Perfect game

The "everlasting image" of New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra leaping into the arms of pitcher Don Larsen after the completion of Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series^[1]

A perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher (or combination of pitchers) pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base.^[2] Thus, the pitcher (or pitchers) cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batsmen, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any other reason—in short, "27 up, 27 down". The feat has been achieved 20 times in the history of major league baseball—18 times since the modern era began in 1900.

By definition, a perfect game is both a no-hitter and a shutout. Since the pitcher cannot control whether or not his teammates commit any errors, the pitcher must be backed up by solid fielding to pitch a perfect game. An error that does not allow a baserunner, such as a misplayed foul ball, does not spoil a perfect game. Weather-shortened contests in which a team has no baserunners and games in which a team reaches first base only in extra innings do not qualify as official perfect games under the present definition. The first confirmed use of the term "perfect game" was in 1908; the current official definition of the term was formalized in 1991. Although it is possible for multiple pitchers to combine for a perfect game (as has happened nine times at the major league level for a no-hitter), to date, every major league perfect game has been thrown by a single pitcher.^[3]

History

Lee Richmond, pitcher of the first perfect game in major league history

Over the 135 years of Major League Baseball history, there have been only 20 official perfect games by the current definition. For comparison, more people have orbited the moon than have pitched a Major League Baseball perfect game. No pitcher has ever thrown more than one. The perfect game thrown by Don Larsen in game 5 of the 1956 World Series is the only postseason no-hitter in major league history. The first two major league perfect games, and the only two of the premodern era, were thrown in 1880, five days apart. The two most recent perfect games were thrown May 9 and May 29, 2010, just 20 days apart. By contrast, there have been spans of 23 and 33 consecutive seasons in which not a single perfect game was thrown.

The first to accomplish the feat in 1880 was Lee Richmond, a left-handed pitcher for the Worcester Ruby Legs. He played professional baseball for six years and pitched full-time for only three, finishing with a losing record. The second perfect game was thrown by John Montgomery Ward for the Providence Grays. Ward, who made the transition from excellent pitcher to excellent position player, went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

During baseball's modern era, defined by Major League Baseball as beginning in 1900, 18 more pitchers have thrown perfect games. Most of the modern-era players to have thrown perfect games were accomplished major league pitchers. Five are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame: Cy Young, Addie Joss, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, and Catfish Hunter. A sixth, Randy Johnson, is a five-time Cy Young Award winner considered certain to be voted into the Hall of Fame when eligible. David Cone and Roy Halladay each won a Cy Young Award; Cone was named to five All-Star teams, and Halladay has been on seven through 2010. Three other perfect-game throwers, Dennis Martínez, Kenny Rogers, and David Wells, each won over 200 major league games. Mark Buerhle has been an All-Star four times in his 11 major league seasons through 2010. For a few the perfect game was the highlight of an otherwise unremarkable career. Mike Witt and Tom Browning were solid major league pitchers; each finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting once. Larsen, Charlie Robertson, and Len Barker were journeyman pitchers; each finished his major-league career with a losing record. Dallas Braden had a losing career record when he threw a perfect game in 2010, his fourth major league season.

The term perfect game is at least as old as 1908. I. E. Sanborn's report for the Chicago Tribune about Joss's performance against the White Sox calls it, "an absolutely perfect game, without run, without hit, and without letting an opponent reach first base by hook or crook, on hit, walk, or error, in nine innings."^[4] Several sources have claimed (erroneously) that the first recorded usage of the term "perfect game" was by Ernest J. Lanigan in his Baseball Cyclopedia, made in reference to Robertson's 1922 game.^[5] The Chicago Tribune came close to the term in describing Richmond's game in 1880: "Richmond was most effectively supported, every position on the home nine being played to perfection."^[6] Similarly, in writing up Ward's perfect game, the New York Clipper described the "perfect play" of Providence's defense.^[7]

Major League Baseball perfect games

19th century

Modern era

Lee Richmond

Scorecard for Richmond's perfect game: "R-A" notation in fifth inning represents the 9–3 putout

