How dominant was Domingo Germán? Ranking the 24 perfect games in MLB history (2024)

Every perfect game lives forever. But not every perfect game is created equal.

When Domingo Germán became the 24th man in history to throw a perfect game in the major leagues on Wednesday, he did so late at night on the West Coast, against one of the worst teams in decades, if not ever.

You can’t disregard Germán’s performance. But you can properly rank it against the other 23 perfect games. So here is that attempt, considering historical significance, quality of opponent and overall dominance:

24. John Montgomery Ward, Providence Grays, June 17, 1880, vs. Buffalo Bisons

Game score: 92

The rules of baseball — at least some — were somewhat unrecognizable in 1880. But the standard for perfection was simple enough. The last perfect game in the National League until 1964, Ward outdueled Buffalo’s Pud Galvin, whose team made a cringeworthy seven errors. It was not out of character for the local nine from Buffalo, which bumbled its way to a 24-58-3 record.

23. Lee Richmond, Worcester Worcesters, June 12, 1880, vs. Cleveland Blues

Game score: 92

Richmond collected a hit himself, which is impressive, and he survived a brief, seven-minute rain delay, which was presumably stressful. He will also always be the first, beating Ward by five days. He also did something that would be seemingly impossible today, even in the era of the pitch clock: He helped a game end in a reported one hour, 26 minutes.

22. Mike Witt, California Angels, Sept. 30, 1984, at Texas Rangers

Game score: 97

It was the final day of the regular season and both teams had been eliminated. But do not say it was a baseball game that did not matter. Witt had 11 strikeouts, the Angels finished 81-81 and Reggie Jackson was a participant in his second perfect game (the first coming behind Catfish Hunter in 1968).

21. Domingo Germán, New York Yankees, June 28, 2023, at Oakland A’s

Game score:96

German came into the game with a 5.10 ERA. He struck out nine hitters and did so in 99 pitches, pulling off a “Maddux” as the Yankees piled on the runs in an 11-0 victory. The A’s dropped to 21-61, shades of the 1880 Buffalo Bisons.

20. Kenny Rogers, Texas Rangers, July 28, 1994, vs. California Angels

Game score: 95

Dare we say that Rogers was truly gambling against the Angels, going to three-ball counts seven different times? And then there was the ninth, when Rex Hudler hit a liner into shallow center field and Rusty Greer made a splendid diving catch.

19. Philip Humber, Chicago White Sox, April 21, 2012, at Seattle Mariners

Game score: 96

Once a top prospect and first-round pick, Humber made 51 career starts and finished his career with a 5.31 ERA. But perfection can come at any time. And Humber needed only 96 pitches to be perfect. At the time, Humber was the seventh former Met to throw a no-hitter. The list included David Cone (spoiler alert) and seemed plenty relevant … until Johan Santana threw a no-hitter later that year, the first in Mets history.

18. Jim Bunning, Philadelphia Phillies, June 21, 1964, at New York Mets

Game score: 97

A father of seven, Bunning pitched the seventh perfect game in history on Father’s Day, 1964. Which is funny because Bunning is also famous for his lack of superstition: He kept talking to his teammates all game. This was the first regular season perfect game since 1922. The 1964 Mets lost 109 games and were notoriously bad.

17. Len Barker, Cleveland Indians, May 15, 1981, vs. Toronto Blue Jays

Game score: 98

Barker’s performance is memorable for a few reasons. He seemed to become more dominant as the game progressed, striking out seven of the last 11 hitters. (He had 11 K’s overall.) And his catcher was Ron Hassey, who a decade later would become the first catcher to catch two perfect games when he was behind the plate for Dennis Martinez. It’s also possible that the Boston Celtics (and the NBA community as a whole) should thank Barker. Danny Ainge was in the lineup for the Blue Jays in what would be his final MLB season before becoming a full-time basketball player. Maybe he realized he was better off on the hardwood.

16. David Cone, New York Yankees, July 18, 1999, vs. Montreal Expos

Game score: 97

If you re-watch Cone’s perfect game —as I did a couple years ago for a story on its 25th anniversary — you will notice two things right away: One, the strike zone used to be A LOT wider. (Cone told me it used to feel like a horizontal rectangle back then; now it is vertical.) The second thing you will notice is that Cone had mastered the “sweeper” decades before the term became popularized. His frisbee slider was truly something to behold, so much so that we’ll (sort of) overlook the Expos lineup.

15. Dennis Martinez, Montreal Expos, July 28, 1991, at Los Angeles Dodgers

Game score: 92

The first pitcher born outside the United States to throw a perfect game, Martinez — nicknamed “El Presidente” — struck out just five Dodgers, who won 93 games that season. His performance became known for his emotional reaction. When it was over, he sat down and cried.

14. Addie Joss, Cleveland Naps, Oct. 2, 1908, vs. Chicago White Sox

Game score: 90

It came in the final days of a pennant race, and Joss was clutch. He needed only 76 pitches to retire 27 White Sox. Cleveland didn’t win the pennant, and thus didn’t win the World Series, and the Cubs claimed another World Series that Cleveland wishes it had.

13. Charlie Robertson, Chicago White Sox, April 30, 1922, at Detroit Tigers

Game score: 93

Robertson was making his fourth career start. The Tigers had Ty Cobb and a team that hit better than .300 for the season. He later described his performance as “perfect concentration of mind and body,” a feeling that only 23 other men can relate to.

