<P> Since the 1960s , it has not been common for the starting pitcher to pitch a complete game . According to Baseball Reference pitchers have completed less than 30 percent of their starts every year since 1959 . Comparisons with the dead - ball era pre-1920 are misleading , since the pitcher 's behavior was very different . Some examples of high pitch count games include a 26 - inning game on May 1 , 1920 where Leon Cadore of Brooklyn and Joe Oeschger of Boston pitched an estimated 345 and 319 pitches ; also , Nolan Ryan threw 164 in a 1989 game , aged 42 . Stats LLC began tracking pitch counts in 1988 , and MLB keeps official data since 1999 . The highest pitch count since 1990 is 172 , by Tim Wakefield for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Atlanta Braves on April 27 , 1993 ; however , it should be known that Wakefield 's primary pitch was the knuckleball , an off - speed pitch . Off - speed pitches are less strenuous on a pitcher 's arm compared to a fastball . Pitch counts above 125 are increasingly rare : </P>
<P> Since the 1960s , it has not been common for the starting pitcher to pitch a complete game . According to Baseball Reference pitchers have completed less than 30 percent of their starts every year since 1959 . Comparisons with the dead - ball era pre-1920 are misleading , since the pitcher 's behavior was very different . Some examples of high pitch count games include a 26 - inning game on May 1 , 1920 where Leon Cadore of Brooklyn and Joe Oeschger of Boston pitched an estimated 345 and 319 pitches ; also , Nolan Ryan threw 164 in a 1989 game , aged 42 . Stats LLC began tracking pitch counts in 1988 , and MLB keeps official data since 1999 . The highest pitch count since 1990 is 172 , by Tim Wakefield for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Atlanta Braves on April 27 , 1993 ; however , it should be known that Wakefield 's primary pitch was the knuckleball , an off - speed pitch . Off - speed pitches are less strenuous on a pitcher 's arm compared to a fastball . Pitch counts above 125 are increasingly rare : </P>
most pitches ever thrown in a mlb game
most pitches ever thrown in a mlb game
172 , by Tim Wakefield for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Atlanta Braves on April 27 , 1993
172 , by Tim Wakefield for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Atlanta Braves on April 27 , 1993