Let’s Focus on Baseball’s Rare Perfect Games!

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Perfect Games Photo Gallery
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 Let’s Focus on Baseball’s Rare Perfect Games!

You’re probably wondering who the skinny guy with the weird baseball uniform in the featured photo below is…and why is he being featured, anyway?

He’s none-other-than Lee Richmond, who threw major league baseball’s first officially recognized Perfect Game in 1880 while playing for the National League’s Worcester Ruby Legs.

Doing a little research, I found that in the 141 years of major league history, there have been over 300,000 games played, and only 23 officially recognized Perfect Games. That means a Perfect Game occurs roughly once every 13,000 games. A given game has about a .007% chance of becoming a Perfect Game.  

The game was vastly different back in 1880 when Richmond throw the first Perfect Game. For example, only underhand pitching—from a flat, marked-out box 45 feet from home plate—was allowed, it took eight balls to draw a walk, and a batter was not awarded first base if hit by a pitch. So should the two Perfect Games from the pre-modern era even be counted?

A list of the 23 Perfect Game pitchers is at the bottom of the post. Click on the link to see a photo gallery of all 23 pitchers who have thrown Perfect Games:

Here’s some interesting trivia about Perfect Games:

• Lee Richmond played professional baseball for only six years and pitched full-time for only three, finishing with a losing record. After the 1883 season, he established a medical practice and later became a high school teacher.
• The second perfect game was thrown byJohn Montgomery Ward for the Providence Grays. Remarkably, it came only five days after Richmond’s. They are the only two of the pre-modern era.
• No pitcher has ever thrown more than one Perfect Game.
• The Perfect Game thrown byDon Larsen in Game Five of the 1956 World Series is the only World Series Perfect Game in major league history.
• There were three Perfect Games in 2012, with no other year ever having more than two.
• There have been spans of 23 and 33 consecutive seasons in which not a single Perfect Game was thrown.
• Six Perfect Game pitchers from the modern era are in the Hall of Fame, including Jim Bunning who passed away this week:Cy Young, Addie Joss, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, and Randy Johnson. 
• Four Perfect Game throwers,Dennis Martínez, Kenny Rogers, David Wells and Mark Buehrle, each won over 200 major league games.
• Most Perfect Games were thrown by accomplished major leaguers: Roy Halladaywon two Cy Young Awards; David Cone won the Cy Young once. Matt Cain is a three-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion. Félix Hernández is a Cy Young Award winner and a six-time All-Star. Mike Witt and Tom Browning were solid major league pitchers.
• Four from the modern era were journeyman pitchers who finished their careers with losing records: Don Larsen,Charlie Robertson, Len Barker and Dallas Braden.
• Philip Humberhad never before thrown so much as a complete game prior to his Perfect Game, with only 16 career wins, by far the lowest of any Perfect Game pitcher.

 

List of Pitchers Who Have Thrown Perfect Games:

1. Lee Richmond June 12, 1880
2. John Montgomery-Ward June 17, 1880
3. Cy Young March 5, 1904
4. Addie Joss October 2, 1908
5. Charlie Robertson April 22, 1922
6. Don Larson October 8, 1956
7. Jim Bunning June 21, 1964
8. Sandy Koufax September 8. 1965
9. Catfish Hunter May 8, 1968
10. Len Barker May 15, 1981
11. Mike Witt September 30, 1984
12. Tom Browning September 16, 1988
13. Dennis Martinez July 28, 1991
14. Kenny Rogers July 28, 1994
15. David Wells May 17, 1998
16. David Cone July 18, 1999
17. Randy Johnson May 18, 2004
18. Mark Buehrle July 23, 2009
19. Dallas Braden May 9, 2010
20. Roy Halladay May 29, 2010
21. Philip Humber April 21, 2012
22. Matt Cain June 13, 2012
23. Felix Hernandez August 15, 2012

 

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Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts edited from the Wikipedia page.

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