On July 28, 1994, Texas Ranger
Kenny Rogers pitches the fourteenth perfect game in MLB history against the
California Angels 4-0.
Rogers followed Lee Richmond,
Monte Ward, Cy Young, Addie Joss, Charlie Robertson, Don Larsen, Jim Bunning,
Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Len Barker, Mike Witt and Dennis Martinez in
throwing perfect games.
Since Rogers’ perfect game David
Wells, David Cone, and Randy Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Dallas Braden, Roy
Halladay, Phillip Humber, Matt Cain and Felix Hernandez have all achieved
perfect game status.
The shortest span of time between
perfect games throw was just five days between Richmond’s perfect game on June
12, 1880 and Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880. The longest span between
perfect games is just under 24 years, between Ward’s perfect game on June 17,
1880 and Young’s perfect game on May 5, 1904.
The American League has seen 14
prefect games while the National League only nine times.
No single player has ever thrown
more than one perfect game.
The most perfect games for a
single team is three as the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees have had
perfect games pitched. However, only two of the Yankees perfect games came in
the regular season, with Larsen’s perfect game coming in Game 5 of the 1956
World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, meaning the Chicago White Sox have
more regular season perfect games.
Larsen’s perfect game in the World
Series was the first and last time a perfect game has been thrown in the
playoffs, let alone the World Series.
The team with the most perfect
games pitched against them is the Tampa Bay Rays, with three. All of them
coming since 2009 with Chicago White Sox Buehrle, Oakland Athletics Braden, and
Seattle Mariners Hernandez all doing the feat against the Rays.
The 2012 season saw the most perfect
games in a single season as Cain, Hernandez and Humber all pitched perfect
games in one season, the most since 2010 when Braden and Halladay both pitched
perfect games.
Rogers would finish his career
four All-Star appearances including three consecutive from 2004-2006. He was a
five-time Gold Glove winner including three consecutive from 2004-2006.He was
honored with a Fielding Bible
Award in 2008 as the top fielding pitcher
in MLB.
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane stated that Rogers "Was the best fielding pitcher he
ever saw. It's like having an extra infielder".
He was a World Series Champion in
1996 with the New York Yankees and was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of
Fame in 2011.
Rogers ended his 20-season career
with 219 wins and 156 losses and 28 saves in 762 games with 474 starts in
3,302.2 innings pitched. He totaled a 4.27 ERA with 1,968 strikeouts and just
1,175 walks. Rogers would throw 36 complete games, with his highest single
season total coming in 1998 with the Oakland Athletics, with seven. He also had
nine shutouts, with his highest single season total coming in 1994 with the
Texas Rangers, he threw two that season, one being the perfect game against the
California Angels.
Rogers led the league in games
pitched in 1992 with 81 games, and led the game in games started in 2004 with
35.
Rogers is second all-time in pickoffs with 93 in his career. On May 9, 2008 against the New York Yankees, Rogers picked off Wilson Betemit in the second inning for his ninty-second pick-off, passing
Mark Langston.
The all-time leader in pickoffs is
Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, another member of the perfect game crew.
Check out the final three outs from Rogers' perfect game:
No comments:
Post a Comment