List of Major League Baseball perfect games
Over the 150 years of Major League Baseball history, and over 218,400 games played, there have been 23 official perfect games by the current definition. No pitcher has ever thrown more than one. The perfect game thrown by Don Larsen in game 5 of the 1956 World Series is the only postseason perfect game in major league history and one of only two postseason no-hitters. The first two major league perfect games, and the only two of the premodern era, were thrown in 1880, five days apart. The frequency of perfect games  has increased significantly since 1981. Fourteen perfect games were thrown in the 40 seasons from 1980 through 2019, while only nine were thrown in the 100-plus prior seasons. There were three perfect games in 2012; the only other year of the modern era in which as many as two were thrown was 2010. By contrast, there have been spans of 23 and 33 consecutive seasons in which no perfect game was thrown. Though two perfect-game bids have gone into extra innings, no extra-inning game has ever been completed to perfection. History. The first two pitchers to accomplish  the feat did so under rules that differed in many important respects from those of today's game: in 1880, for example, only underhand pitching—from a flat, marked-out box 45 feet from home plate—was allowed, it took eight balls to draw a walk, and a batter was not awarded first base if hit by a pitch. Lee Richmond, a left-handed pitcher for the Worcester Ruby Legs, threw the first perfect game. He played professional baseball for six years and pitched full-time for only three, finishing with a losing record. The second perfect game was thrown  by John Montgomery Ward for the Providence Grays. Ward, a decent pitcher who became an excellent position player, went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Though convention has it that the modern era of Major League Baseball begins in 1900, the essential rules of the modern game were in place by the 1893 season. That year the pitching distance was moved back to 60 feet, 6 inches, where it remains, and the pitcher's box was replaced by a rubber slab against which the pitcher was required to place his rear foot. Two other crucial rules  changes had been made in recent years: In 1887, the rule awarding a hit batsman first base was instituted in the National League (this had been the rule in the American Association since 1884: first by the umpire's judgment of the impact; as of the following year, virtually automatically). In 1889, the number of balls required for a walk was reduced to four. Thus, from 1893 on, pitchers sought perfection in a game whose most important rules are the same as today, with two significant exceptions: counting a foul ball as a first or second strike, enforced by the  National League as of 1901 and by the American League two years later, and the use of the designated hitter in American League games since the 1973 season. Pitchers. During baseball's modern era, 21 pitchers have thrown perfect games. Most were accomplished major leaguers. Seven have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame: Cy Young, Addie Joss, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Randy Johnson, and Roy Halladay. David Cone won the Cy Young Award once, pitched a 19-strikeout game, has five World Series rings, and was named to five All-Star teams. Félix Hernández is likewise  a one-time Cy Young winner, as well as a six-time All-Star. Four other perfect-game throwers, Dennis Martínez, Kenny Rogers, David Wells and Mark Buehrle each won over 200 major league games. Others include Matt Cain, a three-time All-Star, and pitched well in the postseason for two World Series–winning Giants teams. Mike Witt was a two-time All-Star who finished 3rd for the 1986 Cy Young Award, going 117–116. Tom Browning was a one-time All-Star with a career record of 123–90, and pitched for the 1990 World Series winning Cincinnati Reds . Don Larsen, Charlie Robertson, and Len Barker were journeyman pitchers—each finished his major-league career with a losing record; Barker made one All-Star team, Larsen none. (Robertson played his entire career before the establishment of the MLB All-Star Game.) Dallas Braden retired with a 26–36 record after five seasons due to a shoulder injury. Philip Humber's perfect game was the only complete game he ever recorded, and his major league career, in which he went 16–23, ended the year after he threw it. Major League Baseball perfect games. 19th century. Note that the pitching rules in  effect in 1880 were very different from those of the modern game. Only underhand pitching was permitted, and the batter had the right to call for the ball high, low, or "middle" (belt-high). There was no strike zone; whether a pitch was "good" or "unfair" was left to the umpire's sole discretion, and foul balls were not counted as strikes. The pitching distance was 45 feet (that however was the front edge of the 6-foot-deep pitcher's box, not the push-off point represented by the modern pitching rubber). Lee Richmond. Richmond was pitching in his  first full season in the big leagues after appearing in one game in 1879. He was apparently considered a good hitter, as he batted second in the lineup. His perfect game featured an unusual 9–3 putout, with Worcester right fielder Lon