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True story. I kid you not.
Just twenty-four hours before Felix Hernandez finished his perfect game against the perfecto-prone Tampa Bay Rays, I had pulled a whole bunch of perfect-game related data for a visual I had been meaning to put together ever since Philip Humber threw his gem.
I thought to myself, "What's the rush? I'll just do this when I have time. Who knows when there will be a perfect game again? It could be fourteen years from now."
I seriously thought that. Twenty-four hours later, I was scrambling to finish my data collection. The visual above shows the best lineups ever to fall victim to a perfect game. I used Baseball-Reference's WAR batting runs for the starters in the lineup for the season in which the perfect game was thrown (so, the totals for the three [three!] 2012 perfect games are incomplete).
Observations:
- Mark Buehrle's perfect game stands out above the rest, by far.
- Seems fitting that the World Series perfect game would rank highly.
- King Felix threw the most impressive perfecto so far in 2012.
- Lee Richmond batted second while throwing a perfect game.
- Baseball-Almanac.com actually has box scores for the Richmond and Ward perfect games. They are from 1880, for crying out loud.
- Len Barker faced just one hitter with a positive Rbat. That was John Mayberry.
Here's my data. Let me know if you see something interesting!
Felix Hernandez vs. Tampa Bay Rays (2012): +22 runs
Age | Rbat |
---|---|
Sam Fuld* | -1 |
B.J. Upton | -1 |
Matthew Joyce* | 16 |
Evan Longoria | 7 |
Ben Zobrist# | 20 |
Carlos Pena* | -4 |
Jose Lobaton# | -2 |
Elliot Johnson# | -1 |
Sean Rodriguez | -12 |
Matt Cain vs. Houston Astros (2012): –12 runs (–18 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Jordan Schafer CF | -12 |
Jose Altuve 2B | 10 |
Jed Lowrie SS | 8 |
J.D. Martinez LF | -8 |
Brett Wallace 1B | 5 |
Chris Johnson 3B | 4 |
Brian Bogusevic RF | -9 |
Chris Snyder C | -10 |
J.A. Happ P | -6 |
Philip Humber vs. Seattle Mariners (2012): –59 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Chone Figgins LF | -9 |
Dustin Ackley 2B | -8 |
Ichiro Suzuki RF | -14 |
Justin Smoak 1B | -17 |
Kyle Seager 3B | 3 |
Jesus Montero DH | 0 |
Michael Saunders CF | -1 |
Miguel Olivo C | -8 |
Munenori Kawasaki SS | -5 |
Roy Halladay vs. Florida Marlins (2010): +32 runs (+19 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Chris Coghlan LF | -1 |
Gaby Sanchez 1B | 6 |
Hanley Ramirez SS | 20 |
Jorge Cantu 3B | -5 |
Dan Uggla 2B | 27 |
Cody Ross RF | -2 |
Brett Hayes C | -4 |
Cameron Maybin CF | -9 |
Josh Johnson P | -13 |
Dallas Braden vs. Tampa Bay Rays (2010): +45 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Jason Bartlett SS | -4 |
Carl Crawford LF | 28 |
Ben Zobrist 2B | 1 |
Evan Longoria 3B | 30 |
Carlos Pena 1B | 4 |
B.J. Upton CF | 5 |
Willy Aybar DH | -5 |
Dioner Navarro C | -8 |
Gabe Kapler RF | -6 |
Mark Buehrle vs. Tampa Bay Rays (2009): +114 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
B.J. Upton CF | -14 |
Carl Crawford LF | 13 |
Evan Longoria 3B | 26 |
Carlos Pena 1B | 20 |
Ben Zobrist 2B | 37 |
Pat Burrell DH | 12 |
Gabe Kapler RF | 0 |
Michel Hernandez C | -5 |
Jason Bartlett SS | 25 |
Randy Johnson vs. Atlanta Braves (2004): +53 runs (+47 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Jesse Garcia SS | -7 |
Julio Franco 1B | 5 |
Chipper Jones LF | 16 |
Andruw Jones CF | 7 |
Johnny Estrada C | 9 |
J.D. Drew RF | 50 |
Mark DeRosa 3B | -18 |
Nick Green 2B | -9 |
Mike Hampton P | -6 |
David Cone vs. Montreal Expos (1999): +22 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Wilton Guerrero DH | -4 |
Terry Jones CF | -3 |
Rondell White LF | 18 |
Vladimir Guerrero RF | 37 |
Jose Vidro 2B | 10 |
Brad Fullmer 1B | -3 |
Chris Widger C | -2 |
Shane Andrews 3B | -18 |
Orlando Cabrera SS | -13 |
David Wells vs. Minnesota Twins (1998): –63 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Matt Lawton CF | 26 |
Brent Gates 2B | -14 |
Paul Molitor DH | -10 |
Marty Cordova LF | -8 |
Ron Coomer 1B | -14 |
Alex Ochoa RF | -12 |
Jon Shave 3B | -2 |
Javier Valentin C | -15 |
Pat Meares SS | -14 |
Kenny Rogers vs. California Angels (1994): –9 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Chad Curtis CF | -8 |
Spike Owen 3B | 12 |
