Every Perfect Game in MLB History.
Let's put some numbers on the table before we go any further, because the scale here is genuinely hard to get your head around. Over 238,000 games have been played in Major League Baseball since 1871. Of those, 24 - exactly 24 - ended with a pitcher retiring all 27 batters he faced. No hits, no walks, no errors, nobody reaching base by any means at all. That's roughly one perfect game per 10,000 contests. You could watch baseball every single day for 27 years and statistically expect to see just one. And nobody - nobody - has ever thrown two.
They've been thrown by all-time legends and by guys you've never heard of. On the final day of the season and in the World Series. On Mother's Day, on Father's Day, on a cold Tuesday night in Cleveland with 7,290 fans in the stands. Philip Humber threw one despite having a 5.31 ERA at the time. Domingo German had given up 15 earned runs over 5 and a third innings in his previous two starts combined. None of it matters. The perfect game doesn't care who you are. It just shows up sometimes.
Here's every single one, with all the numbers and all the stories.
I've always thought the perfect game is baseball's version of a hole-in-one - except it takes two and a half hours and requires the entire defense to not mess up a single play. The catcher, the infielders, the outfielders - they all have to be perfect too. Catfish Hunter went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in three runs on the same day he threw his. That's not a pitcher having a great game. That's a player having a supernatural one.
The Complete List - All 24 Perfect Games
Every official MLB perfect game in chronological order. HOF denotes Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. Strikeout totals for the pre-modern era games are approximate based on available box scores.
| # | Pitcher | Date | Matchup (Winner first) | Score | Ks | Status | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Lee Richmond | June 12, 1880 | Worcester Ruby Legs vs. Cleveland Blues | 1-0 | 5 | Career 75-100 | First ever. Underhand pitching era. |
| 02 | John Ward | June 17, 1880 | Providence Grays vs. Buffalo Bisons | 5-0 | 5 | HOF 1964 | 5 days after #1. Also became a lawyer. |
| 03 | Cy Young | May 5, 1904 | Boston Americans vs. Philadelphia Athletics | 3-0 | 8 | HOF 1937 | First from 60'6". Age 37. 511 career wins. |
| 04 | Addie Joss | Oct. 2, 1908 | Cleveland Naps vs. Chicago White Sox | 1-0 | 3 | HOF 1978 | Only 74 pitches. Pennant race game. |
| 05 | Charlie Robertson | Apr. 30, 1922 | Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers | 2-0 | 6 | Career 49-80 | 4th career start. Ty Cobb accused him of doctoring ball. |
| 06 | Don Larsen | Oct. 8, 1956 | New York Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers | 2-0 | 7 | Career 81-91 | World Series Game 5 |
| 07 | Jim Bunning | June 21, 1964 | Philadelphia Phillies at New York Mets | 6-0 | 10 | HOF 1996 | Father's Day. First modern NL perfect game. |
| 08 | Sandy Koufax | Sept. 9, 1965 | Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago Cubs | 1-0 | 14 | HOF 1972 | 14 Ks (record). Koufax won 26 games that year. |
| 09 | Catfish Hunter | May 8, 1968 | Oakland Athletics vs. Minnesota Twins | 4-0 | 11 | HOF 1987 | Also went 3-for-4, 3 RBI. Age 22. |
| 10 | Len Barker | May 15, 1981 | Cleveland Indians vs. Toronto Blue Jays | 3-0 | 11 | Career 74-76 | Cold, wet, 7,290 fans. Cleveland's last no-hitter ever. |
| 11 | Mike Witt | Sept. 30, 1984 | California Angels at Texas Rangers | 1-0 | 10 | 117-116 career | Final day of season. Done in 1:49. |
