Perfect: The Inside Story of Baseball's Twenty Perfect Games

Description

Among baseball achievements, the perfect game-one in which no runners reach base-remains the greatest. Though many have come close, only 20 pitchers have achieved such perfection in more than a century of baseball. This exhaustive compendium examines the fascinating story behind every perfect game and uncovers details both great and small, illuminating the majesty of these titanic achievements. The faithfully narrated record of all 20 games-punctuated by statistics, trivia, little-known anecdotes, and personal memories from both witnesses and the pitchers themselves-gets inside the minds of the players who made baseball history. In addition to profiling some of the game's greatest pitchers, such as Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, and Randy Johnson, or others including Charley Robertson who had otherwise unremarkable careers, this updated edition features new chapters devoted to Dallas Braden, Mark Buehrle, and Roy Halladay, the three latest pitchers to throw a perfect game, and a comprehensive appendix profiles several pitchers who almost achieved perfection.

James Buckley Jr. is the author of more than 25 sports-related books for adults and children, including Spider-Man's Amazing Powers; Home Run Heroes: Big Mac, Sammy & Junior; and The World of Baseball. Currently an editorial director of Shoreline Publishing Group, he is a former senior editor for NFL Publishing and an editorial projects manager for Sports Illustrated. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.