list of Major League Baseball perfect games
In Major League Baseball (MLB) history, there have been only 24 perfect games pitched. A perfect game is one in which a pitcher faces the minimum of 27 opposing batters across nine innings without allowing anyone on base. It is a subset of the more common no-hitter (more than 300 recorded in MLB history), in which a pitcher (or multiple pitchers) prevents opponents from recording a hit throughout a game but allows at least one opponent on base, be it via a fielding error, a base on balls, or another way.
The team with the most perfect games pitched for them is the New York Yankees, who have had four players do so, including Don Larsen, who, in 1956, famously pitched the first perfect game in the World Series. The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays have each had perfect games thrown against them an all-time high of three times. The Seattle Mariners are the only team to have a player pitch a perfect game for them and another throw one against them in the same season, which occurred in 2012, a season that saw a record three perfect games hurled across the major leagues. Although a number of the sport’s greatest players have pitched a perfect game, the difficult and idiosyncratic nature of the accomplishment means that it has been done by All-Stars as well as career journeymen pitchers. Below is a list of every major leaguer who has achieved this historic feat.
- Lee Richmond, Worcester Ruby Legs (June 12, 1880, v. Cleveland Blues)
- John Ward, Providence Grays (June 17, 1880, v. Buffalo Bisons)
- Addie Joss, Cleveland Naps (October 2, 1908, v. Chicago White Sox)
- Charlie Robertson, Chicago White Sox (April 30, 1922, v. Detroit Tigers)
- Don Larsen, New York Yankees (October 8, 1956, v. Brooklyn Dodgers)
- Jim Bunning, Philadelphia Phillies (June 21, 1964, v. New York Mets)
- Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers (September 9, 1965, v. Chicago Cubs)
- Catfish Hunter, Oakland Athletics (May 8, 1968, v. Minnesota Twins)
- Len Barker, Cleveland Indians (May 15, 1981, v. Toronto Blue Jays)
- Mike Witt, California Angels (September 30, 1984, v. Texas Rangers)
- Tom Browning, Cincinnati Reds (September 16, 1988, v. Los Angeles Dodgers)
- Dennis Martinez, Montreal Expos (July 28, 1991, v. Los Angeles Dodgers)
- Kenny Rogers, Texas Rangers (July 28, 1994, v. California Angels)
- David Wells, New York Yankees (May 17, 1998, v. Minnesota Twins)
- David Cone, New York Yankees (July 18, 1999, v. Montreal Expos)
- Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox (July 23, 2009, v. Tampa Bay Rays)
- Dallas Braden, Oakland Athletics (May 9, 2010, v. Tampa Bay Rays)
- Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies (May 29, 2010, v. Florida Marlins)
- Philip Humber, Chicago White Sox (April 21, 2012, v. Seattle Mariners)
- Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants (June 13, 2012, v. Houston Astros)
- Félix Hernández, Seattle Mariners (August 15, 2012, v. Tampa Bay Rays)
- Domingo Germán, New York Yankees (June 28, 2023, v. Oakland Athletics)