What are 7 strikeouts in a game called?

The Legend of the "Horn of Plenty" in Baseball

Baseball fans love their slang, and few terms are as colorful—or as rare—as the "Horn of Plenty." While most casual observers know a no-hitter or a grand slam when they see one, few have heard of this peculiar phrase, born from a moment of unfortunate power at the plate.

The term traces back to a 1991 game involving Orioles slugger Sammy Sosa, though he wasn’t alone in making history that day. After Sosa struck out six times in a single game—something nearly unheard of in modern baseball—his then-teammate, pitcher Mike Flanagan, quipped to reporters that six strikeouts should henceforth be known as a "Horn," a nod to the legendary jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie—whose nickname was "Dizzy," but whose horn (trumpet) became symbolic in baseball lore for repeated failure at the plate.

But Flanagan didn’t stop there. With a grin and a flair for drama, he added that if anyone ever struck out seven times in a single game, that feat would be dubbed a "Horn of Plenty." It was half-joke, half-prophecy—and to this day, it remains just that. No player has officially struck out seven times in a single MLB game, not even in the era of towering pitch counts and aggressive swings.

Still, the phrase lingers in the dugouts and press boxes as a tongue-in-cheek warning: swing too hard, and you might just make history for all the wrong reasons. The "Horn" is rare. The "Horn of Plenty"? A mythical beast—one that lives only in the jokes of teammates and the whispers of baseball folklore.