 Mike Witt in 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | September 30, 1984 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Arlington Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Arlington, Texas | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Attendance | 8,375 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On September 30, 1984,Mike Witt of theCalifornia Angels threw aperfect game against theTexas Rangers atArlington Stadium. It was the 11th perfect game inMajor League Baseball (MLB) history. Witt threw 94 pitches,struck out 10 of the 27batters he faced, and had agame score of 97.
Witt's perfect game occurred on the final day of the1984 MLB season. Both the Angels and Rangers had already beeneliminated from playoff contention, and as a result, a small crowd of 8,375 people attended the game. The opposing pitcher wasCharlie Hough, who threw acomplete game and allowed oneunearned run. Of the 27 batters Witt faced, only a few threatened to reach base.Larry Parrish hit a ground ball that forcedthird basemanDoug DeCinces to make a barehanded throw in the fifth inning. Parrish also hit a long fly out in the eighth inning that Witt initially assumed was going to be ahome run.
After the game, Rangers managerDoug Rader said that Rangers batters had a hard time seeing pitches due to glare from the sun, and some Rangers players complained thatumpireGreg Kosc gave Witt too large of astrike zone. As the perfect game occurred on the final game of the season between two teams who were not going to make the playoffs, and simultaneously with aDallas Cowboys game, there was little publicity, and many people within theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex were unaware of what had happened. Witt finished his career as a two-timeAll-Star with a win-loss record of 117–116.
In baseball, aperfect game occurs when one or morepitchers for one team complete a full game with nobatter from the opposing teamreaching base.[1] In baseball leagues that feature nine-inning games likeMajor League Baseball (MLB), this means the pitchers involved must record an out against 27 consecutive batters without ahit,walk,hit batsman,catcher's or fielder's interference, orfielding error or uncaught third strike which allows a batter to reach base.[1] It is widely considered by sportswriters to be the hardest single-game accomplishment in the sport, as it requires an incredible pitching performance, defensive support, and immense luck to pull off.[2][3] Since 1876, there have been over 237,000 games officially recognized by MLB; only 24 have been perfect games.[1] Prior to Witt's perfect game, the most recent occurrence was in 1981, whenLen Barker of theCleveland Indians threw one against theToronto Blue Jays.[2]
Mike Witt was drafted by theCalifornia Angels in 1978 and made the Angels opening day roster in 1981.[4] He finished fifth inRookie of the Year voting and put up respectable stats in his first two years as both astarting pitcher andlong reliever.[4][5] The 1983 Angels were expected to compete for theWorld Series, but underperformed, and Witt had his worst season, with awin-loss record of 7–14 and a 4.91earned run average (ERA).[5][6] At the insistence ofpitching coachMarcel Lachemann, Witt played in theVenezuelan Professional Baseball League during theoffseason to hone his skills and sought the help of professionalhypnotists to increase his concentration when pitching.[7] These decisions worked, and in 1984 Witt had his best season, finishing with a record of 15–11 and a 3.47 ERA.[4][5] His 223strikeouts were third most in theAmerican League that year.[4]
Witt's perfect game occurred on September 30, 1984, the final day of the 1984 season.[8] The Angels were playing theTexas Rangers atArlington Stadium inArlington, Texas.[9] Both teams had already beeneliminated from playoff contention, and as a result, a small crowd of 8,375 people attended the game.[8] Witt recalled how he felt calm that day: "It was perfect weather, seventy-five degrees, no wind, no clouds ... I was nice and loosey-goosey, no tenseness."[10] By comparison, Rangers batterMickey Rivers noted how he and many of his teammates wanted the season to be over and that they did not take the game seriously for the first five innings.[10]
Witt's opposition was pitcherCharlie Hough, aknuckleballer who was trying to win his 17th game of the season.[11] Witt was excellent through the first three innings, striking out four of the first nine batters.[9] After the third inning, Hough said to his teammates "The stuff he's got, he's got a chance to do it."[11] After an uneventful fourth inning,Larry Parrish led off the fifth inning for the Rangers with a bouncing ground ball tothird basemanDoug DeCinces, who fielded the ball barehanded and threw Parrish out at first base.[12] DeCinces later remarked: "At the time it was a nice play, no big deal. But as you looked back on it, you thought, wow, that could have been the difference."[13]