| 12 | Tom Browning | Sept. 16, 1988 | Cincinnati Reds vs. Los Angeles Dodgers | 1-0 | 7 | 123-90 career | Dodgers won the WS that year. Browning had near no-no 3 months prior. |
| 13 | Dennis Martinez | July 28, 1991 | Montreal Expos at Los Angeles Dodgers | 2-0 | 5 | 245 career wins | "El Presidente." First Latino pitcher with a perfect game. |
| 14 | Kenny Rogers | July 28, 1994 | Texas Rangers vs. California Angels | 4-0 | 8 | 219 career wins | Strike-shortened season. Rogers also a 4x All-Star. |
| 15 | David Wells | May 17, 1998 | New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins | 4-0 | 11 | 239 career wins | Self-described "half-drunk." Same high school as Larsen. |
| 16 | David Cone | July 18, 1999 | New York Yankees vs. Montreal Expos | 6-0 | 10 | 194 career wins | Yogi Berra Day. Don Larsen threw first pitch. 88 pitches only. |
| 17 | Randy Johnson | May 18, 2004 | Arizona Diamondbacks at Atlanta Braves | 2-0 | 13 | HOF 2015 | Oldest ever at 40. Braves won 96 games that year. |
| 18 | Mark Buehrle | July 23, 2009 | Chicago White Sox vs. Tampa Bay Rays | 5-0 | 6 | 214 career wins | Dewayne Wise's catch in 9th preserved it. 4x Gold Glove winner. |
| 19 | Dallas Braden | May 9, 2010 | Oakland Athletics vs. Tampa Bay Rays | 4-0 | 6 | Career 26-36 | Mother's Day. Grandmother in the stands. 24th-round pick. |
| 20 | Roy Halladay | May 29, 2010 | Philadelphia Phillies at Florida Marlins | 1-0 | 11 | HOF 2019 | 20 days after Braden. Threw NLDS no-hitter same year. |
| 21 | Philip Humber | Apr. 21, 2012 | Chicago White Sox at Seattle Mariners | 4-0 | 9 | Career 16-23 | Fewest career wins of any perfect game pitcher. Only CG of his career. |
| 22 | Matt Cain | June 13, 2012 | San Francisco Giants vs. Houston Astros | 10-0 | 14 | 104-118 career | Ties Koufax at 14 Ks. 10-0 was highest scoring PG until 2023. |
| 23 | Felix Hernandez | Aug. 15, 2012 | Seattle Mariners vs. Tampa Bay Rays | 1-0 | 12 | 6x All-Star, Cy Young | Three perfect games in one season. Rays the victim again. |
| 24 | Domingo German | June 28, 2023 | New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics | 11-0 | 9 | 4th Yankees PG | Highest-scoring PG ever. First Dominican-born pitcher to do it. |
Gold rows = Hall of Fame inductees. Scores show winning team first (always the pitching team). Strike totals for pre-modern era games (1880) are approximate based on available box scores.
Don Larsen had 7 strikeouts in his World Series perfect game - but his "Status" row shows his career record (81-91) rather than HOF status because Larsen was never inducted, despite throwing the greatest postseason pitching performance in baseball history. He was a journeyman who had one transcendent afternoon. That's the magic of the perfect game.
Are Perfect Games Becoming More Common?
Yes, they're becoming more common - and the jump is pretty dramatic when you lay the numbers out. The first hundred-plus years of professional baseball produced nine perfect games total. Nine. Then from 1980 onward, fifteen more have happened across 44 seasons. Three of those came in 2012 alone, which is still the most mind-bending single-season stat in this whole conversation. The 1970s remain the only complete decade in MLB history without one.
Why the surge? A few theories get kicked around. Expansion from 16 to 30 teams between 1961 and 1998 put weaker hitters into opposing lineups - more bottom-of-the-order at-bats for elite pitchers to feast on. Advanced analytics let dominant starters exploit specific weaknesses they simply couldn't have targeted in earlier eras. And the sheer volume of games being played - 162 per team, 30 teams - gives lightning more chances to strike. None of these fully explains 2012, though. Three in one season is just chaos.
