A perfect game, by definition, is also ano-hitter, and is also guaranteed to result in awin and ashutout if the game does not go intoextra innings. In leagues that use aWBSC tiebreaker (including MLB since 2020), runners are placed on second base, and in some leagues, also on first base at the start of each half-inning during extra innings; this automatic runner would not cause a perfect game to be lost. Therefore, if the runner advances and scores without any batters reaching base (by means ofstolen base, sacrifice, fielder's choice, etc.), and this turns out to be the winning run, then the losing team will still be credited with a perfect game, despite losing the game. Afieldingerror that does not allow a batter to reach base, such as a misplayed foul ball, does not spoil a perfect game.[3] Games that last fewer than nine innings, regardless of cause, in which a team has no baserunners do not qualify as perfect games. Games in which a team reaches first base only inextra innings also do not qualify as perfect games.
The first known use of the termperfect game was in1908; its current definition was formalized in1991. InMajor League Baseball (MLB), it has been achieved24 times – 22 times since the modern era began in 1901,most recently byDomingo Germán of theNew York Yankees on June 28, 2023, against theOakland Athletics. Although it is possible for two or more pitchers to combine for a perfect game (which has happened 21 times in MLB no-hitters[4]), every MLB perfect game has been thrown by a single pitcher.[5] A combined perfect game occurred in Game 5 of the2007 Japan Series ofNippon Professional Baseball.
As of 2024[update], theMajor League Baseball definition of a perfect game is largely an adjunct to the decision made by the major leagues' Committee for Statistical Accuracy on September 4, 1991, to redefine ano-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.[6] 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 does not receive credit for a perfect game or a no-hitter forhis performance on May 26, 1959, when he threw 12 perfect innings against theMilwaukee Braves before a batter reached in the 13th.[7]
Since MLB implementation of the softball variant of theWBSC tie-breaker in 2020, the offensive team is awarded a free runner on second base each half-inning during extra innings.[8] This itself would not end a perfect game, even if the runner scores or is erased on a double play. Another rule change effective for two seasons (2020–2021) stipulated that games that are part ofdoubleheaders last only seven innings. Such a game in which one team did not reach first base would not have been credited as a perfect game (similar to weather-shortened games). However, if such a doubleheader game were to have at least twoextra innings and one team still did not reach first base, then the game would have been credited as a perfect game.[9] During those two seasons, no potential perfect games were affected but there were two potential no-hitters affected.
Both rule changes were expected to be reversed prior to the 2022 season, but the international tiebreaker was permanently added to theOfficial rules of Major League Baseball regular season rules in February 2023.[10] The WBSC tiebreaker is not used in postseason play.
The first known occurrence of the termperfect game in print was in 1908. I. E. Sanborn's report for theChicago Tribune aboutAddie Joss's performance against theWhite 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".[11] Several sources have claimed that the first recorded usage ofperfect game was byErnest J. Lanigan in hisBaseball Cyclopedia, made in reference toCharlie Robertson's 1922 perfect game.[12] TheChicago Tribune came close to the term in describingLee Richmond's game forWorcester in 1880: "Richmond was most effectively supported, every position on the home nine being played to perfection."[13] Similarly, in writing upJohn Montgomery Ward's 1880 perfect game, theNew York Clipper described the "perfect play" of Providence's defense.[14]
There has been one perfect game in theWorld Series, thrown byDon Larsen for theNew York Yankees against theBrooklyn Dodgers on October 8, 1956. By coincidence, Larsen, and the catcher for that game,Yogi Berra, were in attendance when Yankee pitcherDavid Cone threw a perfect game in 1999. Larsen and Berra had been invited to throw and catch the ceremonial first pitch.[15]
The most recent perfect game for MLB occurred onJune 28, 2023, withDomingo Germán of theNew York Yankees against theOakland Athletics in an 11–0 victory, finishing with 9 strikeouts.[18] Germán became the first-ever pitcher born in theDominican Republic to throw a perfect game in the MLB, as well as the third-ever non-American-born player to do so, and was the first pitcher to throw a perfect game with thepitch clock and batting clock rules in effect.[19]
In Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the first perfect game was thrown byHideo Fujimoto of the Giants on June 28, 1950, against the Nishi Nippon Pirates.[20] 16 total have been thrown in NPB, with the most recent perfect game for NPB byChiba Lotte Marines pitcherRōki Sasaki onApril 10, 2022.[21] Sasaki tied an existing NPB record bystriking out 19 batters, and set a new world record by striking out 13 consecutive batters.[22] Sasaki compiled agame score of 106, surpassing the 105 forKerry Wood's 20 strikeout game from the1998 Major League Baseball season, which was the highest MLB game score since the end of thebaseball color line.[23][24] On November 1, 2007, a combined perfect game was thrown by theChunichi Dragons during Game 5 of the2007 Japan Series. Starting pitcherDaisuke Yamai pitched eight perfect innings and received the win, withHitoki Iwase pitching a perfect ninth inning and receiving thesave; the Dragons' victory also resulted in them winning the Japan Series. Although NPB does not recognize this as a perfect game due to it not being acomplete game, it is recognized as a perfect game by theWorld Baseball Softball Confederation. This makes it the only perfect game thrown during the Japan Series, and the only combined perfect game in history to span a regulation nine innings.[25]
Four Puerto Rico pitchers combined for an 8-inning perfect game against Israel in the2023 World Baseball Classic. StarterJosé De León recorded ten strikeouts in5+2⁄3 innings, and relieversYacksel Rios,Edwin Diaz, andDuane Underwood Jr. recorded seven more outs before the game ended early because of the mercy rule. It was ruled to not be an official perfect game by theElias Sports Bureau as they stipulate that a perfect game must last at least 9 innings. De León responded to this saying "It's perfect for us".[31]
^Deutsch et al. (1975), p. 68. This source also includes an 1880 clipping from theNew York Herald describingLee Richmond's perfect game for Worcester. A double error by Cleveland resulted in the lone run scoring, and the writer described it as "the only lapse from perfect play made by the Clevelands during the game"; the use of the word "perfect" in this context refers only to defensive play, a different meaning than its modern baseball sense, as Cleveland's pitcher also surrendered three hits and a walk. See Deutsch et al. (1975), p. 14. Writeups for the Ward perfect game of 1880 and the Young game of 1904 describe the games as "wonderful" and other effusive terms, but do not use the term "perfect game".
^Buckley (2002), p. 16, citing Paul Dickson,The Dickson Baseball Dictionary (1989); Coffey (2004), p. 50. TheBaseball Cyclopedia reference came in a supplement to the 1922 edition of the book (a publication ofBaseball Magazine) and was worded thus: "Charles Robertson of Chicago Americans pitched an absolutely perfect no-hit game against Detroit on April 30, 1922, no one reaching first." The publication listed all the perfect games to that point (a total of five, including Robertson's) and used the term "perfect game" matter-of-factly, possibly indicating the term was already familiar to the readership. Lanigan's work references a 1914 book calledBalldom as a source for his list of perfect games, althoughBalldom itself does not use the term "perfect game", merely characterizing the games as "no batter reached first base." Lanigan was also familiar with Sanborn's baseball articles, making various references to him elsewhere in theCyclopedia, although there is nothing indicating that Sanborn necessarily inspired Lanigan's use of the term.
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