People have always wondered what is the hardest feat to perform in Baseball. I say it is hitting for the cycle is one of the hardest feats, although it is accomplished yearly, the other hardest feat, pitching a perfect game. That alone is the stand alone feature that is the most difficult, and will mark a career of any pitcher.

The first perfect game:

June 12, 1880

Cleveland Blues: 0-0-2

Worcester  Ruby Legs: 1-2-0

In what was a classic pitchers duel, Lee Richmond

outlasted Jim McCormick in this perfect game gem.

Two Hitters for the Hometown favorites Worcester got on base.

Auher Irwin was the key player giving McCormick the win and

the perfect game. Outstanding fielding and the two hits, one run was

all that Worcester needed that day. In the fifth inning, Fred Dunlap threw a routine relay throw home, when the ball sailed over the catchers head to allow Auther Irwin the ability to score with ease. Jim McCormick is also the player that started the rule, a player must choose, amateur or professional. See, Jim McCormick was a medical student as well as pro baseball player. He was attending Brown University, in fact, which was common that day, he played in a game against Yale, and rumor was he was hung over from a graduation party the night before. He was using the young upstart Major League Baseball contract of $2400 to fund his medical school.

The Perfect game List:

1. 1)Lee Richmond, 1880
   

2. 2)John Montgomery Ward, 1880 (Five days Later)
   

3. 3)Cy Young, 1904 (Some have proclaimed this to be the first perfect game)
   

4. 4)Addie Joss, 1908
   

5. 5)Charlie Robertson, 1922
   

6. 6)Don Larsen, 1956
   

7. 7)Jim Bunning, 1964
   

8. 8)Sandy Koufax, 1965
   

9. 9)Jim “Catfish” Hunter, 1968
   

10. 10) Len Barker, 1981
    

11. 11) Mike Witt, 1984
    

12. 12) Tom Browning, 1988
    

13. 13) Dennis Martinez, 1991
    

14. 14) Kenny Rogers, 1994
    

15. 15) David Wells, 1998
    

16. 16) David Cone, 1999
    

17. 17) Randy Johnson, 2004
    

18. 18) Mark Buehrle, 2009
    

19. 19) Dallas Braden, 2010
    

20. 20) Roy Halladay, 2010
    

So the greatest perfect game in my opinion, to this day has to be Don Larsen’s perfect game. To throw this on the Worlds Largest Stage, has to be a feat that may never happen again. The Yankees fell to 0-2, while the Yankee’s failed to win on the road against the defending champions, the Brooklyn Dodgers, the pitching then rose to the occasion at the Friendly confides of Yankee Stadium, winning 2 in a row, but it was game 5 that made history.

1956 World Series Game 5

                             IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   BF

Sal Maglie Brooklyn Dodgers   8     5   2   2    2   5   1   2.65   29

Don Larson, New York Yankees  9     0   0   0    0   7   0   0.00   27