Three in 2012 still blows my mind. Philip Humber, Matt Cain, and Felix Hernandez - all in the same season. Humber was a career journeyman with a 5.31 ERA at the time. Cain and Hernandez were genuine aces. All three in the same year. The Yankees have four, which is also insane. Four! The rest of the franchises have at most two.
The Strikeout Numbers
Not every perfect game is a strikeout showcase - Addie Joss reportedly threw only 74 pitches and recorded just 3 punchouts in 1908. But the dominant performances at the top of the list are genuinely jaw-dropping. Sandy Koufax and Matt Cain share the record of 14 strikeouts in a perfect game, and both had to wait a long time for company.
Six Games You Have to Know
All 24 matter, but some are woven into the wider fabric of baseball lore in ways that transcend even the perfect game itself. These six are the ones that come up in every serious baseball conversation.
The one that can never be topped for stakes. Series tied 2-2. Yankee Stadium packed. Larsen - a journeyman who'd gone 3-21 the year before - walked out and retired all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers in order. The Dodgers' lineup featured five future Hall of Famers: Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, and Gil Hodges. Yogi Berra leaping into Larsen's arms at the final out is one of the most iconic images in sports history. Larsen never came close to pitching this well again. He finished his career 81-91.
Koufax in 1965 was arguably the most dominant pitcher alive. He'd go on to win 26 games, throw 27 complete games, and lead the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts - the pitching triple crown. His perfect game was also the most one-sided matchup in the history of the feat at the time: Cubs starter Bob Hendley allowed just one hit the entire game and lost. Vin Scully's radio call remains legendary. The whole thing was over in 1 hour 43 minutes. Koufax struck out the final six batters.
The most complete individual performance in perfect game history. Hunter didn't just retire all 27 batters - he also went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in three runs. He was 22 years old. It was a sign of what was coming: three World Series rings, five consecutive 20-win seasons, and Cooperstown in 1987. The A's played without a designated hitter in this era, which meant Hunter had to bat, and he made the absolute most of it. Has any athlete ever had a better single performance in a team sport?
It was Yogi Berra Day. Don Larsen - the only other Yankee to throw a perfect game - was there to throw the ceremonial first pitch to Berra, his catcher from 1956. The symmetry was uncanny. Then Cone went out in 92-degree heat, survived a 33-minute rain delay in the third inning, and threw a perfect game on just 88 pitches - the fewest ever recorded in a perfect game. He came in having had a rough recent stretch. He left having written himself into Yankee legend alongside Larsen. Both were in attendance again in 2023 when Domingo German made it four Yankees perfect games.
The perfect game with the perfect storyline. Braden was a soft-throwing 24th-round draft pick with no business throwing a perfect game. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother died of cancer when he was a teenager. On Mother's Day 2010, with his grandmother watching from the stands, he retired all 27 Tampa Bay Rays in order. He embraced his grandmother on the field afterward. Braden never reached those heights again - a shoulder injury forced him out of baseball two years later with a career record of 26-36 - but for one afternoon he was absolutely untouchable.
The perfect game that needed a highlight reel to survive. Gregor Blanco made a diving catch in left field in the seventh inning that would have ended it. Melky Cabrera made a running catch at the wall in the sixth. Cain threw 125 pitches - the most in any perfect game - and tied Koufax's 47-year-old strikeout record with 14. The 10-0 score was the highest in perfect game history until German's 11-0 in 2023. Cain was a three-time All-Star who helped the Giants win two World Series but was otherwise quietly underappreciated during his career. This game is his monument.
Hall of Fame, All-Stars, and Journeymen - Who Actually Throws Perfect Games?
The perfect game doesn't discriminate. It's been thrown by some of the greatest pitchers who ever lived and by men who struggled to hold down a rotation spot. The careers that followed these games are all over the map.
