Close calls: The 16 MLB franchises with no perfect games in their histories

Josh Staumont and Mike Mayers made a run Monday night at something unprecedented in Kansas City Royals history, a perfect game.

Staumont delivered a perfect first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium, then Mayers took over and extended the perfect performance through six more innings. Not until Nolan Arenado singled to open the eighth did the Cardinals get a baserunner in a game Kansas City eventually won 7-0.

Such a feat would have been historic on two levels. Not only would it have been the first combined perfect games in MLB history, but it would have been the first in the history of the Royals franchise, which stretches back more than 8,500 games to 1969.

Royals fans aren’t alone, though, in never having witnessed a perfect games. In fact, fans of 16 of the 30 current MLB franchises have never seen one. There have been 23 official perfect games in history, but two were completed by players representing franchises that no longer exist, while five franchises — the Yankees, Athletics, White Sox, Phillies, and Indians/Guardians — have seen more than one.

The Yankees and White Sox lead in that department, each with three perfect games to their historical credit. That includes Don Larsen’s 1956 World Series perfect game.

The White Sox are the only franchise with three regular season perfect games, by Charley Robertson in 1922, Mark Buehrle in 2009 and Philip Humber in 2010.

Here’s a division-by-division look back at each MLB franchise’s often frustrating flirtation with perfect game accomplishment, with a special bow to those who came very close but missed out.

AL East

Only two of the five current AL East teams can boast of a perfect game. Back in 1904, Boston Pilgrims (now Red Sox) pitcher Cy Young threw one, and as previously noted the Yankees have enjoyed three.

That leaves the Blue Jays, Rays and Orioles in the category of “close but…” Here’s how close.

Orioles: On May 30, 1997 at Camden Yards, Mike Mussina held the visiting Cleveland Indians without a baserunner through eight perfect innings. He opened the ninth by retiring Tony Fernandez on an easy groundout to second, then watched Sandy Alomar poke a clean single into left field. Mussina fanned the final two hitters to complete a 3-0 one-hitter.

Interestingly, Mussina is the only pitcher ever to lose two perfect games in the ninth inning. With the Yankees on Sept. 2, 2001, he was perfect against the Red Sox until Carl Everett lined a two-out single to left-center.

Blue Jays: On Aug. 4, 1989, Dave Stieb retired the first 26 Yankees he faced while protecting a 2-0 lead, then Roberto Kelly lined a double into the left field corner, breaking up Stieb’s bid for perfection. When Steve Sax followed with a run-producing base hit, Stieb was in danger of losing his game as well, but he retired Luis Polonia on an infield grounder to end the game.

Rays: Facing Baltimore at Tropicana Field on Aug. 14, 2022, Drew Rasmussen retired the first 24 opponents he faced, carrying a 4-0 lead into the final inning. Then the roof figuratively fell in. The first batter, Jorge Mateo, broke up the perfect game with a ground double into left field.

One out later, Rasmussen wild pitched Mateo home, and when Brett Phillips reached first on a second wild pitch coming with two strikes, Rasmussen was lifted in favor of Jason Adam. He struck out the final two batters to wrap up the victory.

As noted earlier, three White Sox pitchers have enjoyed perfect games. When they were the Indians, the Cleveland team produced a pair, Addie Joss in 1908 and Len Barker in 1981). That leaves the Tigers, Twins and Royals still looking for one.

Tigers: It’s hard to forget the closest a Tiger pitcher has ever come to a perfect game. That would be Armando Galarraga, who lost a bid for a perfect game against Cleveland on June 2, 2010 when umpire Jim Joyce erroneously called Jason Donald safe on an infield tap. Replays clearly showed that Donald should have been the 27th out.

The Tigers have an especially cursed history with near-miss perfection. In August of 1932, Tiger ace Tommy Bridges retired the first 26 Washington Senators he faced and led 13-0 when pinch hitter Dave Harris slipped a base hit through the Detroit infield. Then in April of 1983, Milt Wilcox lost a perfect game against Chicago on Jerry Hairston’s two-out, ninth inning base hit.

Senators/Twins: Surprisingly, Walter Johnson is only runner-up in this bit of franchise category. Johnson tossed a no-hitter in July of 1920 in which the only baserunner reached on Bucky Harris’ error leading off the seventh inning.

On Aug. 26, 1962, Twins pitcher Jack Kralick went Johnson a couple better. Facing the Kansas City Athletics, Kralick retired the first 25 batters he faced before issuing a base on balls to pinch hitter George Alusik. Kralick got the final two outs, both on foul pops, to complete the no-hitter.

Royals: As noteworthy as the combined performance of Staumont and Mayers was Monday night, it’s not the closest any Royals pitcher has ever come to perfection.

At Minnesota’s Target Field on Sept. 8, 2018, Jorge Lopez pitched eight perfect innings. But three outs from perfection, Lopez walked Max Kepler and then permitted a base hit to Robbie Grossman. He was hooked in favor of Wily Peralta, who preserved a 4-1 Royals victory.

AL West

The only AL West team without a perfect game is the club that has been the division’s dominant force for most of the last decade, the Houston Astros.