Through six innings, the game remained scoreless.[9] Hough was pitching well, allowing just three hits so far.[12] In the top of the seventh inning, DeCinces led off for the Angels with a single and advanced to second base on apassed ball. Two batters later,Reggie Jackson hit into afielder's choice, which allowed DeCinces to score the only run of the game.[12] Due to the passed ball, Hough was credited with anunearned run.[12] In the bottom of the seventh inning, Witt was in danger of walkingWayne Tolleson, who had a count of three balls and no strikes.[14] Witt assumed Tolleson was not going to swing at the next two pitches, and threw two strikes.[14] After the second strike, Witt walked halfway toward Tolleson in an attempt to intimidate him.[15] On the next pitch, Tolleson grounded out tosecond basemanRob Wilfong.[15]
By this point, many people within the stadium began to realize Witt was pitching a perfect game.[16] Witt's wife Lisa was in attendance, and although she did not know what a perfect game was, she did know her husband was pitching ano-hitter.[16] JournalistRoss Newhan was writing a wrap-up story about the Angels season and a preview of the playoffs for theLos Angeles Times and was not closely paying attention to the game until the sixth inning.[16] Newhan admitted he rooted for the Rangers to get a baserunner, because he did not want to completely rewrite his story in such a short time.[16]Tim Kurkjian ofThe Dallas Morning News echoed this remark, and said he only started caring about the game once he noticed the Rangers did not have any baserunners.[17]
In the eighth inning, Parrish hit a long fly ball that Witt initially assumed was going to be ahome run beforeMike Brown caught it at thewarning track.[18] Witt then struck out the next two batters and took the perfect game into the ninth inning.[9] After another strikeout fromTom Dunbar, Witt induced a ground out frompinch hitterBobby Jones.[9] The final out came on a ground out from pinch hitterMarv Foley, in what was the lastat bat of his career.[19] The game lasted 1 hour and 49 minutes, and Witt had thrown 94 pitches.[8] According toESPN, Witt threw 55curveballs, 37fastballs, and 2changeups.[8] Of the 27 batters he faced, Witt struck out 10, and had agame score of 97.[9]
After recording the final out, Witt's teammates mobbed him on thepitcher's mound and began celebrating.[6] In a post-game interview, Witt admitted that although he knew he was potentially throwing a perfect game as early as the fourth inning, he was still more focused on simply winning the game.[19] It was only after the Angels took the lead in the seventh inning that he began to fixate on the idea of completing the perfect game.[19] Rangers managerDoug Rader complained that the Rangers players were affected by the glare of the sun and that they had a hard time seeing pitches.[6] Rader said to reporters: "No one could see the son of a bitch ... but I'm not saying that to detract from what the kid did. This was no fluke."[6] Some Rangers players also complained thatumpireGreg Kosc gave Witt too large of astrike zone.[19] Hough praised Witt, and said "I sawJerry Reuss andJohn Candelaria pitch no-hitters, but this was by far the most overpowering. I mean, this was no contest."[8]
James Buckley, the author of the bookPerfect: The Inside Story of Baseball's Sixteen Perfect Games, described Witt's perfect game as arguably the least publicized perfect game sinceWorld War II.[20] The perfect game occurred on the final day of the season between two teams who had already been eliminated, while simultaneously aNational Football League game between theDallas Cowboys andChicago Bears was underway.[21] The following day, Dallas newspapers like theDallas Times Herald barely mentioned Witt's perfect game, and as a result, many people within theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex were unaware of what had happened.[21] Witt made one televised appearance onGood Morning America talking about the game.[21]
In 1985, Witt became theace of the Angels pitching staff, and the following season, Witt finished with awin-loss record of 18–10.[22] The Angels reached theAmerican League Championship Series, but lost to theBoston Red Sox in seven games.[23] Witt was anAll-Star in 1986 and 1987, but his pitching began to worsen, and in 1990 he was traded to theNew York Yankees forDave Winfield.[5][24] After several injuries and two mediocre seasons with the Yankees, Witt retired following the 1993 season.[25] Whenever Witt went into aslump, he rewatched footage of his perfect game and tried to figure out what worked in that game and how to replicate it.[25] Witt finished his career with a win-loss record of 117–116, and a 3.83 ERA.[5]
Statistics taken fromBaseball-Reference.com[9]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels (81–81) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas Rangers (69–92) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Mike Witt (15-11) LP:Charlie Hough (16-14) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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