Doc Halladay's Perfecto

May 29, 2010 8:07 PM

20 men have thrown Perfect Games in the history of the MLB -- 18 since the modern baseball era began 110 years ago -- yet, remarkably, this month has witnessed two: Dallas Braden's perfecto on Mother's Day (previously), and Roy "Doc" Halladay, of the Philadelphia Phillies, tonight, on Memorial Day weekend (out #27).

Prior to Halladay's achievement tonight, no single season in the modern era had seen two perfect games, let alone two in the same month. The two non-modern-era perfectos occurred within five days of each other in June of 1880, and were thrown by Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward.

posted by bjork24 (41 comments total)

Not to mention the No Hitter thrown last month, too.
posted by Atreides at 8:10 PM on May 29, 2010

Two in one year?! I blame steroids, or the control there of, or something.


["Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they're fascist." Crash Davis.]
posted by Some1 at 8:23 PM on May 29, 2010

Been waiting for Halladay to throw a perfect game. Glad he came through on that.
posted by rachaelfaith at 8:25 PM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I know he didn't get 27 Ks, but still no one on is close.
posted by Some1 at 8:27 PM on May 29, 2010

Roy Halladay is a frightening man.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:29 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

Someone already updated the Wikipedia article. That's really obsessive!
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:33 PM on May 29, 2010

(And yet he lost to the Pirates)
posted by dirigibleman at 8:39 PM on May 29, 2010

Wonder when they'll lower the mound.
posted by squorch at 8:41 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

fuck. yeah. Knew he'd manage this :)

(Of course, it's the same night that the Ospreys win the Magner's League AND I'm out celebrating a friend's birthday! Life is cruel...)
posted by kalimac at 8:49 PM on May 29, 2010

I was at the SkyDome in Toronto for the last game of the season in 1999, when Halladay made his second career start. He took a no-hitter into the ninth, losing it on a two-out home run.

Best pitcher I've ever had the pleasure to watch.
posted by dry white toast at 8:51 PM on May 29, 2010 [2 favorites]

Someone already updated the Wikipedia article. That's really obsessive!

You're amazed by that 30 minutes after it's already hit Metafilter? I remember looking up Robert Gates on Wikipedia minutes after he was announced as a nominee for SecDef and his article had already been edited to reflect that.

If you look at the timestamps from the article's edit history, it looks like the first perfect game edit to his article occured at the same minute the game ended.
posted by kmz at 9:11 PM on May 29, 2010

BTW, you've got to feel a bit sorry for Josh Johnson, who pitched a hell of a game too. The only run was an unearned run charged against him.
posted by kmz at 9:17 PM on May 29, 2010

Awesome! I love good pitching. (I also enjoy watching golf though, so take that as you will)
posted by danb at 9:19 PM on May 29, 2010

Too bad the Flyers didn't hold up their end. Was an awesome night to be a sports fan in Philly though.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:20 PM on May 29, 2010

So are we allowed to be Phillies fans again?
posted by Rory Marinich at 9:37 PM on May 29, 2010

Well, it is a Halladay weekend.
posted by christonabike at 10:03 PM on May 29, 2010 [12 favorites]

(And yet he lost to the Pirates.)

I didn't know that. But it sort of makes sense. Having lost to our lowly, pathetic Pirates, a pitcher of Halladay's stature would probably feel compelled to do something spectacular to make up for it. I just hope that this el perfecto finally puts his demons to rest.
posted by Uncle Chaos at 10:04 PM on May 29, 2010

God damn it Toronto. You don't even want to win any more.
posted by ZaphodB at 10:07 PM on May 29, 2010 [1 favorite]

I was about to say "the guy who played Sawyer did WHAT?" ...this Post-Lost Syndrome is excruciating...
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:11 PM on May 29, 2010

So that's what all the screaming was about at the sports bar across the street.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:27 PM on May 29, 2010

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a nice little piece on Halladay's perfect game, including a picture of Doc smiling.
posted by swerve at 11:00 PM on May 29, 2010

Yeah, I know he didn't get 27 Ks, but still no one on is close.