Richmond was pitching in his first full season in the big leagues after appearing in one game in 1879. He was apparently considered a good hitter, as he batted second in the lineup. His perfect game featured an unusual 9–3 putout, with Worcester right fielder Lon Knight throwing out Cleveland's Bill Phillips at first.^[9] The play came on one of three balls Cleveland hit out of the infield.^[10] Three outs were recorded on "foul bounds": balls caught after bouncing once in foul territory (the foul bound rule was eliminated three years later). A monument marks the site of the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds where the game took place, now part of the campus of Becker College.^[11] The feat was recognized as unusual: a newspaper report described it as "the most wonderful game on record".^[12][13]

John Montgomery Ward

Monte Ward threw his perfect game at the Grays' park in Providence, but Buffalo, by virtue of a coin toss, which was the custom under the rules at that time, was officially the "home" team, batting in the bottom of each inning. At the age of 20 years, 105 days, Ward is the youngest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game. He batted sixth in the lineup. Beginning in 1881, the year after his perfect game, Ward spent more time as a position player than a pitcher; in 1885, following an arm injury, he became a full-time infielder.^[14] The five days between Ward's game and Richmond's is the shortest amount of time between major-league perfect games.

Cy Young

Young's perfect game was part of a hitless streak of 24 or 25⅓ straight innings—depending on whether or not partial innings at either end of the streak are included. In either calculation, the streak remains a record. It was also part of a streak of 45 straight innings in which Young did not give up a run, which was then a record.^[15]

Of the 17 perfect games for which pitch counts are available, Addie Joss's was the most efficient—74 pitches, fewer than three per batter.^[16]

Addie Joss

Joss's was the most pressure-packed of any regular-season perfect game. With just four games left on their schedule, the Naps were locked in a tight three-way pennant race with the Tigers and the White Sox, that day's opponents. Joss's counterpart, the great Ed Walsh, struck out 15 and gave up just four scattered singles. The lone, unearned run scored as a result of a botched pickoff play and a wild pitch.^[17] The Naps ended the day tied with the Tigers for first, with the White Sox two games back; the Tigers would ultimately win the league by a half game over the Naps. Joss would throw a second no-hitter against the White Sox in 1910, making him the only major league pitcher ever to throw two no-hitters against the same team.

Charlie Robertson

Robertson's perfect game was only his fifth appearance, and fourth start, in the big leagues. He finished his career with the fewest wins and lowest winning percentage (49–80, .380) of any perfect-game pitcher. The Tigers, led by player-manager Ty Cobb, accused Robertson of illegally doctoring the ball with oil or grease.^[18] In terms of the opposing team's ability to get on base, this is statistically the most unlikely of perfectos: the 1922 Tigers had an OBP of .369.^[19]

Don Larsen

Larsen didn't know he would pitch in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series until a few hours before gametime.^[20] In his perfect game, Larsen employed the style he had adopted in mid-season, working without a windup. Just one Dodgers batter—Pee Wee Reese, in the first inning—worked a three-ball count.^[21] The Dodgers had the highest season winning percentage of any team ever to lose a perfect game: .604. The image of catcher Yogi Berra leaping into Larsen's arms after the final strike is one of the most famous in baseball history.^[22] The 34 years between Robertson's feat and Larsen's is the longest gap between perfect games.

Jim Bunning

Bunning's perfect game, pitched on Father's Day, was the first in the National League since Ward's 84 years before. Defying the baseball superstition that holds one should not talk about a no-hitter in progress, Bunning spoke to his teammates about the perfect game as it developed to loosen them up and relieve the pressure.^[23]

Sandy Koufax

Koufax's perfect game was the first one pitched at night. It was nearly a double no-hitter: Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley gave up only one hit, a bloop double to left-fielder Lou Johnson in the seventh inning that did not figure in the scoring. The Dodgers scored their only run in the fifth inning: Lou Johnson reached first on a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, attempted to steal third, and scored when Cubs catcher Chris Krug overthrew third base. The total number of base runners in the game, two (both Johnson), is the fewest in major league history. Koufax's 14 strikeouts are the most ever thrown by a perfect game pitcher.

