On the ninth day of Christmas, the D-backs gave to me...

Despite some debate as to which gift is associated with the ninth day - just my luck to choose a song which has as many different versions out there as verses! - it was the "nine" that was clearly important here. Plenty of possible connections to baseball there, both in the number of players and the number of innings. It was the latter which ended up taking the popular vote, shoewizard coming through with

Nine perfect innings...

There has, as we all know, only been one such case involving the Diamondbacks on either side, and it hardly needs any additional comment. I'll just leave this video here:

The closest the team came to being involved in another perfecto was on the receiving end, when Yusmeiro Petit took a perfect game into the ninth inning, before being denied, at the last possible minute, by Eric Chavez. However, that was actually the sixth time we lost, and only send one man over the minimum to the plate; it also happened on May 20, 2014 against the Cardinals, but the sole baserunner we managed there against Adam Wainwright (a Paul Goldschmidt double) came with two outs in the fifth, so it was a good deal less dramatic.

Fun fact: we have actually sent less than the "minimum" to the plate in a nine-inning game. That happened on April 10, 2001, when the Diamondbacks had a total of just 26 plate-appearances. They managed that by winning 2-0 over the Dodgers, not needing to come to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Luis Gonzalez was responsible for bringing both runs home, with a solo homer and a double-play. Meanwhile, Curt Schilling faced only two over the minimum himself, for a total of just 55 plate appearances between the two sides. You'll not be surprised to learn this one was completed in a crisp 1:55.

Conversely and similarly, our pitchers have also faced less than the minimum. Oddly, that was also a 2-0 game against the Dodgers, on June 1, 2002. The roles were reversed, with Los Angeles managing only two hits and no walks off Brian Anderson and Bret Prinz, but made them count as both scored on a Brian Jordan home-run, giving the Dodgers precisely zero men left on base. Among wins, we have to remember Josh Collmenter's amazing start on May 29, 2014, where he threw a complete-game shutout and faced 27 batters, despite allowing three hits, with the help of two double-plays and a caught stealing.

There have been four nine-inning wins where our pitchers faced one over the minimum, though all involved at least two base-runners. The closest to perfection was likely a contest on September 14, 2003 at Bank One Ballpark, where Randy Johnson - who else? - held the Rockies to one hit and a walk, the former being picked off base. He struck out 12 that day, including the side in the ninth as an emphatic exclamation point, Over the dozen-plus seasons since, the resulting Game Score for Johnson of 96, has only been matched once by a Diamondback; RJ's actual perfect game in 2004 notching a 100. [Fun fact: RJ + Curt own the top nine Game Scores in team history!]

Interesting to speculate who on our current roster might have a shot. Zack Greinke threw a one-hitter, but that was back in 2009, when he was with the Kansas City Royals. Perhaps surprisingly, during three years and 92 starts for LA, Greinke has only two complete games, the same as Josh Collmenter over the same time. Heck, it's one less than Brandon McCarthy...  I think in terms of raw stuff on the day, Rubby De La Rosa or Robbie Ray, are as unhittable as anyone, though it requires no small amount of luck, as well as skill, for everything to come together. Ask Philip Humber and his career 5.31 ERA, or Dallas Braden, who appeared just 26 more times after his perfecto.

On the ninth day of Christmas, the D-backs gave to me...
Nine perfect innings...
Eight maids taking selfies...
Seventh game the clincher...
Six years of Greinke...
Five Goldy dingers...
Four falling chicken tenders...
Three free tacos...* [* terms and conditions apply]
Two gold gloves...
and a Corbin with a strike three!

And on to day 10 we go, hitting double digits with "Ten pipers piping." At least in the version I know, your local mileage may vary... :)