Jim Bunning • Sandy Koufax
Catfish Hunter • Randy Johnson
Roy Halladay
(200+ wins or Cy Young)
Cone • Buehrle • Browning
Witt • Hernandez • German
Barker • Braden • Humber • Cain
Eight Hall of Famers out of 24 pitchers - that's a lower ratio than you'd expect for baseball's single rarest pitching achievement. More than half the guys on that list were either journeymen with losing career records or solid-but-not-transcendent professionals. Larsen is the one everyone points to: only pitcher to throw a perfect game in the World Series, career record 81-91, zero All-Star appearances. Robertson threw his in his fourth career start, then quietly went 49-80 over the rest of his time in the league. Humber never threw another complete game after April 2012 and was out of baseball the following year. The perfect game genuinely does not care who you are.
Randy Johnson throwing a perfect game at 40 years old against a 96-win Braves team on the road might be the most impressive one from a pure skill standpoint. Koufax's 14 strikeouts is the most dominant. But Larsen's in the World Series is the greatest. Those are three completely different arguments and all of them are correct.
The Ones That Got Away
A few games need mentioning for coming agonisingly close - and in one case, for an umpire's call that baseball fans still aren't over.
The most relentless near-miss story in baseball history. Stieb had already lost no-hitters in the ninth inning in 1985 (Rudy Law leadoff homer), then back-to-back in his final two starts of 1988 - Julio Franco's routine grounder taking a freak bad-hop over the second baseman's head with two outs, then Jim Traber's soft flare barely landing fair six days later, also with two outs. So when Stieb took a perfect game into the ninth in front of 49,000 fans at the newly-opened SkyDome in 1989, he'd already lived through this three times. He got the first two outs. Then Roberto Kelly lined a 2-0 slider for a double to left. Gone again. His autobiography, published four years before he finally threw his no-hitter, was called Tomorrow I'll Be Perfect. On September 2, 1990, against Cleveland, he finally was - the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history. One of baseball's great perseverance stories.
Haddix was perfect for 12 innings - the longest stretch of perfect pitching in MLB history. Then in the 13th, an error allowed a runner, and Joe Adcock hit a walk-off home run. Haddix lost 1-0 having thrown 12 perfect innings. MLB later ruled the game is not an official no-hitter or perfect game under its current definition. It remains perhaps the greatest pitching performance that officially doesn't count.
The most painful near-miss in history. Galarraga was one out from a perfect game when first-base umpire Jim Joyce called Cleveland's Jason Donald safe on a ground ball that replay clearly showed was an out. Joyce immediately acknowledged his mistake. MLB commissioner Bud Selig declined to overturn the call. Galarraga handled it with extraordinary grace. The game is officially a one-hit shutout. Calls to retroactively correct it continue to this day.
Darvish had retired 26 consecutive batters and was one out from a perfect game when Marwin Gonzalez hit a first-pitch single through the middle. Darvish had 14 strikeouts through those 26 batters. He was removed after that hit without facing another batter. One of the great "what might have been" near-misses of the decade.
Tampa Bay: Baseball's Most Victimised Franchise
If you play for the Tampa Bay Rays, you have well and truly earned the right to be tired of perfect games. Three of the 24 have been thrown against them - Buehrle in 2009, Braden in 2010, Hernandez in 2012 - which is more than any other franchise in baseball. Three perfect games in four years. The Dodgers have been on the wrong end of three as well (Robertson 1922, Browning 1988, Martinez 1991), but at least those were spread over seven decades. The Yankees, naturally, are on the other end of that ledger: four perfect games thrown for them, the most of any franchise in the sport. Of course.
Twenty-four perfect games across more than 238,000 attempts. The gap between #23 (Hernandez, 2012) and #24 (German, 2023) was nearly eleven years. Before that there was a 27-year gap between Robertson in 1922 and Larsen in 1956, and a 34-year gap from Ward in 1880 to Young in 1904. Nobody has figured out how to make them happen. They just do - to legends and journeymen alike, on cold Tuesday nights in Cleveland and in October at Yankee Stadium with the World Series on the line.
Nobody has ever thrown two. Nobody ever will.
