Pitching perfection is one of the rarest feats in the world of sports. Just 20 times in the long history of the national past-time have perfect games been recorded.
And, for the first time in 130 years, two pitchers have accomplished the remarkable feat in the same season— less than three weeks apart to boot.
First, it was Dallas Braden becoming the 19th player to enter his name on the historic list with his Mother’s Day masterpiece.
Then, it was baseball’s reigning pitching master—Roy Halladay—matching that feat just 20 days later.
While Braden is just trying to establish himself in his young career, Halladay has been recognized as a pitching stud for the past decade. Regardless of what each has or has not done thus far in their careers, both pitchers have now crossed into baseball immortality by placing their names on this highly exclusive list.
In order to provide some backdrop, and highlight this truly improbable feat, we count down the 20 pitchers that have achieved this landmark accomplishment. We reach back to the days of mitts the size of ski gloves and franchises with names such as “Ruby Legs” and the “Bisons” to find this score of historic pitching performances.