A perfect game is considered to be the pinnacle of pitching performance and is one of the most difficult achievements in baseball or any sport. It is the masterpiece of a pitcher's career and in Major League Baseball places one in elite company. Over the past 120 years, there have only been 16 perfect games:
Major League Baseball perfect games
| Pitcher | Teams | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Richmond | Worchester vs. Cleveland | June 12, 1880 |
| Monte Ward | Providence vs. Buffalo | June 17, 1880 |
| Cy Young | Boston vs. Philadelphia | May 5, 1904 |
| Addie Joss | Cleveland vs. Chicago | October 2, 1908 |
| Charlie Robertson | Chicago at Detroit | April 30, 1922 |
| Don Larsen | New York vs. Brooklyn | October 8, 1956 |
| Jim Bunning | Philadelphia at New York | June 21, 1964 |
| Sandy Koufax | Los Angeles vs. Chicago | September 9, 1965 |
| Catfish Hunter | Oakland vs. Minnesota | May 8, 1968 |
| Len Barker | Cleveland vs. Toronto | May 15, 1981 |
| Mike Witt | California at Texas | September 30, 1984 |
| Tom Browning | Cincinnati vs. Los Angeles | September 16, 1988 |
| Dennis Martinez | Montreal at Los Angeles | July 28, 1991 |
| Kenny Rogers | Texas vs. California | July 28, 1994 |
| David Wells | New York vs. Minnesota | May 17, 1998 |
| David Cone | New York vs. Montreal | July 18, 1999 |
Larsen pitched the first and only post-season no-hitter/perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series.
On June 23, 1917, Babe Ruth walked the first batter in a game against the Washington Senators. Ruth was so enraged with the calls made by umpire Brick Owens, that Ruth punched Owens in the face and was ejected. Ernie Shore came in to replace Ruth. The runner on first was caught stealing, and Shore proceeded to retire the next 26 batters. All 27 outs were made while Shore was on the mound.
On May 26, 1959, Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates carried a perfect game through an amazing twelve innings against the Milwaukee Braves only to have it broken up with an error in the 13th inning.
On June 3, 1995, Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos had a had a perfect game through nine innings against the San Diego Padres. In the 10th inning, he gave up a leadoff double to Bip Roberts.
Four other "perfect games" are unofficial because the games ended before nine innings were completed.Almost and sort of perfect games