Catfish Hunter

Hunter, a talented batter, was also the hitting star of his perfect game. He went 3 for 4 with a double and 3 RBIs, including a bunt single that drove home the first and thus winning run in the seventh inning—easily the best offensive performance ever by a perfect game pitcher. This was the first no-hitter of the Athletics' Oakland tenure, which was only 25 games old.^[24]

Len Barker

Barker's perfect game was the first one in which designated hitters were used. He didn't reach a three-ball count in the entire game.^[25] Toronto shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who played for the losing team in this game, went on to play for the losers in the perfect games of Browning and Martínez. All 11 of Barker's strikeouts were swinging.^[26]

Mike Witt

Witt's perfect game came on the last day of the 1984 season. Reggie Jackson, who drove in the only run of the game on a seventh-inning fielder's choice ground ball, was also on the winning team in Hunter's perfect game. After transitioning to the bullpen, Witt combined with starting pitcher Mark Langston to throw a no-hitter for the California Angels on April 11, 1990.

Tom Browning

Browning's perfect game came against the team that eventually won that year's World Series, the only time that has happened. A two-hour, twenty-seven-minute rain delay^[27] caused the game to start at approximately 10 PM. Right fielder Paul O'Neill, who played for the winning side in this game, also played for the winning side in the perfect games of Wells and Cone. The following July 4, Browning came within an inning of becoming the first pitcher to throw two perfect games, retiring the first 24 batters in a game against the Phillies before surrendering a leadoff double in the ninth.^[28]

Dennis Martínez

Martínez, born in Granada, Nicaragua, is the only major league pitcher born outside of the United States to throw a perfect game. Martínez reached only one three-ball count.^[29] Opposing pitcher Mike Morgan was perfect through five full innings, the latest the opposing starter in a perfect game has remained perfect. Two days earlier, Expos pitcher Mark Gardner no-hit the Dodgers through nine innings but lost the no-hitter in the tenth, meaning the Expos narrowly missed throwing a no-hitter and a perfect game in the same series. Martínez's catcher, Ron Hassey, also caught Len Barker's perfect game. This was the third perfect game pitched against the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, joining those of Larsen and Browning; the only other teams to lose more than one perfect game are the Twins (Hunter and Wells) and the Rays (Buehrle and Braden).

Kenny Rogers

Rogers benefited from center fielder Rusty Greer's fantastic diving catch of a line drive hit by Rex Hudler, leading off the ninth inning.^[30] Rogers's performance against the Angels came 10 seasons after Witt's perfect game against the Rangers. The Angels and Rangers are the only major league teams to record perfect games against each other.

David Wells

Wells attended the same high school as Don Larsen: Point Loma High School, San Diego, California. They also both enjoyed the night life. Casey Stengel once said of Larsen, "The only thing he fears is sleep." Wells has claimed to have been "half-drunk" and suffering from a "raging, skull-rattling hangover" during his perfect game.^[31] Wells's perfect game comprised the core of a streak of 38 consecutive retired batters (May 12–23, 1998) an American League record he held until 2007.

David Cone

Cone's perfect game occurred on Yogi Berra Day. Don Larsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Berra, who had been his catcher during the 1956 World Series perfect game. Not a single Expo worked even a three-ball count.^[32] Cone's perfect game, to date the only one in regular-season interleague play, was interrupted by a 33-minute rain delay. This also represents the only time two successive perfect games have been thrown by the same team. This was the third perfect game in Yankee history; the Indians (Joss and Barker), White Sox (Robertson and Buehrle), A's (Hunter and Braden), and Phillies (Bunning and Halladay) are the other teams to have more than one perfect game.

In 2004, Randy Johnson, then with the Arizona Diamondbacks, became the oldest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game.