12. Cy Young, Boston Americans, May 5, 1904, vs. Philadelphia Athletics

Game score: 95

The first time the A’s franchise was on the wrong end of a perfect game, the great Cy Young was out to settle a score. The 1904 Philadelphia A’s had a winning record, and the volatile Rube Waddell, Young’s rival starter, was known to talk a little trash. Big mistake. As MLB historian John Thorn has written, Waddell opened a series against Boston with a one-hitter, was scheduled to throw again in the series finale, and told his opponents from Boston: “I’m going to give you the same thing.” Instead, Cy Young pitched like … uhhhh, Cy Young.

11. Matt Cain, San Francisco Giants, June 13, 2012, vs. Houston Astros

Game score: 101

The 2012 Houston Astros were awful, losing 107 games. Matt Cain made them look even worse. He finished with 14 strikeouts while throwing 86 strikes in 126 pitches. And the Astros’ lineup looks better in retrospect; it included Jose Altuve, J.D. Martinez and Jed Lowrie. Cain still needed sterling defensive play in the outfield. But if dominance is the metric, few pitchers have ever been better.

10. Mark Buehrle, Chicago White Sox, July 23, 2009, vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Game score: 93

It’s hard to mention Buehrle’s perfect game without mentioning Dewayne Wise, who made one of the most clutch catches in baseball history in the ninth inning, robbing Gabe Kapler of a home run. Kapler will appear again shortly. So will the Rays, who turned things around in the late 2000s, started making the playoffs with regularity — and kept being on the wrong side of perfect games.

9. David Wells, New York Yankees, May 17, 1998, vs. Minnesota Twins

Game score: 98

It’s easy to get lost in all the ephemera about Babe Ruth memorabilia and Saturday Night Live cast parties and incredible pitching feats while battling “raging” hangovers, as Wells once put it in an interview with “HBO Real Sports.” But that might not be fair to Wells, who was truly dominant, striking out 11 hitters while throwing 120 pitches. The Twins’ lineup wasn’t loaded, but it did include Matt Lawton, Paul Molitor and Ron Coomer.

8. Catfish Hunter, Oakland A’s, May 8, 1968, vs. Minnesota Twins

Game score: 98

The Oakland A’s had existed for just 24 games when Hunter took the mound on May 8, 1968. He was just 22 years old. He struck out 11 and finished with three hits. Decent game, all things considered.

7. Dallas Braden, Oakland A’s, May 9, 2010, vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Game score: 93

Braden, who lost his mother to cancer while in high school, pitched a perfect game against the Rays on Mother’s Day with his grandmother Peggy in attendance. At 26, Braden was the youngest pitcher to throw a perfect game since Mike Witt. And the Tampa Bay Rays, who had the league’s best record at the time of the game, finished with 96 victories and won the AL East. Fun fact: Giants manager Gabe Kapler made the last out.

6. Félix Hernández, Seattle Mariners, Aug. 15, 2012, vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Game score: 99

Once upon a time, perfect games seemed to come in bunches. Hernández’s was the third perfecto of 2012. The Rays had a winning record and a lineup full of good players. But King Félix was still in his prime, striking out 12 in a 1-0 win.

5. Randy Johnson, Arizona Diamondbacks, May 18, 2004, vs. Atlanta Braves

Game score: 100

Johnson was 40 years old. The Braves’ lineup had Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones. And only two pitchers — Sandy Koufax and Matt Cain — have ever struck out more hitters in a perfect game. The amazing thing about this performance was how seemingly unsurprising it felt that a 40-year-old Randy Johnson threw a perfect game. He had a 2.60 ERA and a league-leading 290 strikeouts that season. He finished second in the Cy Young race to Roger Clemens.

4. Roy Halladay, Philadelphia Phillies, May 29, 2010, at Florida Marlins

Game score: 98

Coming just 20 days after Braden, baseball saw two perfect games in the same month for the first time since 1880. Halladay overwhelmed a Marlins lineup with Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, and not too much else. Later that year, Halladay joined Don Larsen (spoiler alert) by becoming the second pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the postseason. He finished 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA, winning the Cy Young.

3. Tom Browning, Cincinnati Reds, Sept. 16, 1988, vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

Game score: 94

This was the only perfect game to be thrown on artificial turf, which is not a factoid that will help Browning in these rankings. But the fact the Dodgers went on to win the World Series certainly does. (Only one other team — the 2010 Rays — even made the playoffs after enduring a perfect game.) One year later, Browning retired the first 24 hitters in a game against the Phillies in Philadelphia. The bid was lost in the ninth.

2. Sandy Koufax, Los Angeles Dodgers, Sept. 9, 1965, vs. Chicago Cubs

Game score: 101

Narratively speaking, this performance had it all. A legendary hurler (striking out 14 and throwing his fourth no-hitter). One of the best “Game scores” in history. An iconic setting at Dodger Stadium. Vin Scully on the call.

There’s more, too. The middle of the Cubs’ lineup featured Billy Williams, Ron Santo and Ernie Banks. And Cubs starter Bob Hendley allowed just one hit and two base runners. In 1995, a poll of SABR members voted this the greatest game ever pitched.

1. Don Larsen, New York Yankees, Oct. 8, 1956, vs. Brooklyn Dodgers

Game score: 94

OTD in 1956, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in #postseason history. @TheVinScully was on the call. pic.twitter.com/saJYj37hXW

— MLB Vault (@MLBVault) October 8, 2020

Sometimes the details of a performance pale in importance to the setting and context: World Series. Game 5. Yankee Stadium. Series tied at two games apiece. Yogi Berra catching. Mel Allen and Vin Scully on the mic. As Joe Trimble of the New York Daily News wrote: “The imperfect man pitched a perfect game yesterday.” The Yankees won the series in seven games.

(Photo: Stan Szeto / USA Today)