More than 9,000 men have taken the mound in a big league game, but what pitcher Johnny Vander Meer accomplished more than three quarters of a century ago by tossing back-to-back no-hitters is considered by many one of the game's most unbreakable records.
1) Johnny Vander Meer, Reds -- June 15, 1938
The king of all no-hitter follow-ups: a second straight no-hitter. Vander Meer is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw back-to-back no-hitters. The first came against the Boston Bees on June 11, 1938, the second against the Dodgers on June 15.
Only twice has there been a no-hitter on the same day. The first occurred on April 22, 1898, by Breitenstein, who threw the second of his career, and by John Locke. Almost one hundred years later, Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela both threw it on June 29, 1990.
Even those that were supposed to last forever like Ty Cobb's career hits records and Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played streak each falling to Pete Rose and Cal Ripken, Jr respectively, but this is one record that will never be broken: In 1938, Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds pitched two consecutive no- ...
Lester's no-hitter against the Kansas City Royals proved to be the last not only at Fenway Park, but also by a Red Sox pitcher. It also put Varitek in the record books as the only major leaguer to catch four no-hitters — Ruiz would tie the record in 2015.
Only Ryan, Koufax (four), Cy Young (three), Bob Feller (three), Larry Corcoran (three), and Justin Verlander (three) have pitched more than two no-hitters. Corcoran was the first pitcher to throw a second no-hitter in a career (in 1882), as well as the first to throw a third (in 1884).
No major league player has ever thrown two perfect games, although Jean Faut of the AAGPBL accomplished the feat with perfect games in 1951 and 1953.
Here's the list, starting with the pitcher whose no-hitter total stands alone -- Nolan Ryan, who threw seven.
The most recent perfect game for MLB occurred on June 28, 2023, with Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees against the Oakland Athletics in a 11–0 victory, finishing with 9 strikeouts.
Nolan Ryan didn't throw any perfect games in his career.
But, as always, there are exceptions. On April 23, 1964, Ken Johnson of the Houston Colt . 45s became the first pitcher to throw a nine-inning no-hitter and lose. In fact, he is still the only individual to throw an official (nine-inning) no-hitter and lose.
You've almost certainly never heard of it -- in fact, it very nearly never happened at all. And yet, not a single professional pitcher -- on any field, in any town -- has managed to match Fred Toney's start on May 10, 1909: 17 innings pitched, one walk, 19 strikeouts, no hits.
Of the 333 no-hitters in Major League Baseball history, 24 have been perfect games (counting the three post-season no-hitters, and including Don Larsen's perfect game, as well as those achieved in the Negro Leagues that are now recognized as being major leagues).
Cy Young holds the MLB win record with 511; Walter Johnson is second with 417. Young and Johnson are the only players to earn 400 or more wins. Among pitchers whose entire careers were in the post-1920 live-ball era, Warren Spahn has the most wins with 363.
The rarest achievement for a pitcher is a perfect game, in which not a single player on the opposing team gets on base. Because there are no hits in a perfect game, all perfect games are no-hitters. And it's impossible to score without getting on base, of course, so a perfect game is also a de facto shutout.
Necciai is the only professional pitcher to record 27 strikeouts in a nine-inning game, and a ball from that 7-0 win over the Welch Miners – which Necciai donated to the Hall of Fame in 2001 – is on display in the Museum's One for the Books exhibit.
A perfect game, a special subcategory of no-hitter, has yet to be thrown in Tigers history.
There have only been 15 unassisted triple plays in MLB history, making this feat rarer than a perfect game.
Newsy nugget: A dominant left-hander, Randy Johnson became the oldest pitcher to ever throw a perfect game at 40 years old. It was the first no-hitter in Diamondbacks history, and their only perfect game ever. This was Johnson's second no-hitter. He struck out 13 batters, third-most ever in a perfect game.
May 1, 1991: 44 year-old Nolan Ryan throws his 7th career no hitter, blanking the Blue Jays 3-0, becoming the oldest player in MLB history ever to throw a no-hitter.
On the same day that Rickey Henderson broke Lou Brock's all-time steals record, Nolan Ryan made history as well, recording his major league record seventh no-hitter. On May 1, 1991, at the age of 44, Ryan became the oldest player to register a no-hitter.
The record for the fewest pitches thrown in a perfect game is held by Addie Joss, a pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians in the early 1900s. Joss threw a perfect game in only 74 pitches against the White Sox on October 2, 1908: an average of 8.2 pitches per inning. Joss must have thrown plenty of strikeouts.
Hassey is notable for being the only catcher in MLB history to have caught more than one perfect game (the first with Len Barker in 1981 and his second with Dennis Martínez in 1991).
No, a pitcher cannot lose a 9-inning perfect game. However, if the game goes into extra innings and the perfect game is lost, then the pitcher does not get credit for the perfect game that happened in the first 9 innings. The pitcher must finish the entire game to be awarded a perfect game.