Philip Humber’s Place In History

The great thing about doing something great in the majors as a pitcher is that you get a few days to savor it. Since starters only start every fifth day there is actually some built-in celebration time. That means Phil Humber has had a few days to live with the perfect game he threw for the White Sox at the start of the weekend and come to terms with the Wow factor.

Actually there seemed to be only a 10-minute delay in the right-hander’s mind mulling the unlikelihood of what he did. In the post-game hubbub it was mentioned how Humber had just pitched only the 21st perfect game in history against the Seattle Mariners, and Humber pretty much said, “Yeah, what’s my name doing on that list?”

The fact is, given the rarity of the achievement since the beginning of the majors 136 years ago, it’s impossible to determine whose name makes sense on that list. Phil Humber, take a number to determine your place in history.

For someone to pitch a perfect game in the Major Leagues the combination of parts must add up to the whole: 1) Pitcher is having a good night; 2) Hitters are not having a good night; 3) Pitcher is lucky the way the ball bounces; 4. Opposing team is unlucky the way the ball bounces; 5. Umpire’s strike zone is favorable. 6. The stars are aligned, the earth is just so on its axis.

Funny thing about that list. It is loaded with Phil Humbers. You don’t have to be a Hall of Fame-caliber pitcher to have the best pitching night of your life on a Major League stage. Only a handful of Hall of Famers have thrown a perfect game. A number of very fine pitchers who won’t get into the Hall of Fame also did it. But there are several guys like Humber, who had their moment in the sun, but will never be rated elite. The jury is still out on where Humber will fit in with the long look of history, of course, but he’s probably not going to have a career comparable to Cy Young.

Cy Young, by the way, is on the list. He pitched a perfect game on May 5, 1904 for the Boston Whatever-They-Called-Themselves-That-Year (but we all know it was the Red Sox).

The first perfect game was pitched on June 12, 1880 by a fella named Lee Richmond for the Worcester, Massachusetts club that has been missing from the roster of Major League clubs for sometime now. The second perfect game was pitched five days later by Monte Ward. Then no other perfect game was pitched in the National League until 1964. Go figure.

There is a pretty fair chance a baseball fan has heard of the remaining dudes on the National League perfect game list. Hall of Famer Jim Bunning (1964), Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax (1965), Tom Browning (1988), Dennis Martinez (1991), Randy Johnson (2004), Roy Halladay (2010). Johnson will be a Hall of Famer, Halladay could be when he’s done. Browning was an OK pitcher (123-90) and Martinez (245-193) holds the record for most wins by a Latin American pitcher.

Monte Ward was Hall of Famer John Montgomery Ward (164-103) who a long, long time ago was Curt Flood, fighting baseball’s reserve clause, as well as seeking to establish the first sports union. Mr. Richmond, on the other hand, had a less spectacular record of 75-100.

The American League was founded in 1901 and Young pitched the first perfect game in that league. Hall of Famer Addie Joss (160-97) pitched one in 1904 and then there was a gap until 1922 when Charlie Robertson, the first of three White Sox pitchers to do it, notched his 27-men-up, 27-men-down masterpiece Robertson was no Hall of Famer, finishing 49-80.

There was a 33-year perfect game drought in the AL after that until Don Larsen threw his beaut in the World Series for the Yankees against Brooklyn in 1955. Because it was the World Series this game is considered to be just a little more perfect, like giving 110 percent. Larsen, it should be noted, once had a 3-21 season in the majors and lifetime he was 81-91.

After that perfect games began breaking out like hives in the American League. Hall of Famer Jim “Catfish” Hunter threw one in 1968, Len Barker (74-76) in 1981, Mike Witt (117-116) in 1984, Kenny Rogers (219-156) in 1994, David Wells (239-157) in 1998, and David Cone (194-126) in 1999.  In 2009, Mark Buerhle, currently with Miami, but then with the White Sox, broke the decade-long imperfect streak. In 2010  Oakland’s Dallas Braden (26-36) scored.

There is no correlation whatsoever between how a pitcher fares over the course of his career and pitching a perfect game. A statistician could only conclude that trying to guess who might do so is like throwing darts with a blindfold on. The only surprise is that Nolan Ryan (seven no-hitters) didn’t do it, the slacker.

And now comes Humber. He is 29 and brought a lifetime record of 11-10 into the season. This is his second year in the White Sox’ rotation after bouncing from the New York Mets to the Minnesota Twins to the Kansas City Royals to Chicago since 2006, all after pitching terrifically for Rice University.

Humber is doing a good job for the White Sox, but no one can predict long-term greatness based on one great night. Let’s see if he can do it again in his next start. Last time Cooperstown only asked for stuff like a souvenir ball, cap, and spikes. An instant replay from his right arm would mean a demand for Phil Humber’s entire body to be bronzed and shipped directly to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

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