Perfect game

Since 1991, a perfect game has been defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a pitcher pitches a complete game victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposition player reaches first base. In short, the pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit batters, or any other baserunners for any reason, even if they are thrown out trying for extra bases. By definition, such games must also be shutouts. Since the pitcher cannot control whether or not his teammates commit any errors, the pitcher must be backed up by a solid defense to pitch a perfect game. However, an error which does not allow a baserunner, such as a misplayed foul ball, may occur in a perfect game.

Related Topics:
Major League Baseball - Pitcher - Complete game - Victory - Hits - Walks - Hit batters - Shutout - Errors

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Several games have not qualified under this revised definition. Several shortened games featured no baserunners by one team, and there have been two games in which a team reached first base only in extra innings.

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A perfect game is widely regarded as the pinnacle of pitching performance, and is one of the most difficult achievements in baseball or indeed any sport. It is the masterpiece of a pitcher's career and, in Major League Baseball, places that pitcher in exceptionally elite company. In fact, it is so rare (and difficult) that luck, as much as skill, plays an enormous role; there have been many great pitchers who have never pitched a perfect game and a few otherwise forgettable pitchers who have. Over the past 129 years of Major League Baseball history, there have only been 17 perfect games; the two from the 19th century, at a time when the pitching distance was only 45 feet, are often not included in lists. In short, only one in about every 15,000 major league games played sees such an event. That works out to one perfect game every 4 years.

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