The Texas Rangers got one from Kenny Rogers in the 1990s, and the Angels can count Mike Witt’s 1984 season-ending perfect game to their credit. Felix Hernandez pitched one for Seattle, and the Oakland A’s have two on their record, by Catfish Hunter in 1968 and by Dallas Braden in 2010.

As for the Astros, it’s been a long wait, consisting of more than 9,700 games and counting since the franchise’s creation in 1962.

The closest any Astro has ever come to perfection goes back a while, and as with many things Astro, it has a melancholy ending. On Sept. 30, 1966, 19-year-old sensation Larry Dierker squared off against the Mets and retired the first 24 of them without a baserunner.

There was just one problem: Mets pitcher Jack Fisher may have allowed six hits, but he was also shutting out the Astros. So as Dierker took the mound in the bottom of the ninth at Shea Stadium, he was pitching both to preserve the perfect game and also to send the scoreless tie into extra innings.

The perfect game ended first, dying on an Ed Bressoud double leading off the inning. In the stretch from the first time all night, Dierker wild pitched Bressoud to third then surrendered a base hit to Ron Hunt that ended the game in a 1-0 Mets victory.

NL East

Two Phillies — Jim Bunning on Father’s Day 1964 and Roy Halladay in 2010 — have thrown perfect games. The current Washington Nationals franchise also has a perfect game in its history, although Dennis Martinez delivered it in 1991 for the team then known as the Montreal Expos.

That leaves the Braves, Marlins and Mets still in search.

Mets: In July of 1969, with his Mets struggling to run down the division-leading Chicago Cubs, Tom Seaver took the mound against the Cubs at Shea Stadium. He was dominant, striking out 11 and retiring the first 25 batters he faced.

Then with one out in the ninth inning of a 4-0 Mets lead, light-hitting Jim Qualls somehow managed to slip a base hit into left-center to break up the perfect games. Seaver retired the final two Cubs to complete the one-hit shutout.

Braves: Given all the great pitching those 1990s Braves teams had, it may seem unlikely that to find the closest any Brave has ever come to perfection you have to go back more than half a century. On Aug. 18, 1960, Milwaukee Braves pitcher Lou Burdette started against the Phillies at Connie Mack Stadium and pitched a no-hitter.

The only blemish on Burdette’s line came with one out in the fifth inning when Phillies outfielder Tony Gonzalez wore a Burdette fastball and was given first. The next batter, Lee Walls, promptly grounded into a double play and Burdette retired the final 12 Phillies batters without incident.

That gave him a no-hitter during which he faced the minimum 27 batters, but not quite a perfect games.

Marlins: The Marlins were on their way to a World Series victory in June of 1997 when their ace, Kevin Brown, faced the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park. Powered by a seven-run seventh, the Marlins won 9-0 and Brown retired the first 23 batters he faced. Then with two out in the eighth, Brown hit Marvin Bernard, who became San Francisco’s first and only baserunner of the afternoon.

NL Central:

Among the five current NL Central teams, only the Cincinnati Reds have enjoyed a perfect game. Tom Browning threw it, beating the Dodgers 1-0 in 1988.

Cubs: Famously in Cubs lore, Milt Pappas in September of 1972 retired the first 26 San Diego Padres he faced, then got two strikes on pinch hitter Dave Stahl, only to walk him on 2-2 and 3-2 pitches that Pappas long claimed should have been strikes. Plate umpire Bruce Froemming disagreed. Pappas got the mere no-hitter when Gary Jestadt popped out seconds later.

Cardinals: Facing the Dodgers Sept. 21, 1934 in one of a staggering 23 doubleheaders they played that season, Dizzy Dean won his 27th of an eventual 30 games in the opener. Dizzy allowed just three hits. In the second game at Ebbets Field, Paul Dean went his older brother a bit better. Paul allowed a two-out first inning walk to Len Koenicke, then retired the final 25 Dodgers he faced for a no-hitter.

Dizzy was unimpressed. “If I had known Paul was gonna throw a no-hitter, I’d have thrown one myself,” he told reporters after the sweep.

Pirates: Officially, what Harvey Haddix did against Lou Burdette and the Milwaukee Braves on May 26, 1959 at County Stadium does not go down as a perfect game … but it’s a safe bet nobody will ever come closer. Haddix pitched nine perfect innings that night, then because the game was scoreless he pitched a 10th and an 11th and a 12th.

In the home half of the 13th, Braves hitter Felix Mantilla reached when third baseman Don Hoak botched the throw to first.  A sacrifice and an intentional walk of Henry Aaron followed, then Joe Adcock ended the game with what initially looked like a home run. Because Aaron stopped running and Adcock passed him between second and third, Adcock was awarded only the two bases, but those were good enough to end the game 1-0.

Brewers: On Sept. 11, 2021, on his way to a Cy Young Award, Corbin Burnes retired the first 18 Cleveland Indians he faced. After Myles Straw led off the seventh by drawing a walk, Burnes set down six more in a row before being replaced by closer Josh Hader to start the ninth. With a 3-0 lead, Hader brushed aside the final three Cleveland batters to preserve the no-hitter and near-perfect game.