Jim Bunning's perfect game
 Jim Bunningwith the Detroit Tigers in 1955. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | June 21, 1964 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Shea Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Queens,New York | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On June 21, 1964,Jim Bunningof thePhiladelphia Philliespitched the seventhperfect gameinMajor League Baseballhistory, defeating theNew York Mets6–0 in the first game of adoubleheaderatShea Stadium.A father of seven children at the time, Bunning pitched his perfect game onFather's Day.One of Bunning's daughters, Barbara, was in attendance, as was his wife, Mary.[1]
Needing only 90 pitches to complete his masterpiece, Bunning struck out 10 batters, including six of the last nine he faced.
The perfect game was the first regular season perfect game sinceCharlie Robertson's perfect gamein 1922 (Don Larsenhad pitched a perfect game in between, in the1956 World Series), as well as the first in modern-dayNational Leaguehistory (two perfect games had been pitched in 1880). It was also the firstno-hitterby a Phillies pitcher sinceJohnny Lushno-hit theBrooklyn Superbason May 1, 1906.
Bunning, who no-hit theBoston Red Soxwhile with theDetroit Tigersin 1958, joinedCy Youngas the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in both the National andAmerican Leagues;he has since been joined byNolan Ryan,Hideo NomoandRandy Johnson.The perfect game also made Bunning the third pitcher, after Young andAddie Joss,to throw a perfect game and an additional no-hitter;Sandy Koufax,Johnson,Mark BuehrleandRoy Halladayhave since joined him.[2]
As the perfect game developed, Bunning defied the baseball superstition that no one should talk about a no-hitter in progress, speaking to his teammates about the perfect game to keep himself relaxed and loosen up his teammates. Bunning had abided by the tradition during a near-no hitter a few weeks before, determining afterwards that keeping quiet didn't help.
Gus Triandos,Bunning's catcher, had also caughtHoyt Wilhelm's no-hitter on September 20, 1958, while with theBaltimore Orioles,becoming the first catcher to catch no-hitters in both leagues.
Boxscore[edit]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Philadelphia Phillies(37–23) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| New York Mets (20–46) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Jim Bunning(7–2)LP:Tracy Stallard(4–9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References[edit]
- ^Zolecki, Todd (June 12, 2014)."Bunning reflects on Fathers' Day perfect game".MLB.
- ^"No-Hitters and Perfect Games".Baseball-Reference.
External links[edit]
- Box Score and Play-by-play - June 21, 1964atBaseball-Reference
- June 21, 1964: Jim Bunning's Perfect Game-Society for American Baseball Research(SABR Essay)
- Last three outs of Jim Bunning's perfect game-MLB Film Room