Knight throwing out Cleveland's Bill Phillips at first. The play came on one of three balls Cleveland hit out of the infield. Three outs were recorded on "foul bounds": balls caught after bouncing once in foul territory (the foul bound rule was eliminated three years later). In the seventh inning, the game was delayed for seven minutes due  to rain; Richmond dried the ball off with sawdust when he returned to the mound. A monument marks the site of the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds where the game took place, located on the campus of the now-closed Becker College. The feat was recognized as unusual: a newspaper report described it as "the most wonderful game on record". John Montgomery Ward. Monte Ward threw his perfect game at the Grays' park in Providence, but Buffalo, by virtue of a coin toss, which was the custom under the rules at that time, was officially the "home" team, batting in the bottom  of each inning. At the age of 20 years, 105 days, Ward is the youngest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game. He batted sixth in the lineup. Beginning in 1881, the year after his perfect game, Ward spent more time as a position player than a pitcher; in 1885, following an arm injury, he became a full-time infielder. The five days between Ward's game and Richmond's is the shortest amount of time between major-league perfect games. World Series era (1903–present). Cy Young. Young's perfect game was part of a hitless streak of 24  or 25⅓ straight innings—depending on whether partial innings at either end of the streak are included. In either calculation, the streak remains a record. It was also part of a streak of 45 straight innings in which Young did not give up a run, which was then a record. Addie Joss. Joss's was the most pressure-packed of any regular-season perfect game. With just four games left on their schedule, the Cleveland Naps were involved in a three-way pennant race with the Tigers and the White Sox, that day's opponents. Joss's counterpart, Ed Walsh , struck out 15 and gave up just four scattered singles. The lone, unearned run scored as a result of a botched pickoff play and a wild pitch. The Naps ended the day tied with the Tigers for first, with the White Sox two games back; the Tigers won the league by a half game over the Naps. Joss threw a second no-hitter against the White Sox in 1910, making him, Tim Lincecum and Justin Verlander the only major league pitchers ever to throw two no-hitters against the same team. Charlie Robertson. Robertson's perfect game was only his  fifth appearance, and fourth start, in the big leagues. He finished his career with a 49–80 record, the fewest wins of any perfect-game pitcher until Dallas Braden; Robertson's winning percentage of .380 remains the lowest of anyone who ever threw a perfect game. The Tigers, led by player-manager Ty Cobb, accused Robertson of illegally doctoring the ball with oil or grease. In terms of the opposing team's ability to get on base, this is statistically the most unlikely of perfectos: the 1922 Tigers had an on-base percentage (OBP) of .373. Don Larsen. Larsen did not  know he would pitch in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series until a few hours before game time. This was his second start of the Series; he had lasted less than two innings in Game 2. In his perfect game, Larsen employed the style he had adopted in mid-season, working without a windup. Just one Dodgers batter—Pee Wee Reese, in the first inning—worked a three-ball count. The Dodgers had the highest season winning percentage of any team ever to lose a perfect game: .604. The image of catcher Yogi Berra leaping into Larsen's arms  after the final strike is one of the most famous in baseball history. The 34 years between Robertson's feat and Larsen's is the longest gap between perfect games. Jim Bunning. Bunning's perfect game, pitched on Father's Day, was the first in the National League since Ward's 84 years before. Defying the baseball superstition that holds one should not talk about a no-hitter in progress, Bunning spoke to his teammates about the perfect game as it developed to loosen them up and relieve the pressure. Sandy Koufax. Koufax's perfect game was the first one  pitched at night. It was nearly a double no-hitter, as Cubs pitcher Bob Hendley gave up only one hit, a bloop double to left fielder Lou Johnson in the seventh inning that did not figure in the scoring. The Dodgers scored their only run in the fifth inning: Lou Johnson reached first on a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt, stole third, and scored when Cubs catcher Chris Krug overthrew third base on the play. The game also set records for the fewest hits by both teams, one, and the fewest base runners by both teams, two  (both Johnson). Koufax's 14 strikeouts are tied with Matt Cain for the most ever thrown by a perfect game pitcher. Catfish Hunter. Hunter, a talented batter, was also the hitting star of his perfect game. He went 3 for 4 with a double and 3 RBIs, including a bunt single that drove home the first and thus winning run in the seventh inning—easily the best offensive performance ever by a perfect game pitcher. At 22 years and 30 days old, Hunter was the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game in the modern era. This was the first  