The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Pitched: Don Larsen? Len Barker?

[DonRocks]

On 6/6/2018 at 10:12 PM, DonRocks said:

For one game, Len Barker was the greatest pitcher who ever lived (I'll save you the trouble of doing a Google search).

I was getting ready to make an argument that Len Barker pitched the single-greatest game in Major League history:

On May 15, 1981, Barker pitched a Perfect Game - one of 23 in Major League history; one of 21 since the "modern era" of 1900.

So what made me think Barker's was *The* Greatest ever pitched?

Two things - two *huge* things:

1) Not once did a batter have more than 2 Balls in the pitching count. Think about that - not once!

2) All 10 of Barker's strikeouts were swinging strikeouts! Holy hell!

But there's a problem with deifying Barker's game:

* Don Larsen did it in a World Series (while only allowing one batter to obtain three Balls), and ...

There's this "myth," that a "Perfect Game" is "no runs, no hits, no walks, no errors," which is completely untrue. 

It's the "no errors" part that's untrue - if an error is committed while the ball isn't in play (dropping a pop-up in foul territory, or, worse, making a Wild Pitch), it doesn't affect the Perfect Game.

Did Barker throw any Wild Pitches? I don't know.

But I do know that about 50% of all Perfect Games since Don Larsen's in the 1956 World Series have involved one-or-more errors - not only did Larsen throw a Perfect Game in the World Series, he did it with ZERO errors.

In fact, I found two Perfect Games thrown - including Barker's - that had 3 errors in the box score (this might account for Barker's 10 strikeouts-while-swinging).

So, who threw the greatest game in baseball history?

I have no idea

I remember that, in 2017, people here were saying Max Scherzer had the best 1-2 games in MLB history, and I could see why they were saying so - I don't remember the specifics, but they were *ridiculous*. Heck, why *not* throw that into the mix? It's all for the lore of baseball.

[tfbrennan]

How about the Pirates' Harvey Haddix pitching 12 perfect innings and losing in the 13th on May 26, 1959 in Milwaukee against the powerful Braves and Lew Burdette. The game was scoreless until the bottom of the 13th. It ended on a bizarre note when a confused Hank Aaron (who had been intentionally walked after a leadoff error and a sacrifice bunt), was passed on the base path by Joe Adcock*, who had hit an apparent 3-run home run.  Aaron was ruled out, the home run declared a double, and the official score ultimately became 1-0. Haddix pitched 12 2/3 innings, one hit, no earned runs. He went to 3 balls just once (other than the intentional walk in the 13th), in the first inning against Eddie Matthews. No other perfect game has gone beyond 9 innings.

*In another oddity, Adcock had nearly ended Haddix's career 5 years earlier when he lined a drive off Haddix's knee.

Box score

2009 SI article on game

[silentbob]

Every perfect game in MLB history, ranked

FWIW, I think evaluating the most impressive perfect game should take into account quality of the opposing batting lineup and ballpark too.  On the latter, I think Hideo Nomo's no-hitter at Coors in 1996 is one of the best non-perfect game performances ever, simply because of where it took place.  The Rockies had averaged over 8 runs per game at home that year!

[MC Horoscope]

Larsen's perfect game in a World Series seems to have kind of snuck up. Do we know how the CROWD was reacting? Did it even LOOK like an overpowering performance? The catcher, Yogi Berra, said he knew it was a shut out but didn't even realize it was a no hitter much less a perfect game! Just a lot of mowing the opponent down with few strike outs, ground balls, fly outs here and there, some good defense. Efficient as could be. I don't know if that says more about Yogi than the performance itself or what! I think some of Scherzer's games leave more of an impression on the fans and teams at bat. Nolan Ryan's last no-hitter sure impressed. In my most recent years Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, and Randy Johnson have been most impressive. Not just the numbers but the manner.

[DaveO]

Larsen's perfect game in a World Series seems to have kind of snuck up. 

My taciturn uncle was at that game.  I didn’t know of that till decades after the fact.  Having been born in and lived in Brooklyn for all but the previous 4 years plus his service years I assume he wasn’t pleased with the outcome.

40+ years after the game Larson said that he pitched with the best control he ever had.  Hah—he was in “the zone”.

That to me is the mystery.  I can’t speak to rating perfect games or no hitters one above the other as is done above several times with different approaches.

But what puts one in the zone and how does one maintain it?  I can relate to that.  Wouldn’t it be something if one could recreate “the zone” time after time.  

All things considered the WS perfect game was thrown when the pressure and the impact was at its greatest.  

I think a definition of being in the zone all the time and even better in the playoffs might be Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or on occasion Reggie Jackson.

[DaveO]

Coincidentally ESPN has a current article describing/ calculating the best pitched game per franchise using another method.

Story

Of pitchers from this region not surprisingly Scherzer is mentioned as is Mussina twice.  (Jim Palmer is referenced in the Baltimore and San Francisco blurbs)

[DonRocks]

On 6/27/2018 at 10:31 PM, DaveO said:

My taciturn uncle was at that game.  I didn’t know of that till decades after the fact.  Having been born in and lived in Brooklyn for all but the previous 4 years plus his service years I assume he wasn’t pleased with the outcome.

40+ years after the game Larson said that he pitched with the best control he ever had.  Hah—he was in “the zone”.

That to me is the mystery.  I can’t speak to rating perfect games or no hitters one above the other as is done above several times with different approaches.

But what puts one in the zone and how does one maintain it?  I can relate to that.  Wouldn’t it be something if one could recreate “the zone” time after time.  

All things considered the WS perfect game was thrown when the pressure and the impact was at its greatest.  

I think a definition of being in the zone all the time and even better in the playoffs might be Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or on occasion Reggie Jackson.

"Why Athletes Need a Quiet Eye" by David Robson on bbc.com

PS - Without even having finished the article, I can tell you: It isn't just athletes; it's performance artists as well. Stage fright vs. total focus and confidence - in golf, I guess they call it "the yips."

(Take it from someone who has had reasonably (but not extremely) high levels of success in both tennis and piano - it's the exact same thing.)

[MC Horoscope]

John Havlicek said something very close to this in Havlicek Stole the Ball -- 50th Anniversary.

"The good players see the game in slow motion and they see what's going to happen before it happens."