Tag: perfect game

July 23 in baseball history: MLB’s 18th Perfect Game

JULY 23, 2009 | CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – MLB’s 18th perfect game was thrown by Mark Buerhle on this date in 2009. To take nothing away from the Chicago White Sox southpaw, another left-hander positioned about 250 feet behind Buerhle’s right shoulder did the unbelievable.

Dewayne Wise had just been put in as a defensive replacement in centerfield in the 9th inning. Defend, he did. Tampa Bay Rays’ right fielder Gabe Kapler hit a 2-2 pitch from Buerhle to the farthest point of left-center field. It was on its way out. The perfect game would be lost. The no-hitter would be lost. The shutout would be lost.

Dewayne Wise would not have it. He ran to the wall like he was the 4th leg of a relay race. Jumped at just the right time to pull the ball back into the field of play. Then the ball slipped out of his glove, but he managed to regain control, holding on to the perfect game as he fell the ground.

The 26th hitter struck out.
The 27th hitter grounded out to short.

Mark Buerhle had MLB’s 18th perfect game. How could he possibly thank Dewayne Wise enough?

Contributing sources:
July 23, 2009 box score, stats, play-by-play
Dewayne Wise

MAY 26 – The greatest pitching performance

*1959 | MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – What a shame! Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates took a perfect game against the Milwaukee Braves into the 13th inning on this date in 1959 – no runs, no hits, no walks, no hit-by-pitch, no nothin’.

Up until the 13th, Haddix retired every single batter, but before the inning was over he would lose the game, the perfect game and the no-hitter, 1-0.

Talk about records that may never be broken, Haddix pitched a perfect game for 12 innings! No one had ever done more than 9.

The Pirates had 12 hits that night, including one by Haddix himself, but they couldn’t muster a single run for the guy on the mound.

Haddix lost the perfect game when his 3rd baseman Don Hoak committed an error. He lost the no-hitter when Braves’ first baseman Joe Adcock doubled. He lost the game when Felix Mantilla scored from second on Adcock’s double, and the run wasn’t even earned. The game went 13 innings, but only took 2 hours and 54 minutes. Of course, there wasn’t much scoring and no pitching changes.

Did you know that the Pirates had 12 hits that night, including one by Haddix himself, but they couldn’t muster a single run for the guy on the mound?

There was another interesting thing that happened that night, Braves slugger Eddie Matthews laid down a sacrifice bunt in the 13th inning to get Mantilla to second. When’s the last time you saw a slugger (he hit over 500 home runs) lay down a sacrifice bunt – successfully at that!

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
May 26, 1959 Box score
The Milwaukee Journal, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 27, 1959