Perfect Games by Pitchers : Perfect Game Box Scores, Perfect Game Stats, Perfect Game Pitchers and more by Baseball Almanac

Perfect Games

Words alone cannot describe pitching's top "club" and most desired goal — the masterpiece of any career, the pinnacle of the pitching aspect and one of the most difficult feats to achieve in the entire game of baseball is the perfect game.

What is a perfect game in baseball? Author Paul Dickson in The New Baseball Dictionary (1999) describes it best with, "A no-hitter in which no opposing player reaches first base, either by a base hit, base on balls, hit batter, or fielding error; i.e., the pitcher or pitchers retire all twenty-seven opposing batters in order." Note: A bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.

"The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass all the time." - Perfect Game Club Member & Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter (commenting on why he was not able to pitch another perfect game)

Perfect Games "Official" Perfect Games
Pitcher ^(Age)	Date / Box Score	Match-Up					Attendance	Time
Cy Young ⁽³⁷⁾	05-05-1904	Boston	3	vs	Philadelphia	0	10,267	1:23
Addie Joss ⁽²⁸⁾	10-02-1908	Cleveland	1	vs	Chicago	0	10,598	1:29
Charlie Robertson ⁽²⁶⁾	04-30-1922	Chicago	2	at	Detroit	0	25,000	1:55
Don Larsen ⁽²⁷⁾	10-08-1956	New York	2	vs	Brooklyn	0	64,519	2:06
Catfish Hunter ⁽²²⁾	05-08-1968	Oakland	4	vs	Minnesota	0	6,298	2:28
Len Barker ⁽²⁵⁾	05-15-1981	Cleveland	3	vs	Toronto	0	7,290	2:09
Mike Witt ⁽²⁴⁾	09-30-1984	California	1	at	Texas	0	8,375	1:49
Kenny Rogers ⁽²⁹⁾	07-28-1994	Texas	4	vs	California	0	45,581	2:08
David Wells ⁽³⁴⁾	05-17-1998	New York	4	vs	Minnesota	0	49,820	2:40
David Cone ⁽³⁶⁾	07-18-1999	New York	6	vs	Montreal	0	41,930	2:16
Perfect Games "Official" Perfect Games
Pitcher ^(Age)	Date / Box Score	Match-Up					Attendance	Time
Lee Richmond ⁽²³⁾	06-12-1880	Worcester	1	vs	Cleveland	0	0	1:26
John Ward ⁽²⁰⁾	06-17-1880	Providence	5	vs	Buffalo	0	uk	uk
Jim Bunning ⁽³²⁾	06-21-1964	Philadelphia	6	at	New York	0	32,026	2:19
Sandy Koufax ⁽²⁹⁾	09-09-1965	Los Angeles	1	vs	Chicago	0	29,139	1:43
Tom Browning ⁽²⁸⁾	09-16-1988	Cincinnati	1	vs	Los Angeles	0	16,591	1:51
Dennis Martinez ⁽³⁶⁾	07-28-1991	Montreal	2	at	Los Angeles	0	45,560	2:14
Randy Johnson ⁽⁴⁰⁾	05-18-2004	Arizona	2	at	Atlanta	0	23,381	2:13
Pitcher ^(Age)	Date / Box Score	Match-Up					Attendance	Time
Perfect Game Club

"Un-Official" Perfect Games (Did Not Meet Criteria Set Forth by MLB) Broken Up In Extra Innings
Name	Date / Box Score	Match Up					Notes
Harvey Haddix	05-26-1959	Pittsburgh	0	at	Milwaukee	1	E in 13th
Pedro Martinez	06-03-1995	Montreal	1	at	San Diego	0	H In 10th
"Un-Official" Perfect Games (Did Not Meet Criteria Set Forth by MLB) Less Than Nine Innings
Name	Date / Box Score	Match Up					Notes
Rube Vickers	10-05-1907	Philadelphia	4	at	Washington	0	5 Innings
Dean Chance	08-06-1967	Minnesota	2	vs	Boston	0	5 Innings
"Un-Official" Perfect Games (Did Not Meet Criteria Set Forth by MLB) Less Than Nine Innings
Name	Date / Box Score	Match Up					Notes
Ed Karger	08-11-1907	St. Louis	4	vs	Boston	0	7 Innings
David Palmer	04-21-1984	Montreal	4	at	St. Louis	0	5 Innings
Name	Date / Box Score	Match Up					Notes
"Un-Official" Perfect Game Club

Did you know that Charlie Robertson was the first pitcher to throw a perfect game while pitching on the road? Too easy you say? How about KNOWN pitch counts from perfect games in descending order:

Perfect Game Pitch Counts

Pitcher	Pitches Thrown
David Wells	120
Randy Johnson	117
Sandy Koufax	113
Catfish Hunter	107
Len Barker	103
Tom Browning	102
Kenny Rogers	98
Don Larsen	97
Dennis Martinez	95
Mike Witt	94
Jim Bunning	90
Charlie Robertson	90
David Cone	88
Addie Joss	74

Don Larsen's gem during the 1956 World Series was the first and only perfect game OR no-hitter to occur during the postseason / World Series AND the entire box score is here on Baseball Almanac.

Harvey Haddix and Pedro Martinez both pitched perfectly for nine-plus innings only to lose their perfect games during the late innings. For years, both were considered perfect games until Major League Baseball reversed their decision and changed the rule in respect to what defines a no-hitter and / or perfect game.

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