Jim Edmonds LF | -8 |
Chili Davis DH | 27 |
Bo Jackson RF | 6 |
J.T. Snow 1B | -14 |
Rex Hudler 2B | 2 |
Chris Turner C | -6 |
Gary Disarcina SS | -20 |
Dennis Martinez vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (1991): +42 runs (+28 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Brett Butler CF | 18 |
Juan Samuel 2B | 7 |
Eddie Murray 1B | 0 |
Darryl Strawberry RF | 24 |
Kal Daniels LF | 6 |
Lenny Harris 3B | 0 |
Mike Scioscia C | 6 |
Alfredo Griffin SS | -19 |
Mike Morgan P | -14 |
Tom Browning vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (1988): +28 runs (+20 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Alfredo Griffin SS | -18 |
Mickey Hatcher 1B | 0 |
Kirk Gibson LF | 32 |
Mike Marshall RF | 12 |
John Shelby CF | 5 |
Jeff Hamilton 3B | -5 |
Rick Dempsey C | 6 |
Steve Sax 2B | -4 |
Tim Belcher P | -8 |
Mike Witt vs. Texas Rangers (1984): –41 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Mickey Rivers DH | 0 |
Wayne Tolleson 2B | -22 |
Gary Ward LF | 13 |
Larry Parrish 3B | 14 |
Pete O'Brien 1B | 11 |
George Wright CF | -11 |
Tom Dunbar RF | -4 |
Donnie Scott C | -15 |
Curt Wilkerson SS | -27 |
Len Barker vs. Toronto Blue Jays (1981): –77 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Alfredo Griffin SS | -27 |
Lloyd Moseby RF | -12 |
George Bell LF | -6 |
John Mayberry 1B | 8 |
Willie Upshaw DH | -5 |
Damaso Garcia 2B | -11 |
Rick Bosetti CF | -2 |
Danny Ainge 3B | -20 |
Buck Martinez C | -2 |
Catfish Hunter vs. Minnesota Twins (1968): +50 runs (+48 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Cesar Tovar 3B | 7 |
Rod Carew 2B | -1 |
Harmon Killebrew 1B | 15 |
Tony Oliva RF | 22 |
Ted Uhlaender CF | 8 |
Bob Allison LF | 14 |
Jackie Hernandez SS | -14 |
Bruce Look C | -1 |
Dave Boswell P | -2 |
Sandy Koufax vs. Chicago Cubs (1965): +23 runs
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Don Young CF | -6 |
Glenn Beckert 2B | -25 |
Billy Williams RF | 47 |
Ron Santo 3B | 37 |
Ernie Banks 1B | 8 |
Byron Browne LF | -2 |
Chris Krug C | -11 |
Don Kessinger SS | -25 |
Bob Hendley P | 0 |
Jim Bunning vs. New York Mets (1964): +23 runs (+17 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Jim Hickman CF | 4 |
Ron Hunt 2B | 11 |
Ed Kranepool 1B | 1 |
Joe Christopher RF | 24 |
Jesse Gonder C | 0 |
Hawk Taylor LF | -8 |
Charley Smith SS | -1 |
Amado Samuel 3B | -8 |
Tracy Stallard P | -6 |
Don Larsen vs. Brooklyn Dodgers (1956): +79 runs (+66 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Jim Gilliam 2B | 12 |
Pee Wee Reese SS | -12 |
Duke Snider CF | 38 |
Jackie Robinson 3B | 8 |
Gil Hodges 1B | 17 |
Sandy Amoros LF | 15 |
Carl Furillo RF | 9 |
Roy Campanella C | -8 |
Sal Maglie P | -13 |
Charlie Robertson vs. Detroit Tigers (1922): +68 runs (+54 including pitcher)
Batting | Rbat |
---|---|
Lu Blue 1B | 14 |
George Cutshaw 2B | -23 |
Ty Cobb CF | 30 |
Bobby Veach LF | 21 |
Harry Heilmann RF | 46 |
Bob Jones 3B | -20 |
Topper Rigney SS | 2 |
Clyde Manion C | -2 |
Herman Pillette P | -14 |
Addie Joss vs. Chicago White Sox (1908): +12 runs (+4 including pitcher)
NAME | POS | Rbat |
Ed Hahn | rf | 7 |
Fielder Jones | cf | 16 |
Frank Isbell | 1b | 1 |
Patsy Dougherty | lf | 16 |
George Davis | 2b | -6 |
Freddy Parent | ss | -7 |
Ossee Schreckengost | c | -1 |
Lee Tannehill | 3b | -14 |
Ed Walsh | p | -8 |
Cy Young vs. Philadelphia Athletics (1904): +26 runs (+10 including pitcher)
NAME | POS | Rbat |
Topsy Hartsel | lf | 8 |
Ollie Pickering | cf | -12 |
Harry Davis | 1b | 24 |
Lave Cross | 3b | 9 |
Socks Seybold | rf | 18 |
Danny Murphy | 2b | 20 |
Monte Cross | ss | -20 |
Ossee Schreckengost | c | -21 |
Rube Waddell | p | -16 |
John Montgomery Ward vs. Buffalo Bisons (1880): +2 runs (–10 including pitcher)
NAME | POS | Rbat |
Bill Crowley | rf-c | 7 |
Hardy Richardson | 3b | 5 |
Jack Rowe | c-rf | 0 |
Oscar Walker | lf | -1 |
Joe Hornung | 2b | 5 |
Denny Mack | ss | -2 |
Dude Esterbrook | 1b | -5 |
Tom Poorman | cf | -7 |
Pud Galvin | p | -12 |
Lee Richmond vs. Cleveland Blues (1880): +9 runs (+7 including pitcher)
NAME | POS | Rbat |
Fred Dunlap | 2b | 16 |
Frank Hankinson | 3b | -8 |
Doc Kennedy | c | -9 |
Bill Phillips | 1b | 5 |
Orator Shaffer | rf | 9 |
Jim McCormick | p | -2 |
Barney Gilligan | cf | -2 |
Jack Glasscock | ss | -2 |
Ned Hanlon | lf | 0 |