Freddy Garcia's Wild Night

Freddy Garcia made his 2012 debut on Tuesday night for the New York Yankees against the Baltimore Orioles and did something only seven other pitchers have done in the history of baseball: throw at least five wild pitches.

The last pitcher to throw five pitches by his catcher was Rick Ankiel 12 years ago during the playoffs when the lefty melted down in his third inning of work and was never the same again (and now he's a hitter). 

The last to do it in a regular season game was Ken Howell in April 1989 for Garcia's former team. Similar to Garcia, Howell made it into the fifth inning despite his wildness and even picked up the win (Garcia was pulled after he hit a batter in the fifth, so he couldn't get the win, but the Yankees did wind up winning in 12).

Interestingly, this is the third time in MLB history a pitcher has thrown at least five wild pitches on April 10 -- J.R. Richard threw six in 1979 and Bill Gullickson threw six three years later in 1982. Phil Niekro (1979) and Jack Morris (1984) are the best pitchers to have at least five wild pitches in an outing. Both were complete game losses.

Here's the box score for Garcia's wild night. SB Nation has GIFs, but it hurts to look.