No Walks, No Hits, No Errors

Throughout the history of baseball, there have been many amazing feats.  One of the best, is a no hitter thrown by a pitcher.  Even rarer, is the box score of no hits, no walks, no errors.  This is known as the perfect game, when not a single batter reaches base in any way during a game against their opponent.

No hitters are not at all common, having occurred just 271 times in over 391,000+ games.  That's just 0.00069% of all MLB games.  A perfect game is also counted as a no hitter, so the 20 perfect games in MLB history are included in the 271 no hitter total.

Recently, many writers and fans alike have been stating that the no hitter has lost some of its luster, due to the recent influx of no hitters being thrown.  From 2007-2010, there were a total of 15 no hitters thrown.  Three of those were perfect games.  From 1996-2006 there were 16 no hitters thrown, three of which were perfect games.  This leads many to believe that the no hitters has been cheapened over the last five seasons.

Many pitchers of varying success have thrown  no hitters.  Nolan Ryan has thrown the most no hitters by a single pitcher, seven.  The very first professional no hitter was thrown by Joe Borden, who's team won 4-0.  It was a strange matchup in the National Association, the White Stockings of Philadelphia playing the White Stockings of Chicago.

As I stated before, no hitters have been thrown by pitchers of varying success in their careers.  Some no hitters have been thrown by pitchers who were not all that great.  The names that come to mind include Bud Smith(7-8, 4.95 ERA career), Juan Nieves(32-35, 4.71 ERA career) and Mike Warren(9-13, 5.06 ERA career).  Arguably the worst guy to throw a no hitter was Jose Jimenez(24-44, 4.92 ERA career) in 1999.

Some no hitters can look stunningly unimpressive.  AJ Burnett drew up the blueprints for what a bad no hitter should look like.  Start off by stating that he walked nine guys, threw a wild pitch and hit a batter.  He struggled with his command all game, throwing 129 pitches to record the 27 outs.  He struck out seven, but of his pitches: 65 were strikes, 64 were balls.  According to a newspaper article from Miami about the game, "It is truly amazing that nobody was able to score.  The Padres should have had 10 hits in the game if not for their impatience."

In 2010, Edwin Jackson of the Arizona Diamondbacks put his name in the mix for worst no hitter thrown of all time.  It took E-Jax 149 pitches to get through 27 batters, 79 strikes and 70 balls.  He walked 8 and struck out 6.  After the game, he had to skip his next start to rest from throwing this much.  It is amazing to me that in both of these no hitters, neither pitcher gave up a run or hit.

Conversely, perfect games always look amazing.  They are so rare, they are one of the true shining gems of baseball that really stand out.  The photo above is of Mark Buehrle after throwing his perfect game in 2009.  Perfect games make a no hitter look like fools gold in my opinion.  Both are great accomplishments, but there is something special about joining the perfect game club.

The youngest player to throw a perfect game is John Montgomery Ward(not to be confused with Alexander Montgomery Ward, of MW chain store fame), when he was just 20 years old in the 1800s.  Randy Johnson is the oldest pitcher to throw a perfect game, at age 40.

Armando Galarraga came as close as you really can to throwing a perfect game last year.  He got what appeared to be the 27th out to complete the perfecto, when Umpire Joyce called the runner safe.  He promptly got the next batter out for what many fans of the game will always consider the "28-out perfect game."  Maybe a poorer quality pitcher can throw a perfect game once in a blue moon.

Galarraga was traded to the Diamondbacks for minor leaguers.  This year he's 3-4 with a 5.91 ERA and Major League leading 13 home runs allowed.  Today, he was designated for assignment.  This really makes the story of what happened to him on the blown call even worse, because he doesn't even have the perfect game to take with him into the sunset.

All in all, a no hitter is really nice, but a perfect game is a masterpiece.  The list is so short, that it truly becomes a "club," who's members are lauded among the best pitchers in MLB history.  Only one really poor pitcher has thrown a perfect game, Charlie Robertson in 1922.  Other than Charlie, unless you count Armando's, the club includes exclusively great pitchers in MLB history.

No matter how many no hitters have been thrown recently, the perfect game has not been watered down as an ultimate achievement.  Whether or not the no hitter has lost some of its luster due to the high volume of recent occurrences, most if not all baseball fans will always revere the perfect game as highly as the accomplishment deserves.