Perfect

[OaktownTribeFan]

I just started reading Perfect: The Inside Story of Baseball's Sixteen Perfect Games by James Buckley the other day. It is chock full of detailed research on all the pitchers' gems, as well as those like Mussina who came close. I was surprised to learn that Len Barker almost failed to make it to the stadium on time to pitch on 5/15/81. And I didn't realize that hitters could receive 8 balls without a walk as late as 1880, the year of the first perfecto.

Indians' fans will find the book especially appealing, since 3 former Tribe pitchers managed the feat. But there is plenty to interest most fans of the game.

Isn't the perfect game really the hardest feat in baseball, outside of the 56 game hitting streak? 44 years passed between Robertson's game and Don Larsen's masterpiece. IMO, it's certainly harder and more unusual than the 4 HR game.

[SmedIndy]

I don't know about that. Perfect games involve luck as well as skill. I think hitting for the cycle is still one of the most difficult things to accomplish.

Back in the 1880's no one knew to care about perfect games.

[OaktownTribeFan]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
I don't know about that. Perfect games involve luck as well as skill. I think hitting for the cycle is still one of the most difficult things to accomplish.

Back in the 1880's no one knew to care about perfect games.

That's true--Buckley claims that they weren't even referred to as "perfect" until 1922. And that the media's attention was only really drawn to Larsen's perfecto, and all those that followed.

[gyb13]

Originally posted by SmedIndy
I don't know about that. Perfect games involve luck as well as skill. I think hitting for the cycle is still one of the most difficult things to accomplish.

then again, every day you step on the rubber, your ultimate aim is to pitch a perfect game. it is your goal. luck will be involved, but it's what you're shooting for anyways.
when you step up to bat, however, your ultimate aim is not to hit for the cycle. I'd say hitting a HR in every at bat would be that aim. If you go 4-for-4 and hit for the cycle, you did almost everything to help your team win, but fell short of the most you could. kinda like, say, getting a no-hitter instead of a perfecto.

[Rajah]

Technically speaking, wouldn't an ideal day for a pitcher be something thats never happened-0 hits, 0 walks, 0 errors, 0 baserunners, 0 runs, AND 27 strikeouts, facing only 27 batters.

[TimmyB]

Originally posted by Rajah
Technically speaking, wouldn't an ideal day for a pitcher be something thats never happened-0 hits, 0 walks, 0 errors, 0 baserunners, 0 runs, AND 27 strikeouts, facing only 27 batters.

I'm sure there's some pitch-count crazed pitching coach who would actually prefer 27 batters grounding out on the first pitch...

[pwdennis]

Originally posted by TimmyB
I'm sure there's some pitch-count crazed pitching coach who would actually prefer 27 batters grounding out on the first pitch...

If I were a pitcher I know that I'd like the 27 pitch variety too - like a picnic at the beach

[KCBOOMER]

Hitting for the cycle and no-hitters occur with about the same frequency. Surprisingly hitting four homers (14) in a game is about the same as pitching a perfect game (16). 4HR in a game has only been done in the regular season while one of the perfect games was in the post season. Two possible perfect games were broken up in extra inning.

The Unassisted Triple Play has only occurred 11 times, one of which was in the WS.

All of these things involve some kind of luck or other. But so does everything else in life.

[gyb13]

well, the ultimate goal in baseball is to score as many runs as possible while preventing your opponent from doing the same thing.

as a hitter, that would be to hit a HR every time up to bat. If there were men on base, even better, and if the bases were loaded every time, the ideal scenario. but those things are dependent on your teammates, so the most one can do as an individual batter is to knock it out of the park every time.

as a pitcher, I guess it would actually have to be a strikeout every time. If the pitcher allows the ball to be hit into play, he now has to depend on his teammates for those outs. Sure, any shutout means he got the ultimate goal (preventing runs), but the only guaranteed (perfect) way of doing this is to K 27 batters (and hope the catcher doesn't drop one).

[qtlaw]

Here's another vote for the perfecto being the rarest of achievements. I still rue the night when I was watching Brian Holman pitch a gem for the Mariners while I was in a luxury box with a bunch of politicians in the Oakland Coliseum who continued to root for the A's into the 9th even though the score was like 8-0 and Holman was 3 outs from a perfecto. 8 2/3 perfect, here comes Ken Phelps to pinch hit, HOMER!!! The idiots in the box cheer and I'm thinking I will never see another like that again.