As a child, I fell in love with the romanticism of baseball. I loved the never ending number of statistics and trivial components to the game. As a Blue Jays fan, every time a batter hit a base hit in his first at bat, I was watching a potential cycle. Every time a Blue Jays pitcher retired the side in order in the first inning, I was watching a potential perfect game.
To this day, no Blue Jays pitcher has ever pitched a perfect game. Dave Stieb, however, did pitch a no hitter back on September 2, 1990 while I was working a game booth at the CNE. Still, a perfect game might just be the most perfect performance in baseball. It's a work of art, retiring every player a pitcher faces. It's the rarest of feats.
Last night, 40 year old Randy Johnson pitched the first perfect game of his illustrious career becoming only the 15th player to do so since the modern era began. It's also worth noting Johnson became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0. The last perfect game was thrown by former Jay David Cone back in 1999.
27 up, 27 down. There's nothing finer. Last night, Johnson was perfect.