Randy Johnson

Johnson threw his perfect game at the age of 40 years, 256 days, becoming, by more than three-and-a-half years, the oldest pitcher to achieve the feat. The former holder of the mark, Cy Young, threw his at the age of 37 years, 37 days. Of the 20 teams to have a perfect game thrown against them, the 2004 Braves had the second-highest OBP (.343) and second-highest winning percentage (.593).^[33] In contrast, the Diamondbacks had by far the worst season winning percentage (.315) of any team to benefit from a perfect game.^[33]

Mark Buehrle

Buehrle was assisted by a dramatic ninth-inning wall-climbing catch by center fielder DeWayne Wise to rob Gabe Kapler of a home run; Wise entered the game as a defensive replacement in that inning. This was the first major league perfect game in which the pitcher and catcher were battery-mates for the first time; Ramón Castro had been acquired by the White Sox less than two months before.^[34] This was also the first perfect game to feature a grand slam, by Josh Fields in the bottom of the second inning. Umpire Eric Cooper, who called the game, was behind the plate for Buehrle's previous no-hitter, as well.^[35] The 2009 Rays are tied for the second-highest OBP (.343) of any team to be on the receiving end of a perfect game.^[36] On July 28, Buehrle followed up with another 5 ²⁄₃ innings of perfection to set the major league record for consecutive batters retired at 45 (including the final batter he faced in his last appearance before the perfect game).^[37]

Dallas Braden

Braden's perfect game, pitched on Mother's Day, was the first complete game of his career. It was the first time a perfect game has been pitched against the team with the best record in the majors at the time; coming into the contest, the Rays were 22–8.^[38] Following Buehrle's, this was the second successive perfect game thrown against the Rays, the second team to have successive perfect games against them (the first was the Dodgers in 1988 and 1991).^[39] This game came 290 days after Buehrle's, the shortest period between modern-day perfect games until Halladay's occurred.

Roy Halladay

Halladay pitched the second perfect game of the 2010 season 20 days after Braden's, by far the shortest period between perfect games in the modern era.^[40] With Buehrle's 2009 performance, this is the first time in major league history that three perfect games occurred within a one-year span. This is the seventh perfect game in which there were no earned runs, following those of Richmond, Joss, Koufax, Witt, Browning, and Martínez. Seven batters reached three-ball counts against Halladay.^[41]

General notes

Three perfect-game pitchers had RBIs in their games: Hunter (3), Bunning (2), and Young (1). Hunter had three hits; Richmond, Ward, Bunning, and Martínez each had one. No pitcher has ever scored a run during his perfect game. Barker, Witt, Rogers, Wells, Cone, Buehrle, and Braden did not bat in their perfect games, as the American League adopted the designated hitter rule in 1973. The latest the winning runs have been scored in a perfect game is the seventh inning—this occurred in the games of Hunter (bottom), Witt (top), and Martínez (top).

Six perfect-game pitchers have also thrown at least one additional no-hitter: Young, Joss, Bunning, Koufax, Johnson, and Buehrle. Witt participated in a combined no-hitter. Koufax has the most total no-hitters of any perfect-game pitcher, with four. Richmond and Robertson were rookies, though each had made a single appearance in a previous season. Although by the latter part of the 20th century, major league games were being played predominantly at night, six of the last ten perfect games, and four of the last six, have taken place in the daytime. Of the thirty teams that currently make up Major League Baseball, ten have never been involved in a perfect game, win or lose: the Giants, Cardinals, Pirates, Orioles, Royals, Mariners, Brewers, Astros, Padres, and Rockies.

Though convention has it that the modern era of Major League Baseball begins in 1900, the essential rules of the modern game were all in place by the 1893 season. That year the pitching distance was moved back to 60 feet, 6 inches, where it remains, and the pitcher's box was replaced by a rubber slab against which the pitcher was required to place his rear foot. Two other crucial rules changes had been made in recent years: In 1887, the rule awarding a hit batsman first base was instituted in the National League (this had been the rule in the American Association since 1884—first by the umpire's judgment of the impact; as of the following year, virtually automatically).^[42] In 1889, the number of balls required for a walk was reduced to four.^[43] Thus, from 1893 on, pitchers sought perfection in a game whose most important rules are the same as today, with one significant exception. That exception, the use of the designated hitter in American League games since the 1973 season, might have been expected to make perfect games more difficult to achieve in the AL. In fact, since 1973, seven perfect games have been thrown with the DH rule in effect (including one interleague game held at an American League park) and only four without it.

