Did a professional baseball pitcher ever strike out 27 batters in one no-hit game?

And it’s 2025!

The calendar has rolled over, we’ve all (or at least most of us) survived another New Year’s Eve unscathed, and we’re ready to launch into yet another turn around the Sun.

I don’t do the New Year’s Eve partying any more; once you’ve done it, there doesn’t seem to be much sense in doing it yet again, so I don’t.

But if you did, I hope you had a great time, and the headache the morning after has gone away by now.

Happy New Year, my friends!  Let’s break in some new trivia, shall we?

Did you know …

… a medical condition exists in which people believe they’re really the star of an imaginary reality television show?  The condition is currently called Truman Syndrome, based on The Truman Show, a 1998 movie in which the central character, played by Jim Carrey (born 1962), was the unknowing star of a 24-hour-a-day reality show.  The condition predates the movie, but the term was coined in 2008.  The delusion is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, however.  (If I had it, my delusion would be a comedy.)

… the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 did not begin in Spain?  The disease was named that because Spain, which was neutral in World War I, did not have any kind of media blackout on stories and could freely report on how the flu was affecting the population.  Nations which were involved in the war could not report on the disease, and that led to the belief that the flu had started in Spain.  (The flu makes me sick.)

… sailors in the Royal Navy must have special permission to grow beards?  Most navies (and other branches of armed forces) prefer the clean-shaven look, with mustaches authorized.  But if you want to grow a beard in the Royal Navy, you can … provided you get permission.  It’s not a walk in the park after that, either.  Regulations state you must grow the beard in two weeks, then present yourself to the Master at Arms.  That individual decides whether the beard is presentable enough to be permitted in uniform.  (If I grew a beard in two weeks, it would look just like a two-week five o’clock shadow.)

… McDonald’s™ restaurants in Scotland were boycotted because of a beverage?  One of the most popular beverages sold in Scotland is Irn-Bru™, a citrus-based carbonated soft drink that far outsells Coca-Cola™.  When McDonald’s opened a restaurant in Glasgow and patrons noticed Irn-Bru was not sold there, they considered it an insult and the location was boycotted until the beverage was added.  Additional trivia note:  Irn-Bru has been a part of Scottish life since 1901, and even has its own tartan.  It has long been the best-selling beverage in Scotland that is not alcoholic (Scotch whiskey is the ultimate best-seller).

… a no-hitter in which every opposing batter struck out has only happened once in professional baseball?  On May 13, 1952, pitcher “Rocket” Ron Necciai (born 1932) was on the mound for the Bristol Twins, a farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the Class-D Appalachian League.  Necciai pitched a no-hitter against the Welch Miners that day in which he threw 27 strikeouts.  Every Miners out recorded in every inning of that game was a strikeout.  Necciai didn’t make a perfect game, however, because four Welch batters reached base – one walked, one was hit by a pitch, there was one error, and on what would have been the 27th strikeout, the catcher dropped the third strike and the batter made it to first base.  That gave Necciai the chance to strike out one more, which he did … so I guess you could say he fanned 28 batters that game.  Necciai only pitched part of one season in the Major Leagues with the Pirates, running up a 1-6 record.  Additional trivia note:  Necciai was something of a strikeout whiz in the Appalachian League.  In addition to his 27-K game, he also pitched games in which he struck out 24 batters and 21 batters.  His Major League career yielded a total of only 31 strikeouts, however.  (The Peter Principle at work, eh?  Look it up, kids.)

… the American Air Force was very small at the beginning of World War I?  When war broke out in Europe in 1914, what we now call the Air Force was actually part of the U.S. Army’s Signal Corps.  Called at first the “Aeronautical Division” then the “Aviation Division,” the Air Force did not become a separate branch of the Army until 1918, when the Division of Military Aeronautics was crated.  It became the Army Air Corps in 1926 and the Army Air Forces in 1941, before becoming a separate branch of service in 1947.  But at the start of the first World War, the Aeronautical Division had a total of 118 men – 18 pilots and 100 support personnel.  Additional trivia note:  The only man to hold five-star general rank in both the Army and the Air Force, Henry H. “Hap” Arnold (1886-1950), wore his original “aviator’s badge” on his uniform his entire career, even after the now-familiar “wings” badges were designed.  The original badge featured an eagle holding Signal Corps flags, suspended from a bar reading, “Military Aviator.”  (Quite the flight of fancy, no?)

… the Nigerian version of Sesame Street does not have the character of Cookie Monster?  In Nigeria, most children do not have access to cookies, so the producers of the Nigerian version of the children’s’ show created Zobi the Yam Monster.  (I’ll let you guess what he likes to eat.)

… the largest land mammal in existence is the African bush elephant?  These guys are big.  How big, you ask?  Try this – a fully grown adult can stand 13 feet high and 24 feet long, trunk to tail.  (That, my friend, is big.)

Now … you know!