no-hitter of the Athletics' Oakland tenure, which on this Wednesday night was only 25 games old. Len Barker. Barker's perfect game was the first one in which designated hitters were used. He did not reach a three-ball count in the entire game. Toronto shortstop Alfredo Griffin, who played for the losing team in this game, went on to play for the losers in the perfect games of Browning and Martínez. Also on the losing end of this game was Danny Ainge, who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association. All 11 of Barker's strikeouts were  swinging. Mike Witt. Witt's perfect game came on the last day of the 1984 season. Reggie Jackson, who drove in the only run of the game on a seventh-inning fielder's choice ground ball, was also on the winning team in Catfish Hunter's perfect game. On April 11, 1990, Witt, pitching out of the bullpen, combined with starting pitcher Mark Langston to throw a no-hitter for the California Angels. Tom Browning. Browning's perfect game, for the Cincinnati Reds against the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 1988, came against the team that eventually won that year 's World Series, one of only four times that has happened. A two-hour, twenty-seven-minute rain delay caused the game to start at approximately 10 p.m. Right fielder Paul O'Neill, who played for the winning side in this game, also played for the winning side in the perfect games of Wells and Cone. The following July 4, Browning came within an inning of becoming the first pitcher to throw two perfect games, retiring the first 24 batters in a game against the Phillies before surrendering a leadoff double in the ninth. Dennis Martínez. Martínez, born in Granada, Nicaragua , was the first major league pitcher born outside of the United States to throw a perfect game. He achieved the feat for the Montreal Expos against the Los Angeles Dodgers in July 1991. Opposing pitcher Mike Morgan was perfect through five full innings, the latest the opposing starter in a perfect game has remained perfect. Two days earlier, Expos pitcher Mark Gardner no-hit the Dodgers through nine innings but lost the no-hitter in the tenth, meaning the Expos narrowly missed throwing a no-hitter and a perfect game in the same series. Martínez's catcher, Ron Hassey, had  also caught Len Barker's perfect game. This was the third perfect game pitched against the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, joining those of Larsen and Browning; the only other teams to lose more than one perfect game are the Twins (Hunter and Wells) and the Rays (Buehrle, Hernandez and Braden). Kenny Rogers. Rogers benefited from center fielder Rusty Greer's fantastic diving catch of a line drive hit by Rex Hudler, leading off the ninth inning. Rogers' performance against the Angels came 10 seasons after Witt's perfect game against the Rangers. The Angels and Rangers are the only major  league teams to record perfect games against each other. The home plate umpire was a minor league fill-in, Ed Bean, who was working his 29th Major League game and seventh behind the plate. At the time, Bean was substituting for 17-year veteran Ken Kaiser and worked only seven more MLB games following Rogers' performance. David Wells. Wells attended the same high school as Don Larsen: Point Loma High School, San Diego, California. They also both enjoyed the night life. Casey Stengel once said of Larsen, "The only thing he fears is sleep." Wells has claimed to have been  half-drunk and suffering from a "raging, skull-rattling hangover" during his perfect game. Wells' perfect game comprised the core of a streak of 38 consecutive retired batters (May 12–23, 1998), an American League record he held until 2007. David Cone. Cone's perfect game occurred on Yogi Berra Day. Don Larsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Berra, who had been his catcher during the 1956 World Series perfect game. As the game wore on, television cameras showed Larsen, the only perfect game pitcher to attend another perfect game. No Expo worked even a three-ball count. Cone 's perfect game, which took only 88 pitches, was interrupted by a 33-minute rain delay and is the only one to date in regular-season interleague play. Following teammate Wells's perfect game the previous season, this also represents the only time two successive perfect games have been thrown by the same team. Randy Johnson. Johnson threw his perfect game at the age of 40 years, 256 days, becoming by more than three and a half years the oldest pitcher to achieve the feat. The former holder of the mark, Cy Young, threw his at the age of 37  years, 37 days. Johnson is also the tallest perfect game pitcher at 6' 10", surpassing Mike Witt by three inches. Of the teams to have a perfect game thrown against them, the 2004 Braves have the second-highest OBP (.343) and are tied for the second-highest winning percentage (.593). In contrast, the Diamondbacks had by far the worst season winning percentage (.315) of any team to benefit from a perfect game. Mark Buehrle. Buehrle was assisted by a dramatic ninth-inning wall-climbing catch by center fielder DeWayne Wise to rob Gabe Kapler of a home run; Wise had  just entered the game as a defensive replacement before Kapler's at-bat. This was the first major league perfect game in which the pitcher and catcher