List of Major League Baseball perfect games

Over the 154 years of Major League Baseball history, and over 238,500 games played, there have been 24 official perfect games by the current definition. No pitcher has thrown more than one. The perfect game thrown by Don Larsen in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series is the only postseason perfect game in major league history and one of only three postseason no-hitters. The first two major league perfect games, and the only two of the premodern era, were thrown in 1880, five days apart. The frequency of perfect games has significantly increased since 1981. Fifteen perfect games were thrown in the 44 seasons from 1980 through 2023, while only nine were thrown in the 100-plus prior seasons. There were three perfect games in 2012; the only other year of the modern era in which as many as two were thrown was 2010. By contrast, there have been spans of 23 and 33 consecutive seasons in which no perfect game was thrown. Though two perfect-game bids have gone into extra innings, no extra-inning game has been completed to perfection.

History

The first two perfect games occurred under rules that differed in many important respects from those of today's game: in 1880, 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. Lee Richmond, a left-handed pitcher for the Worcester Ruby Legs, threw the first perfect game. 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, a decent pitcher who became an excellent position player, went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Though convention has it that the modern era of Major League Baseball begins in 1900, the essential rules of the modern game were 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 changes in crucial rules had been made in years shortly before that: 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) and in 1889, the number of balls required for a walk was reduced to four. Thus, from 1893 on, perfect games occurred under fundamental rules identical to today, with four significant exceptions: counting a foul ball as a first or second strike, enforced by the National League as of 1901 and by the American League two years later; the use of the designated hitter in American League games (and interleague games played with the American League team as the home team) since the 1973 season and National League games starting with the 2022 season; the tiebreaker rule of a runner on second starting with the tenth inning in 2020; and the use of the pitch clock and batter clock starting in 2023.

Pitchers

During baseball's modern era, 22 pitchers have thrown perfect games. Most were accomplished major leaguers. Seven have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Cy Young, Addie Joss, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Randy Johnson, and Roy Halladay.

David Cone won the Cy Young Award once, pitched a 19-strikeout game, was part of five World Series winning teams, and was named to five All-Star teams. Félix Hernández is likewise a one-time Cy Young winner, as well as a six-time All-Star. Four other perfect-game throwers, Dennis Martínez, Kenny Rogers, David Wells and Mark Buehrle, each won over 200 major league games.

Others include Matt Cain, a three-time All-Star, who pitched well in the postseason for two World Series–winning Giants teams. Mike Witt was a two-time All-Star who finished 3rd for the 1986 Cy Young Award, going 117–116. Tom Browning was a one-time All-Star with a career record of 123–90, and pitched for the 1990 World Series winning Cincinnati Reds.

Don Larsen, Charlie Robertson, and Len Barker were journeyman pitchers—each finished his major-league career with a losing record; Barker made one All-Star team, Larsen none (Robertson played his entire career before the establishment of the MLB All-Star Game).

Dallas Braden retired with a 26–36 record after five seasons due to a shoulder injury. Philip Humber's perfect game was the only complete game he recorded, and his major league career, in which he went 16–23, ended the year after he threw it. Domingo German threw his perfect game following a start in which he allowed 10 runs in 3 and one-third innings.

Major League Baseball perfect games

In what follows, the number before the letter K denotes the number of strikeouts in the game. RHP and LHP stand for right-handed pitcher and left-handed pitcher, respectively, and the number following that designation is the age of the pitcher at the time of the game.

19th century

The pitching rules in effect in 1880 were very different from those of the modern game. Only underhand pitching was permitted, and the batter had the right to call for the ball high, low, or "middle" (belt-high). There was no strike zone; whether a pitch was "good" or "unfair" was left to the umpire's sole discretion, and foul balls were not counted as strikes. The pitching distance was 45 feet (that however was the front edge of the 6-foot-deep pitcher's box, not the push-off point represented by the modern pitching rubber).

Lee Richmond

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. The play came on one of three balls Cleveland hit out of the infield. Three outs were recorded on "foul bounds": balls caught after bouncing once in foul territory (the foul bound rule was eliminated three years later). In the seventh inning, the game was delayed for seven minutes due to rain; Richmond dried the ball off with sawdust when he returned to the mound. A monument marks the site of the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds where the game took place, located on the campus of the now-closed Becker College. The feat was recognized as unusual: a newspaper report described it as "the most wonderful game on record".

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 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. The five days between Ward's game and Richmond's is the shortest amount of time between major-league perfect games.

Modern era (1901–present)

Cy Young

Young's perfect game was part of a hitless streak of 24 or 25+1⁄3 straight innings—depending on whether 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.

Addie Joss

Joss's was the most pressure-packed of any regular-season perfect game. With just four games left on their schedule, the Cleveland Naps were involved in a three-way pennant race with the Tigers and the White Sox, that day's opponents. Joss's counterpart, 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. The Naps ended the day tied with the Tigers for first, with the White Sox two games back; the Tigers won the league by a half game over the Naps. Joss threw a second no-hitter against the White Sox in 1910, making him, Tim Lincecum and Justin Verlander the only major league pitchers 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 a 49–80 record, the fewest wins of any perfect-game pitcher until Dallas Braden; Robertson's winning percentage of .380 remains the lowest of anyone who threw a perfect game. The Tigers, led by player-manager Ty Cobb, accused Robertson of illegally doctoring the ball with oil or grease. In terms of the opposing team's ability to get on base, this is statistically the most unlikely: the 1922 Tigers had a stellar on-base percentage (OBP) of .373.