The current official Major League Baseball definition of a perfect game is largely a side effect of the decision made by the major leagues' Committee for Statistical Accuracy on September 4, 1991, to redefine a no-hitter as a game in which the pitcher or pitchers on one team throw a complete game of nine innings or more without surrendering a hit.^[44] That decision removed a number of games that had long appeared in the record books: those lasting fewer than nine innings, and those in which a team went hitless in regulation but then got a hit in extra innings. The definition of perfect game was made to parallel this new definition of the no-hitter, in effect substituting "baserunner" for "hit". As a result of the 1991 redefinition, for instance, Harvey Haddix receives credit for neither a perfect game nor a no-hitter for the game described below in which he threw 12 perfect innings before allowing a baserunner in the 13th.^[45]

Unofficial perfect games

Boston Red Sox pitchers Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore. In a 1917 game, Ruth was ejected after walking the first batter. Shore replaced him, erased the baserunner, and completed the game without allowing another.

There have been three instances in which a major league pitcher retired every player he faced over nine innings without allowing a baserunner, but, by the current definition, is not credited with a perfect game, either because there was already a baserunner when he took the mound, or because the game went into extra innings and an opposing player eventually reached base:

• On June 23, 1917, Babe Ruth, then a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, walked the Washington Senators' first batter, Ray Morgan, on four straight pitches. Ruth, who had already been shouting at umpire Brick Owens about the quality of his calls, became even angrier and, in short order, was ejected. Enraged, Ruth charged Owens, swung at him, and had to be led off the field by a policeman. Ernie Shore came in to replace Ruth. Morgan was caught stealing by Sox catcher Pinch Thomas on the first pitch by Shore, who proceeded to retire the next 26 batters. All 27 outs were made while Shore was on the mound. Once recognized as a perfect game by Major League Baseball, this still counts as a combined no-hitter.^[46]
• On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched what is often referred to as the greatest game in baseball history.^[47] Haddix carried a perfect game through an unprecedented 12 innings against the Milwaukee Braves, only to have it ruined when an error by third baseman Don Hoak allowed Felix Mantilla, the leadoff batter in the bottom of the 13th inning, to reach base. A sacrifice by Eddie Matthews and an intentional walk to Hank Aaron followed; the next batter, Joe Adcock, hit a home run that became a double when he passed Aaron on the bases. Haddix and the Pirates had lost the game 1–0; despite their 12 hits in the game, they could not bring a run home. The 12 perfect innings—36 consecutive batters retired in a single game—remains a record.^[48]
• On June 3, 1995, Pedro Martínez of the Montreal Expos had a perfect game through nine innings against the San Diego Padres. The Expos scored a run in the top of the tenth inning, but in the bottom, Martínez gave up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts, and was relieved by Mel Rojas, who retired the next three batters. Martínez was therefore the winning pitcher in a 1–0 Expos victory.^[49]

Four other games in which one team failed to reach base are not official perfect games because they were called off before nine innings were played:^[50]

• On August 11, 1907, Ed Karger of the St. Louis Cardinals pitched seven perfect innings against the Boston Braves; second game of doubleheader called by prior agreement.^[50][51]
• On October 5, 1907, Rube Vickers of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched five perfect innings against the Senators; second game of doubleheader called on account of darkness. Vickers achieved his feat on the last day of the season. He also pitched the final 12 innings of the 15-inning first game.^[51] His back-to-back victories were his only wins of the year.^[52]
• On August 6, 1967, Dean Chance of the Minnesota Twins pitched five perfect innings against the Red Sox; game called on account of rain.^[51]
• On April 21, 1984, David Palmer of the Expos pitched five perfect innings against the Cardinals; second game of doubleheader called on account of rain.^[53]

On March 14, 2000, in a spring training game—by definition unofficial—the Red Sox used six pitchers to retire all 27 Toronto Blue Jays batters in a 5–0 victory. The starting pitcher for the Red Sox was Pedro Martínez (see above).^[54]