were battery-mates for the first time; Ramón Castro had been acquired by the White Sox less than two months before. This was also the first perfect game to feature a grand slam, by Josh Fields in the bottom of the second inning. Umpire Eric Cooper, who called the game, had been behind the plate for Buehrle's previous no-hitter. On July 28, Buehrle followed up with another 5 2/3 perfect innings  to set the major league record for consecutive batters retired at 45 (this includes the final batter he faced in his appearance before the perfect game). That record was broken by Yusmeiro Petit of the San Francisco Giants in 2014. Dallas Braden. Braden's perfect game, pitched on Mother's Day, was the first complete game of his career. His grandmother attended the game and celebrated on the field with him. It was the first time a perfect game had been pitched against the team with the best record in the majors at the time; coming into the contest, the  Rays were 22–8. The 2010 Rays are tied for the second-highest winning percentage (.593) of any team to be on the receiving end of a perfect game. MLB's previous perfect game had also been thrown against the Rays, making them the second team to have successive perfect games against them (the first was the Dodgers in 1988 and 1991). This game came 290 days after Buehrle's, the shortest period between modern-day perfect games—a record which lasted just three weeks, until Halladay's perfect game. Roy Halladay. Halladay, of the Philadelphia Phillies, pitched a perfect game  on May 29, 2010 against the Florida Marlins, the second perfect game of the 2010 season 20 days after Braden's, the shortest period between perfect games in the modern era. Mark Buehrle's perfect game had been 10 months earlier, marking the first time that three perfect games occurred within a one-year span. Seven batters reached three-ball counts against Halladay. Halladay nearly pitched a second perfect game in the 2010 NL Division Series against the Reds but gave up a walk to Jay Bruce. The hurler had to settle for a no-hitter and became the only  perfect game pitcher to throw another no-hitter in the same season, and the fifth with two no-hitters. Halladay is the second pitcher to throw a perfect game and win the Cy Young Award in the same season; Sandy Koufax did so in 1965. Philip Humber. On April 21, 2012, Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched the third perfect game in White Sox history. The final out of Humber's perfect game came after a full-count check-swing third strike to Brendan Ryan on a ball that catcher A. J. Pierzynski dropped. As Ryan disputed umpire  Brian Runge's decision that he had swung, Pierzynski threw the ball to first base for the final out. As with Braden, Humber's perfect game was the first complete game of his career. Humber's lifetime major league record of 16-23 gives him the fewest career wins of any pitcher who has thrown an MLB perfect game. The White Sox became the second franchise with three perfect games, joining the Yankees. Matt Cain. On June 13, 2012, Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants pitched the first perfect game in Giants franchise history, the second of three in  2012, and the 22nd in MLB history. Third baseman Joaquín Árias threw out Jason Castro for the final out on a chopped grounder he fielded deep behind the bag. Cain tallied 14 strikeouts, tying Sandy Koufax for the most strikeouts in a perfect game. Cain's 125 pitches are the most ever thrown in a perfect game. Cain was aided by a running catch at the wall by Melky Cabrera in the 6th and a diving catch by Gregor Blanco in the 7th. The winning Giants scored 10 runs, making this the highest-scoring perfect game. Home plate umpire Ted  Barrett had also called Cone's perfect game, making him the only person to call two; having umpired at third base for Humber's game, Barrett also became just the second man, after Alfredo Griffin, to have been on the field for three perfect games—within two months; since then, there have been four more. Félix Hernández. On August 15, 2012, Félix Hernández of the Seattle Mariners threw the 23rd perfect game in MLB history (and the first in August) against the Tampa Bay Rays. This was the first perfect game in Mariners history, and the franchise's fourth no -hitter; it also made 2012 the first and to date only MLB season in which three perfect games were recorded. Hernandez's performance was highlighted by 12 strikeouts and a career-high 26 swinging-strikes. In an on-field interview immediately following the last out, Hernandez said he had started thinking about the possibility of a perfect game in the second inning. It was the third time in the past four seasons that Tampa Bay was on the losing side of a perfect game. Four Rays—Evan Longoria, Carlos Peña, B.J. Upton, and Ben Zobrist—joined Alfredo Griffin in having  played in three perfect games for the losing team; all four also participated in Buehrle's and Braden's. General notes. Three perfect-game pitchers had RBIs in their games: Hunter (3), Bunning (2), and Young (1). Hunter had three hits; Richmond, Ward, Bunning, Martínez, and Cain each had one. Cain is the only pitcher to score a run during a perfect game (Gregor Blanco followed him in the order and hit a home run). Barker, Witt, Rogers, Wells, Cone, Buehrle, Braden, Humber, and