Mike Witt's perfect game

Arlington Stadium, the site of Witt's perfect game

Witt's perfect game occurred on September 30, 1984, the final day of the 1984 season.[8] The Angels were playing the Texas Rangers at Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[9] Both teams had already been eliminated from playoff contention, and as a result, a small crowd of 8,375 people attended the game.[8] Witt recalled how he felt calm that day: "It was perfect weather, seventy-five degrees, no wind, no clouds ... I was nice and loosey-goosey, no tenseness."[10] By comparison, Rangers batter Mickey Rivers noted how he and many of his teammates wanted the season to be over and that they did not take the game seriously for the first five innings.[10]

Witt's opposition was pitcher Charlie Hough, a knuckleballer who was trying to win his 17th game of the season.[11] Witt was excellent through the first three innings, striking out four of the first nine batters.[9] After the third inning, Hough said to his teammates "The stuff he's got, he's got a chance to do it."[11] After an uneventful fourth inning, Larry Parrish led off the fifth inning for the Rangers with a bouncing ground ball to third baseman Doug DeCinces, who fielded the ball barehanded and threw Parrish out at first base.[12] DeCinces later remarked: "At the time it was a nice play, no big deal. But as you looked back on it, you thought, wow, that could have been the difference."[13]

Through six innings, the game remained scoreless.[9] Hough was pitching well, allowing just three hits so far.[12] In the top of the seventh inning, DeCinces led off for the Angels with a single and advanced to second base on a passed ball. Two batters later, Reggie Jackson hit into a fielder's choice, which allowed DeCinces to score the only run of the game.[12] Due to the passed ball, Hough was credited with an unearned run.[12] In the bottom of the seventh inning, Witt was in danger of walking Wayne Tolleson, who had a count of three balls and no strikes.[14] Witt assumed Tolleson was not going to swing at the next two pitches, and threw two strikes.[14] After the second strike, Witt walked halfway toward Tolleson in an attempt to intimidate him.[15] On the next pitch, Tolleson grounded out to second baseman Rob Wilfong.[15]

By this point, many people within the stadium began to realize Witt was pitching a perfect game.[16] Witt's wife Lisa was in attendance, and although she did not know what a perfect game was, she did know her husband was pitching a no-hitter.[16] Journalist Ross Newhan was writing a wrap-up story about the Angels season and a preview of the playoffs for the Los Angeles Times and was not closely paying attention to the game until the sixth inning.[16] Newhan admitted he rooted for the Rangers to get a baserunner, because he did not want to completely rewrite his story in such a short time.[16] Tim Kurkjian of The Dallas Morning News echoed this remark, and said he only started caring about the game once he noticed the Rangers did not have any baserunners.[17]

In the eight inning, Parrish hit a long fly ball that Witt initially assumed was going to be a home run before Mike Brown caught it at the warning track.[18] Witt then struck out the next two batters and took the perfect game into the ninth inning.[9] After another strike out from Tom Dunbar, Witt induced a ground out from pinch hitter Bobby Jones.[9] The final out came on a ground out from pinch hitter Marv Foley, in what was the last at bat of his career.[19] The game lasted 1 hour and 49 minutes, and Witt had thrown 94 pitches.[8] According to ESPN, Witt threw 55 curveballs, 37 fastballs, and 2 changeups.[8] Of the 27 batters he faced, Witt struck out 10, and had a game score of 97.[9]

After recording the final out, Witt's teammates mobbed him on the pitcher's mound and began celebrating.[6] In a post-game interview, Witt admitted that although he knew he was potentially throwing a perfect game as early as the fourth inning, he was still more focused on simply winning the game.[19] It was only after the Angels took the lead in the seventh inning that he began to fixate on the idea of completing the perfect game.[19] Rangers manager Doug Rader complained that the Rangers players were affected by the glare of the sun and that they had a hard time seeing pitches.[6] Rader said to reporters: "No one could see the son of a bitch ... but I'm not saying that to detract from what the kid did. This was no fluke."[6] Some Rangers players also complained that umpire Greg Kosc gave Witt too large of a strike zone.[19] Hough praised Witt, and said "I saw Jerry Reuss and John Candelaria pitch no-hitters, but this was by far the most overpowering. I mean, this was no contest."[8]

James Buckley, the author of the book Perfect: The Inside Story of Baseball's Sixteen Perfect Games, described Witt's perfect game as arguably the least publicized perfect game since World War II.[20] The perfect game occurred on the final day of the season between two teams who were not going to make the playoffs, and simultaneously with a football game between the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears.[21] The following day, Dallas newspapers like the Dallas Times Herald barely mentioned Witt's perfect game, and as a result, many people within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex were unaware of what had happened.[21] Witt made one televised appearance on Good Morning America talking about the game.[21]

In 1985, Witt became the ace of the Angels pitching staff, and the following season, Witt finished with a win-loss record of 18–10.[22] The Angels reached the American League Championship Series, but lost to the Boston Red Sox in seven games.[23] Witt was an All-Star in 1986 and 1987, but his pitching began to worsen, and in 1990 he was traded to the New York Yankees for Dave Winfield.[5][24] After several injuries and two mediocre seasons with the Yankees, Witt retired following the 1993 season.[25] Whenever Witt went into a slump, he rewatched footage of his perfect game and tried to figure out what worked in that game and how to replicate it.[25] Witt finished his career with a win-loss record of 117–116, and a 3.83 ERA.[5]

Statistics taken from Baseball-Reference.com[9]