The record for strikeouts in a game in the majors is 20, so, yeah, nobody is even close.
posted by Lukenlogs at 11:46 PM on May 29, 2010

Yeah, I know he didn't get 27 Ks, but still no one on is close.

I don't know where this 27-strikeout notion came from.

See, a strikeout is worth the same as any other kind of out.

In fact, if you make a hitter pop up on the first pitch he sees, some would argue that's better than a strikeout.
posted by rokusan at 12:26 AM on May 30, 2010

I think the real lesson here is that the state of Florida is completely useless at shutting down perfectos.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 12:44 AM on May 30, 2010

i was there!
posted by DZack at 12:45 AM on May 30, 2010

For the definition of irony, see the story of Angels' first baseman Kendry Morales from the same night:

First baseman Kendry Morales is probably out for the season after being injured in a home-plate celebration after he hit the a grand slam to win the game.

LA Times article.
posted by rokusan at 1:29 AM on May 30, 2010

No batteries, snowballs or vomit involved.
posted by fixedgear at 2:30 AM on May 30, 2010

I'm gonna ruin it now, but I laughed when I saw this post listed on the front page with "27 comments (27 new)".
posted by litlnemo at 2:50 AM on May 30, 2010 [3 favorites]

Yeah, I know he didn't get 27 Ks, but still no one on is close.

To my knowledge there has never been a 27 up, 27 down, 27 K game on any level of professional baseball, but Ron Necciai did record a 27-strikeout no-hitter as a 19-year-old in a D-league game in 1952 (and a 24-strikeout game in his next start). Cruelly, he pitched in an era that didn't have an answer to rotator cuff injuries, and his career ended a few years later.
posted by NolanRyanHatesMatches at 7:13 AM on May 30, 2010

As a Blue Jays fan I am (grits teeth) very very happy for Doc

(goes off to sulk)
posted by evilcolonel at 7:36 AM on May 30, 2010 [4 favorites]

"Someone already updated the Wikipedia article. That's really obsessive!"

The lead up to the event is a few hours, lots of time to get ready with an update.
posted by Mitheral at 8:00 AM on May 30, 2010

Via Deadspin, Zoo with Roy celebrates.
posted by dirigibleman at 8:41 AM on May 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Hope the three minor leaguers we got for Halladay are working out well for the Jays.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 9:52 AM on May 30, 2010

We were listening to the game on the radio in the backyard last night, and the tension increasing each inning was marvelous -- we could hear cheers all over the neighborhood after the last out. Yay Philies!
posted by desuetude at 12:16 PM on May 30, 2010

Lord I hope the Yankees can claw their way back to the WS past the Rays this year. There are certain people who won't accept that the Phillies are the best team in baseball if they don't beat the Yankees.
posted by Space Coyote at 12:40 PM on May 30, 2010

I go away for one weekend where I am completely out of contact with the rest of the world and I miss another perfect game. Well congratulations to him, hes one of, if not the best pitcher in the game.
posted by lilkeith07 at 10:26 PM on May 30, 2010

I think the Phillies need to start actually hitting the ball again before anyone could even begin to consider them the best team in baseball.
posted by BobbyDigital at 6:59 AM on June 1, 2010

I was at the SkyDome in Toronto for the last game of the season in 1999, when Halladay made his second career start. He took a no-hitter into the ninth, losing it on a two-out home run.

I was at that same game! And I remember saying to my buddy: "Damn, this guy is going to make some serious waves".
posted by antifuse at 12:36 PM on June 1, 2010

Armondo Galarraga should have had the third perfect game this year, but the ump blew the final out of the game.
posted by dirigibleman at 6:07 PM on June 2, 2010 [1 favorite]

I mean, that wasn't even particularly close. That has to be one of the worst calls in Major League history.
posted by dirigibleman at 6:10 PM on June 2, 2010

Yeah, that was an absolutely terrible call. The manager came out to argue a bit but, frankly, I'm surprised he didn't force the ump to throw him out. If it were my guy I would have been spittin' bullets.
posted by Justinian at 9:00 AM on June 3, 2010