Finding Perfect Game Pitcher Is Impossible These Days

By Dan Schlossberg

Complete games are rare. No-hitters are scarce. And perfect games may be tucked into a cozy corner of Cooperstown forever.

Baseball history shows only two-dozen — two of them in the 19th century — and no repeaters. In fact, such luminaries as Nolan Ryan (seven no-hitters) and Warren Spahn (363 wins, 382 complete games) never pitched one.

Nolan Ryan threw seven no-hitters but never had a perfect game.Photo byBaseball Hall of Fame

The New York Yankees had the most perfect games, with Don Larsen the first and most famous because it occurred during the 1956 World Series. David Wells, David Cone, and the illustrious Domingo German just last year also turned the trick in pinstripes.

Oddly, the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers, along with the Tampa Bay Rays, finished on the wrong end of perfectos three times each, a dubious major-league record.

Not to be overlooked is the “feat” of the 2012 Seattle Mariners, the only team to win a perfect game (Felix Hernandez) and lose one (vs. Philip Humber) in the same season.

Perfect games are more difficult to predict than an earthquake. They’ve been thrown by Hall of Famers, from Cy Young and Catfish Hunter to Sandy Koufax and Randy Johnson, and by journeymen, including German, Humber, and Dallas Braden.

Braden, joining Hunter as the only Athletics to enjoy a day of perfection, threw his gem on Mother’s Day 46 years after Jim Bunning, father of nine, blanked the Mets at the just-opened Shea Stadium on Father’s Day.

Nostalgia may be nice but it doesn’t have longevity.

By any measure, perfect games are a dying breed. Only eight have been thrown in the 21st century, with German’s gem the only one since the fluke year of 2012, when three were recorded (Humber, Fernandez, and Matt Cain).

Why is perfect game frequency a victim of shrinkage?

Beyond umpire malfeasance (see Armando Galarraga, deprived of a perfect game in the ninth inning when umpire Jim Joyce missed an obvious out call at first base), there’s a myriad of reasons.

The main factor is that pitchers seldom complete what they start, thanks to managers and coaches convinced that pitch counts (usually 100 pitches or so) rather than actual eye-tests tell them when to remove starters.

In 2023, for example, the two pitchers whose three complete games tied for the most in the majors (Sandy Alcantara and Jordan Lyles) posted a combined record of 13-29, indicating they played for bad teams whose managers saw no need to lift them early.

With just a handful of complete games, no-hitters are more likely to be combined efforts than solo accomplishments. Just ask the Houston Astros, who once needed six pitchers to no-hit the mighty Yankees.

There has never been a combined perfect game and probably won’t be.

Just as The 300 Club has 24 members, Club Perfecto does too. Here they are, in chronological order:

Lee Richmond and John Ward (both 1980); Cy Young (1904); Addie Joss (1908); Charlie Robertson (1922); Don Larsen (1956 World Series); Jim Bunning (1964); Sandy Koufax (1965); Catfish Hunter (1968); Len Barker (1981); Mike Witt (1984); Tom Browning (1988); Dennis Martinez (1991); Kenny Rogers (1994); David Wells (1998); David Cone (1999); Randy Johnson (2004); Mark Buehrle (2009); Dallas Braden (2010); Roy Halladay (2010); Philip Humber, Matt Cain, and Felix Hernandez (2012); and Domingo German (2023).

Here’s The Pitch weekend editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ covers baseball for forbes.com, USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Sports Collectors Digest, Memories & Dreams, and other outlets. He’s also the author of Home Run King: the Remarkable Record of Hank Aaron, published by Skyhorse in May. Dan’s email is ballauthor@gmail.com.