Hernández did not bat in their perfect games, as the American League adopted the designated hitter  rule in 1973. The latest the winning run has been scored in a perfect game is the seventh inning—this occurred in the games of Hunter (bottom), Witt (top), and Martínez (top). Seven perfect-game pitchers have also thrown at least one additional no-hitter: Young, Joss, Bunning, Koufax, Johnson, Buehrle, and Halladay. Witt participated in a combined no-hitter. Koufax has the most total no-hitters of any perfect-game pitcher, with four. Richmond and Robertson were rookies, though each had made a single appearance in a previous season. Although by the latter part of the twentieth century, major  league games were being played predominantly at night, six of the last ten perfect games, and four of the last six, have taken place in the daytime. Since 1973, nine perfect games have been thrown with the DH rule in effect (including one interleague game held at an American League park) and only five without it. Perfect games by team. Of the thirty franchises that currently make up Major League Baseball, seven have never as of the end of the 2021 season been involved in a perfect game, win or lose, including three of the "Original 16" franchises (the Cardinals , Pirates, and Orioles) and four of the fourteen teams that joined MLB in the expansion era (the Royals, Brewers, Padres, and Rockies). Unofficial perfect games. There have been three instances in which a major league pitcher retired every player he faced over nine innings without allowing a baserunner, but, by the current definition, is not credited with a perfect game, either because there was already a baserunner when he took the mound, or because the game went into extra innings and an opposing player eventually reached base: Four other games in which one team failed to reach base are not  official perfect games because they were called off before nine innings were played: Perfect games spoiled by the 27th batter. On thirteen occasions in Major League Baseball history, a perfect game has been spoiled when a batter reached base with two out in the ninth inning. Unless otherwise noted, the pitcher in question finished and won the game without allowing any more baserunners. Note that since the National League usually has the pitcher bat in this spot, the 27th batter is usually a pinch-hitter, which was the case in 4 of the 5 National League perfect games spoiled: Other  notable near-perfect games. Nine or more consecutive innings of perfection. There have been fifteen occasions in Major League Baseball history when a pitcher—or, in one case, multiple pitchers—recorded at least 27 consecutive outs after one or more runners reached base. In four instances, the game went into extra innings and the pitcher(s) recorded "more" than 27 consecutive outs: In the eleven other instances, the leadoff batter (or batters) reached base in the first inning, followed by 27 consecutive batters (or batters and baserunners) being retired through the end of a nine-inning game. In two cases, the  leadoff baserunner was retired, meaning the pitcher faced the minimum: The remaining instances in which a pitcher recorded 27 consecutive outs in a game, noting how the opponent's leadoff batter (or batters) reached base: No-hit, no-walk, no-hit batsman games. In Major League Baseball play since 1893, with the essential modern rules in place, there have been twelve instances when a pitcher allowed not a single baserunner through his pitching efforts over a complete game of at least nine innings, but was not awarded a perfect game because of one or more fielding errors, or a dropped  third strike: No otherwise perfect game in major league history has ever been spoiled solely by interference or an outfield error. Minimum batters faced. There also have been games in which one or more batters reached base, but the pitcher nonetheless faced the minimum 27 for a complete game. On July 7, 2007, Érik Bédard of the Baltimore Orioles gave up two singles to the Texas Rangers, but both base-runners were putout by double plays. On April 18, 2007 Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers. The lone base runner was  Sammy Sosa who reached on a walk in the 5th inning. He was subsequently thrown out on a pickoff. On May 29, 2014 Josh Collmenter of the Arizona Diamondbacks gave up three hits in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, all three baserunners were involved in double plays. No-hitters with a single baserunner. There have been a handful of no hitters where only a single walk, error, or other method of reaching base without a hit has been the sole spoiler of a perfect game. Below is a list of each time this has happened since 1901. Combined near -perfect games. On July 14, 2019 two pitchers, Ryne Stanek and Ryan Yarbrough of the Tampa Bay Rays, threw eight innings of a perfect game versus the Baltimore Orioles before the latter's ninth inning leadoff batter, Hanser Alberto, hit a single. On April 13, 2022, Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers threw 7 perfect innings versus the Minnesota Twins before Dave Roberts removed him from the game. Kershaw had only thrown 80 pitches. Alex Vesia relieved Kershaw and gave up a single to Gary Sanchez in the eighth inning to end the bid for the perfect game. List