Aaron Altherr hit the first grand slam ever off Clayton Kershaw and so Jim Palmer's record is safe
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History was made Monday night when Aaron Altherr hit a grand slam off Clayton Kershaw. In 1,917 innings pitched over 10 seasons, it was the first Kershaw has ever given up.
It was also a crucial blow as the Phillies beat the Dodgers, 4-3. And just like that, Kershaw would never forget the name … or the night. But there is something interesting about the admirable "grand slam." In 3,948 innings, Jim Palmer didn't give up a single grand slam -- so his record remains untouched. Still, some of the best pitchers in history have given up several of them -- and some batters have had many opportunities to hit one, and it simply didn't happen.
Remember Nolan Ryan? Of course you do. The Hall of Famer gave up a record 10 grand slams in his career. Mind you this was over a 27-year span … it goes to show even the most dominant pitchers are capable of such things.
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Glenn Davis hit 190 homers. And how many of those were grand slams? Zero. According to ESPN's Tim Kurkjian, Pete Rose batted 14,053 times and he hit one grand slam. A fun nugget is the fact that he hit this home run off Dallas Green who eventually served as his manager with the Phillies.
Kershaw was frustrated after the game, which is to be expected.
Altherr deserves a lot of praise for this feat, but for Kershaw to avoid giving up a granny for that long is also pretty amazing.