Since Major League Baseball began play in 1876, there have been over 200,000 individual games played in the regular season and playoffs - but only 23 of those have been perfect.
To the untrained eye, those 23 perfect games are the same: one pitcher retires all 27 batters in order. So how, then, do you determine the ultimate display of perfection? It's a difficult task, but the simple line score of a pitcher doesn't always tell the whole story. Not every perfect game is created equal.
Over the next week, theScore is ranking the 23 official perfect games in MLB history, based on everything from opposing lineup strength, to the importance of the game, to the pitcher himself. We start at the bottom with Nos. 23-21.
23-21 | 20-16 | 15-11 | 10-6 | 5-1
23. John Montgomery Ward, 1880
Date: June 17, 1880
Score: Providence Grays 5, Buffalo Bisons 0
Site: Messer Street Grounds
Pitches: N/A
Game Score: N/A
Ward - the only player in baseball history with 100 career wins and 2,000 career hits - threw the second perfect game in baseball history, five days after the first one. It would also be the last National League perfect game for 84 years.
He faced a Buffalo team that finished the season with a league-high 502 runs allowed. Despite being designated as the home team after winning a coin toss (per the rules of the time), Buffalo essentially handed Providence the game after committing seven errors, including two by right fielder Bill Crowley. Ward only struck out two batters while outpitching fellow future Hall of Famer Pud Galvin, who also committed two errors and threw a wild pitch.
While we know his strikeout total, Ward's pitch count is not available and very few concrete details of the game beyond what's in the box score exist. A recap by SABR's John R. Husman cites a newspaper report that described star Providence center fielder Paul Hines' "remarkably fine" defense, and shortstop John Peters having "made some wonderful stops."
Ward is an important figure in baseball history, both on the field as a 19th century star and off it for his work in organizing early attempts at a players' union. But his perfect game is at the bottom of this list, largely because of the scant details surrounding his achievement.
22. Dennis Martinez, 1991
Date: July 28, 1991
Score: Montreal Expos 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 0
Site: Dodger Stadium
Pitches: 96 (66 strikes)
Game Score: 92
Thirty-seven-year-old Montreal Expos right-hander Dennis Martinez hurled the 13th perfect game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles in 1991 during what might have been the finest season of the veteran's career.
'El Presidente' needed 96 pitches to blank a strong Dodgers squad that won 93 games that season and featured Eddie Murray and Darryl Strawberry in the heart of their lineup.
Martinez forced the Dodgers into 17 ground ball outs in front of 45,560 fans at Chavez Ravine to become the first pitcher born outside of the United States to throw a perfect game. Martinez was born in Nicaragua.
While the performance dubbed 'El Perfecto' will forever be remembered for its significance to Latin baseball, it's low on this list because Martinez managed it against a club that was in a bit of a funk.
Two days earlier, Expos pitcher Mark Gardner tossed a nine-inning, no-hitter against the Dodgers before losing in the 10th inning.
21. Kenny Rogers, 1994
Date: July 28, 1994
Score: Texas Rangers 4, California Angels 0
Site: The Ballpark in Arlington
Pitches: 98 (64 strikes)
Game Score: 95
Rogers' perfect game came in his second year as a full-time starter. He faced an Angels team that was in the midst of an eight-game losing streak and featured one of the worst offenses in the American League. Veteran DH Chili Davis and a young Jim Edmonds were California's only true threats in the lineup, as reigning AL Rookie of the Year Tim Salmon was injured. Texas' high-powered offense lifted Rogers with three homers, including two from Jose Canseco.
The Angels took Rogers to a three-ball count six times. J.T. Snow got to 3-0 in the fifth, and all three batters in the seventh worked a full count. While Rogers did strike out eight and threw 64 of his 98 pitches for strikes, he induced 12 fly ball outs to just seven on the ground. He also got a fair bit of help from his defense on several tough plays. The closest call was in the ninth, when Rusty Greer's remarkable diving catch on Rex Hudler saved the perfect game by inches.
Rogers does earn points for throwing his perfect game at The Ballpark in Arlington, a notoriously tough park for pitchers. Perhaps that helped the weak-hitting Angels put up a semblance of a fight. "The Gambler" made history, but he did have to work for it.