Perfect games spoiled by the 27th batter

On ten occasions in Major League Baseball history, a perfect game has been spoiled when the batter representing what would have been the third and final out in the ninth inning reached base. Unless otherwise noted, the pitcher in question finished and won the game without allowing any more baserunners:^[55]

• On July 4, 1908, Hooks Wiltse of the New York Giants hit Philadelphia Phillies pitcher George McQuillan on a 2–2 count in a scoreless game—the only time a 0–0 perfect game has been broken up by the 27th batter. Umpire Cy Rigler later admitted that he should have called the previous pitch strike 3. Wiltse pitched on, winning 1–0; his ten-inning no-hitter set a record for longest complete game no-hitter that has been tied twice but never broken.^[56]
• On August 5, 1932, Tommy Bridges of the Detroit Tigers gave up a pinch-hit single to the Washington Senators' Dave Harris.^[57]
• On June 27, 1958, Billy Pierce of the Chicago White Sox gave up a double, which landed just inches in fair territory, on his first pitch to Senators pinch hitter Ed Fitz Gerald.^[58]
• On September 2, 1972, Milt Pappas of the Chicago Cubs walked San Diego Padres pinch hitter Larry Stahl on a borderline 3–2 pitch. Pappas finished with a no-hitter. The umpire, Bruce Froemming, was in his second year; he went on to a 37-year career in which he umpired a record 11 no-hitters. Pappas believed he had struck out Stahl, and years later continued to bear ill will toward Froemming.^[59]
• On April 15, 1983, Milt Wilcox of the Tigers surrendered a pinch-hit single to the White Sox' Jerry Hairston, Sr.^[60]
• On May 2, 1988, Ron Robinson of the Cincinnati Reds gave up a single to the Montreal Expos' Wallace Johnson. Robinson then allowed a two-run homer to Tim Raines and was removed from the game. The final score was 3–2, with Robinson the winner.^[61] (Robinson's teammate Tom Browning threw his perfect game later that season.)
• On August 4, 1989, Dave Stieb of the Toronto Blue Jays gave up a double to the New York Yankees' Roberto Kelly, followed by an RBI single by Steve Sax. Stieb finished with a 2–1 victory.^[62] This was the third time Stieb had a no-hitter broken up with two outs in the ninth inning.^[63]
• On April 20, 1990, Brian Holman of the Seattle Mariners gave up a home run to Ken Phelps of the Oakland Athletics.^[64]
• On September 2, 2001, Mike Mussina of the Yankees gave up a two-strike single to Boston Red Sox pinch hitter Carl Everett.^[65]

• On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Tigers was charged with a single when first-base umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled Jason Donald of the Cleveland Indians safe on an infield grounder. After the game, Joyce acknowledged his mistake: "I just cost that kid a perfect game. I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay."^[66] Tyler Kepner of the New York Times wrote that no call had been "so important and so horribly botched" since the 1985 World Series.^[67] Having taken place just four days after Halladay's feat, the game would have set a new mark for proximity had it been perfect; it would also have been the third perfect game in a 25-day span. Donald was awarded first base on Galarraga's 83rd pitch, which would have made it the second most efficient perfect game on record.

Other notable near-perfect games

Nine or more consecutive innings of perfection

There have been thirteen occasions in Major League Baseball history when a pitcher—or, in one case, multiple pitchers—recorded at least 27 consecutive outs after one or more runners reached base. In four instances, the game went into extra innings and the pitcher(s) recorded more than 27 consecutive outs:

