On Wednesday night out in Oakland, the 24th perfect game in MLB history was thrown.
New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán needed fewer than 100 pitches to shutdown the A’s and make baseball history. Twins fans will remember Germán from that game earlier this year where he was likely using sticky stuff but got away with it.
The history books will remember him a little differently.
Baseball has existed for almost 150 years, yet we witnessed someone do something that has only happened 24 times. Think about that, only 24 people in the entire history of humanity did what happened on Wednesday night in Oakland; that’s bonkers.
With the number of perfect games in MLB history being so low, not every team has been able to celebrate their pitcher accomplishing the feat. The Twins have been involved, either directly or tangentially, in four of the perfect games thrown in baseball history.
Has a Minnesota Twins pitcher thrown a perfect game?
No Minnesota Twins pitcher has thrown a perfect game — at least not while a member of the team.
Kenny Rogers threw the 12th perfect game in history back in 1993, while Phil Humber threw the 19th perfect game back in 2012. Both players played for the Twins, with Humber pitching for Minnesota in 2008-2009 and Rogers spending a season with the team in 2003.
Minnesota has directly been involved in two other perfect games, but participated on the wrong side of baseball history.
Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game agains the Twins back in 1968 while he was with the Oakland A’s. Fast forward to 1998 and the Twins were once again on the wrong side of a perfect game when David Wells threw one while with the New York Yankees, allegedly while hungover after drinking into the early morning hours that day.
Minnesota Twins No Hitters
While no Twins pitcher has thrown a perfect game, there have been a handful who have tossed no-hitters.
Seven pitchers have thrown no-hitters for the Twins: two during their days as the Washington Senators and five after the franchise moved to Minnesota. Walter Johnson threw the first no-hitter in franchise history while Jack Kralick threw the first no-hitter of the franchise’s modern era.
No Twins pitcher has thrown a no-hitter since Francisco Liriano did it back in 2011, a feat made sweeter thanks to it happening against the Chicago White Sox.
Before that, the Twins went 13 years between no-hitters by one of its pitchers. Right now the running clock since Liriano’s no-hitter is at 11 years.
Pitcher | Date/Year | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
Walter Johnson | July 1, 1920 | Boston Red Sox |
Bobby Burke | August 8, 1931 | Boston Red Sox |
Jack Kralick | August 26, 1962 | Kansas City A’s |
Dean Chance | August 25, 1967 | Cleveland Indians |
Scott Erickson | April 27, 1994 | Milwaukee Brewers |
Eric Milton | September 11, 1998 | Anaheim Angels |
Francisco Liriano | May 3, 2011 | Chicago White Sox |