There have been 24 official perfect games in Major League Baseball (MLB) history as of 2023. This spans over 154 years and more than 238,500 games played
. Key points about MLB perfect games:
- The first two perfect games occurred in 1880, five days apart
- The only postseason perfect game was pitched by Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series
- The frequency of perfect games has increased since 1981, with 15 perfect games thrown from 1980 to 2023, compared to only 9 in the previous 100+ years
- The most recent perfect game was thrown by Domingo Germán of the New York Yankees on June 28, 2023
- No pitcher has thrown more than one perfect game in MLB history
- All perfect games have been thrown by a single pitcher; no combined perfect games have occurred in MLB, although combined no-hitters have happened
Some notable perfect games include:
- Sandy Koufax’s perfect game in 1965, considered iconic for its dominance
- Catfish Hunter’s 1968 perfecto, where he also contributed offensively with 3 RBIs
- Roy Halladay’s perfect game in 2010, which was one of three perfect games that year, marking a rare occurrence
In summary, MLB has seen 24 perfect games in its history, with the latest by Domingo Germán in 2023