• On May 11, 1919, Walter Johnson, pitching for the Senators against the Yankees, retired 28 batters in row: After surrendering a one-out single in the first to Roger Peckinpaugh and then retiring the next two batters to end the inning, he was perfect in the second through the ninth. He recorded two outs in the tenth, before giving up a walk to Home Run Baker. The first Sunday game to be played legally in New York, it was ended after the 12th inning, still scoreless, because Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert mistakenly believed the new law barred play after 6 PM.^[68]
• On September 24, 1919, Waite Hoyt, pitching for the Red Sox against the Yankees in the second game of a doubleheader, gave up a run in the second inning. The Red Sox tied the game in the ninth on a solo home run by Babe Ruth, his then record-breaking 28th of the season. The game report in the New York Times states, "Hoyt gave a remarkable performance of his pitching skill, and from the fourth inning to the thirteenth he did not allow a hit and not a Yankee runner reached first base. In these nine hitless innings the youngster was at the top of his form". The Yankees eventually won 2–1 when, in the 13th, Wally Pipp tripled and was brought home by a sacrifice fly. (The New York Times report states that Pipp tripled with "two out"—evidently a typographical or counting error, as the subsequent sacrifice fly, which is described in detail, would not then have been possible.)^[69] Play-by-play records are not currently available for the game, but it appears that Hoyt recorded no less than 28 consecutive outs—the last out in the third inning and 27 in the perfect nine innings encompassing the fourth through the 12th.^[70]
• On September 18, 1971, Rick Wise, pitching for the Phillies against the Cubs, gave up a home run to the leadoff batter in the second inning, Frank Fernandez. He did not allow another baserunner until Ron Santo singled with two outs in the top of the 12th. Wise retired the next batter and the Phillies scored in the bottom of the inning, making him the winner, 4–3. Wise had been perfect for 10 2/3, retiring 32 consecutive batters—the record for most consecutive outs in a game by a winning pitcher. At the plate, Wise helped his cause by going 3 for 6, with a double and the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 12th. The starting pitcher for the Cubs was Milt Pappas, who would have his near-perfect game one year later.^[71]
• On July 6, 2005, A.J. Burnett, pitching for the Florida Marlins, surrendered a two-out single in the third inning that gave the Milwaukee Brewers a 4–1 lead. It was the fourth hit he had given up, on top of five walks. He then retired the next ten batters before leaving the game with the Marlins trailing 4–2. In his six innings, he struck out 14. Jim Mecir pitched a perfect seventh and Guillermo Mota pitched a perfect eighth and ninth as the Marlins rallied to send the game into extra innings. Todd Jones was perfect in the 10th and 11th and Valerio de los Santos picked up the win with a perfect 12th, for a total of 28 straight batters retired starting with the final batter of the third inning.^[72]

Cy Young, first perfect game pitcher of the modern era. His 1908 no-hitter was a solo version of the Ruth–Shore game of nine years later: a leadoff walk, a caught stealing, and perfection the rest of the way.

In the nine other instances, the leadoff batter (or batters) reached base in the first inning, followed by 27 consecutive batters (or batters and baserunners) being retired through the end of a nine-inning game.^[73] In one case, the leadoff baserunner was retired, meaning the pitcher faced the minimum:

• On June 30, 1908, Red Sox pitcher Cy Young walked the New York Highlanders' leadoff batter, Harry Niles, who was caught stealing. No one else reached base against Young, who also had three hits and four RBIs in Boston's 8–0 win. It was the third no-hitter of Young's career and about as close as possible to being his second perfect game.^[74] He is the only pitcher in major league history to retire 27 consecutive men in a game on two separate occasions.

The remaining instances in which a pitcher recorded 27 consecutive outs in a game, noting how the opponent's leadoff batter (or batters) reached base:

• May 24, 1884, Al Atkinson/Philadelphia Athletics (Pittsburgh Alleghenys' Ed Swartwood hit by pitch, stole second, reached third on a groundout, and scored on a passed ball)^[75]
• May 16, 1953, Curt Simmons/Philadelphia Phillies (single by Milwaukee Braves' Bill Bruton)^[76]
• May 13, 1954, Robin Roberts/Phillies (home run by Reds' Bobby Adams)^[77]
• July 1, 1966, Woodie Fryman/Pittsburgh Pirates (single by New York Mets' Ron Hunt)^[78]
• May 19, 1981, Jim Bibby/Pirates (single by Atlanta Braves' Terry Harper)^[79]
• June 11, 1982, Jerry Reuss/Los Angeles Dodgers (double by Reds' Eddie Milner, who reached third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a fielder's choice)^[80]
• April 22, 1993, Chris Bosio/Seattle Mariners (walks by Red Sox Ernest Riles and Carlos Quintana, the latter of whom was retired on a double play)^[81]
• July 7, 2006, John Lackey/Los Angeles Angels (double by Oakland Athletics' Mark Kotsay)^[82]

