The Chicago Tribune came close to the term in describing Lee Richmond's game for Worcester in 1880: 'Richmond was most effectively supported, every position on the home nine being played to perfection.' Similarly, in writing up John Montgomery Ward's 1880 perfect game, the New York Clipper described the 'perfect play' of Providence's defense. Lanigan in his Baseball Cyclopedia, made in reference to Charlie Robertson's 1922 perfect game. Several sources have claimed that the first recorded usage of perfect game was by Ernest J. Sanborn's report for the Chicago Tribune about Addie Joss's performance against the White Sox calls it 'an absolutely perfect game, without run, without hit, and without letting an opponent reach first base by hook or crook, on hit, walk, or error, in nine innings'. The first known occurrence of the term perfect game in print was in 1908. See also: List of Major League Baseball perfect games Nippon Professional Baseball's 2007 Japan Series ended with a combined perfect game. Although it is possible for several pitchers to combine for a perfect game (which has happened 19 times in MLB no-hitters ), every MLB perfect game so far has been thrown by a single pitcher. In Major League Baseball (MLB), the feat has been achieved 23 times – 21 times since the modern era began in 1901, most recently by Félix Hernández of the Seattle Mariners on August 15, 2012.

The first known use of the term perfect game was in 1908 its current definition was formalized in 1991. Games in which a team reaches first base only in extra innings also do not qualify as perfect games. Games that last fewer than nine innings, regardless of cause, in which a team has no baserunners do not qualify as perfect games. A fielding error that does not allow a batter to reach base, such as a misplayed foul ball, does not spoil a perfect game. To achieve a perfect game, a team must not allow any opposing player to reach base by any means: no hits, walks, hit batsmen, uncaught third strikes, catcher's or fielder's interference, or fielding errors in short, '27 up, 27 down' (for a nine-inning game).Ī perfect game, by definition, is also a no-hitter, a win, and a shutout. In baseball, a perfect game is a game in which one or more pitchers complete a minimum of nine innings with no batter from the opposing team reaching any base. The 'everlasting image' of New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra leaping into the arms of pitcher Don Larsen after the completion of Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series

A Perfect Game by Reno MacLeod