Perfect Game Trivia Questions

Of the 24 official perfect games in MLB history (as of 2024), 14 occurred after 2000, due to increased strikeouts and defensive shifts.

Galarraga retired 26 straight batters, but umpire Jim Joyce missed the final out at first base. MLB later admitted the error but did not change the official record.

By definition, a perfect game means the pitcher's team won, since the opposing team never scored. No team has ever lost a perfect game, though a pitcher could throw a perfect game and lose in extra innings if the game is tied.

Strikeouts aren't required. A perfect game means no batter reaches base—via hit, walk, or error—but outs can be groundouts, flyouts, or strikeouts.

No perfect game has ever been thrown in the World Series. Hunter threw a perfect game in the regular season (1968) but not in the postseason.

The phrase first appeared in 1880, but Major League Baseball retroactively recognized perfect games only starting in 1991, after years of debate.

In 2012, Felix Hernandez threw a perfect game for the Seattle Mariners and hit a sacrifice fly, but no home run. However, the most recent perfect game (as of 2023) was by Domingo Germán in 2023—he did not hit a home run. Actually, this is false.

A perfect game ends when the opposing team fails to reach base; a walk-off home run would mean the home team wins, but the game ends with the pitcher still perfect. This is possible, but rare. Actually, it's true—like in 1968 with Catfish Hunter's perfect game, his team won 4-0.