasons. His home run total at the time of retirement? 319!

Digging deeper, the similarities continue. Both have identical home run totals as they relate to 2-out HRs, 4th inning HRs, 5th-inning HRs, and 9th-inning HRs.

But wait, there’s more. Exactly 40% of each of their hits went for extra bases. Each had one year with 50+ homers, two years with 40+ homers, and six years with 30+ HRs. It doesn’t get much closer than that.

Lou Gehrig’s Day

Lou Gehrig was a Hall of Famer and two-time MVP with the New York Yankees between 1923-1939. Three times, he led the American League in home runs.

There was one particular day of the year he seemed to like more than others. You did not want to face Gehrig on September 27th.

His very first MLB dinger came on 9/27/23. It was his only long ball of the season. Fast forward 15 years, and his 493rd bomb came on 9/27/38. He hit his first and last home runs on the same day of the year.

In between, there were three other home runs to fall on the day throughout his career.

Almost perfect

Dave Stieb was one of the unluckiest pitchers in MLB history when it came to closing out no-hitters. The former Blue Jays ace had three no-no’s ruined in the final at-bat.

All three came with two outs. One was a near-perfect game.

In 1989, Stieb successfully downed the first 26 hitters in a game vs. the Yankees. Roberto Kelly doubled in his last plate appearance to break the perfect game pursuit.

He’d later come around to score, not only ending the no-hit bid but also the shutout.

It continued a streak of heartbreak for the righty. In 1988, Stieb had a pair of no hitters broken up with two outs in the ninth inning – in back-to-back starts!

He’d eventually break through with a no-hitter in the 1990 season, which remains the only in Toronto history.

Wearing it

Ron Hunt made getting hit by a pitch an artform in the 1960s and 70s. Across a 12-year MLB tenure, he was plunked 243 times.

Hunt led the National League in the statistic the final seven seasons of his career. His ability to get on base via the beanball was unmatched during his era.

To put the number into perspective, it nearly matched the total of his combined extra base hits (285). He was just as likely to get hit by a pitch as he was to rope a double, triple, or home run.

On two occasions, he totaled more HBPs than strikeouts. That’s unheard of in today’s game.

On average, Hunt wore 27 baseballs per season while lining up in the batter’s box. He averaged 31 extra base hits. Those free bags allowed him to record an on-base percentage of .368 despite hitting just .273 during his career.