No-hit, no-walk, no–hit–batsman games

In Major League Baseball play since 1893, with the essential modern rules in place, there have been eight instances when a pitcher allowed not a single baserunner through his pitching efforts over a complete game of at least nine innings, but was not awarded a perfect game because of fielding errors:^[83]

• On June 13, 1905, Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched masterfully, but two Cubs nonetheless reached base on errors by shortstop Bill Dahlen and second baseman Billy Gilbert. In a classic pitching duel, the Cubs' Mordecai "Three Finger" Brown also carried a no-hitter into the ninth, losing it and the game, 1–0.^[84]
• On September 5, 1908, the Brooklyn Dodgers' Nap Rucker blanked the Boston Doves with a flawless pitching performance, despite errors that allowed three Doves to reach base. In more than a century since, no otherwise perfect game has been spoiled by multiple errors.^[85]
• On July 1, 1920, an error by Senators second baseman Bucky Harris was the lone defect in what was otherwise a perfect game by Walter Johnson. Harry Hooper, the Red Sox who reached base, was batting leadoff in the seventh.^[86]
• On September 3, 1947, with one out in the second, Philadelphia Athletics first baseman Ferris Fain, after fielding a routine grounder, threw wildly to pitcher Bill McCahan, covering first base. Stan Spence of the Senators made it all the way to second, the only blemish on McCahan's otherwise perfect game.^[87]
• On July 19, 1974, flawless through 3 2/3 innings, Cleveland Indians pitcher Dick Bosman, handling a grounder off the bat of Oakland Athletic Sal Bando, threw over the first baseman's head. Not one other Athletic would reach base, making this the only occasion in major league history when the sole demerit on an otherwise perfect defensive line was the pitcher's own fielding error.^[88]
• On June 27, 1980, Jerry Reuss of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a virtually immaculate game, but without hope of perfection—a first-inning throwing error by shortstop Bill Russell allowed the San Francisco Giants' Jack Clark to reach base. Russell atoned for his gaffe with a sharp fielding play in the eighth inning.^[89]
• On August 15, 1990, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Terry Mulholland lost a perfect game in the seventh inning when the Giants' Rick Parker, batting leadoff, reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Charlie Hayes. Parker was retired when the next batter, Dave Anderson, grounded into a double play. Mulholland pitched flawlessly and faced the minimum 27 batters, but still did not qualify for a perfect game. Hayes redeemed himself for the fielding error by making a spectacular catch on a line drive in the ninth inning, protecting Mulholland's no-hitter.^[90]
• On July 10, 2009, the Giants' Jonathan Sánchez pitched perfectly against the San Diego Padres through one out in the eighth inning. Third baseman Juan Uribe, who switched positions from second base to start the seventh inning, committed an error on a ground ball, his first chance at third, that allowed Chase Headley to reach first—the latest an error has resulted in the sole baserunner in an otherwise perfect game. Headley advanced to second on a wild pitch. It was the first complete game of Sánchez's career.^[91]

No otherwise perfect game in major league history has ever been spoiled solely by a third-strike passed ball, third-strike wild pitch, interference, or an outfield error. More than one online survey incorrectly lists the game pitched by the Los Angeles Dodgers' Bill Singer against the Phillies on July 20, 1970, as perfect aside from two throwing errors by Singer; in fact, he also hit batter Oscar Gamble in the first inning.^[92]

See also

• Nippon Professional Baseball perfect games
• Golden set in tennis
• Maximum break in snooker
• Nine dart finish in darts
• Perfect game in bowling

Notes

Sources

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External links

• Perfect Games Baseball Almanac links to boxscores of both official and unofficial games
• Pitchers who retired 27 consecutive batters or more over a span of two or more games Baseball Prospectus article by Keith Woolner on "hidden" perfect games (also see the follow-up)
• Rare Feats: Perfect Games MLB.com links to historical video and audio extracts