On Friday, September 16, 1988,

Tom Browning Thomas Leo Browning (April 28, 1960 – December 19, 2022) was an American left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played from 1984 to 1995, spending almost his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds. In his rookie season in 1985, B ...

of the Cincinnati Reds pitched the 12th

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) history, blanking the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

1–0 at

Riverfront Stadium Riverfront Stadium, also known as Cinergy Field from 1996 to 2002, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States that was the home of the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball from 1970 Major League Baseball season, 1970 throug ...

. Browning became the first left-handed pitcher to pitch a perfect game since

Sandy Koufax's perfect game Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a perfect game in the National League against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, September 9, 1965. The game was not televised. Koufax, by retiring 27 consecutive batters without al ...

in 1965. As of 2022, this perfect game is also the only one in Major League history to be pitched on artificial turf.

Background

Browning was in his fifth season in MLB, having made his debut in September 1984 with the Reds. Through the end of the 1987 season, he had a career record of 45–35 with a 3.95

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

. Coming into his September 16, 1988, start at home against the Dodgers, he had a season record of 15–5 with 3.56 ERA in 32 starts. His most recent start had been an eight-inning

no decision A no decision (sometimes written no-decision) is one of either of two sports statistics scenarios; one in baseball and softball, and the other in boxing and related combat sports. Baseball and softball A starting pitcher who leaves a game with ...

five days earlier, also against the Dodgers, in a road game at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers. Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of ...

. The Reds nearly had a perfect game earlier in the season, as starting pitcher Ron Robinson retired the first 26

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

he faced at home on May 2, 1988. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, pinch hitter Wallace Johnson singled to left field on a

full count In baseball and softball, the count refers to the number of balls and strikes a batter has in their current plate appearance. If the count reaches three strikes, the batter strikes out; if the count reaches four balls, the batter earns a base ...

, breaking up the bid.

Tim Raines Timothy Raines Sr. (born September 16, 1959), nicknamed "Rock",Raines received this nickname at an Expo rookie camp when he was seventeen, based on his physique. is an American professional baseball coach and former player. He played as a left ...

then homered, narrowing the Reds' lead to 3–2. Relief pitcher

John Franco John Anthony Franco (born September 17, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed relief pitcher between and . Franco established himself as an All-Star player with the Cincinn ...

then got

Johnny Paredes Johnny Alfonso Paredes Isambert (2 September 1962 – 5 November 2020) was a Venezuelan second baseman in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played for the Montreal Expos (1988; 1990) and Detroit Tigers (1990–1991). He also played in Japan in 1 ...

to ground out for the final out. Browning had a bid for a no-hitter broken up earlier in the season. On June 6, 1988, against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium on the west coast of the United States, in San Diego, California. The stadium opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium and was known as Jack Murphy Stadium from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadi ...

, Browning took a no-hitter into the ninth inning.

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...

singled with one out; it was the only hit Browning allowed in defeating the Padres, 12–0. Entering the September 16 game, the Dodgers had an 84–60 record, while the Reds were at 76–69. It was the first game of a three-game series between the teams. Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds 1988-09-16 (ticket)

Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati Reds 1988-09-16 (ticket)

The game

A two-hour, 27 minute rain delay forced the game to start at approximately 10 PM local time. The rain delay lasted longer than the game itself, played in a brisk one hour, 51 minutes. The game's lone run came with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Batting against Dodger starter

Tim Belcher Timothy Wayne Belcher (born October 19, 1961) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1987 to 2000 for seven different teams. He was named ''The Sporting News'' Rookie Pitcher of the Year ...

, himself working on a no-hitter, Reds shortstop

Barry Larkin Barry Louis Larkin (born April 28, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player. He played shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2004. He briefly played in the minor leagues before making h ...

doubled and advanced to third on

Chris Sabo Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

's infield single; an error by Dodger third baseman Jeff Hamilton on the play enabled Larkin to score. In the top of the seventh inning, Dodger left fielder

Kirk Gibson Kirk Harold Gibson (born May 28, 1957) is an American former professional baseball player and manager. He is currently a color commentator for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports Detroit and a special assistant for the Tigers. As a player, Gibson ...

was ejected by home plate umpire

Jim Quick James Edward Quick (born September 6, 1943 in Sacramento, California) is a former Major League Baseball umpire who worked in the National League in and again from to . Quick wore uniform number 15 for most of his career. Minor leagues Quick b ...

after striking out. In the top of ninth inning, Browning first got

Rick Dempsey John Rikard Dempsey (born September 13, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player.Steve Sax Stephen Louis Sax (born January 29, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played as a second baseman in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1994, most notably as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers with whom he w ...

then grounded out to the shortstop. Facing pinch hitter

Tracy Woodson Tracy Michael Woodson (born October 5, 1962) is an American former professional baseball player and college coach. He played all or part of five seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1987 to 1989 and 1992 to 1993, primarily as a third base ...

, Browning recorded his seventh strikeout of the evening, completing the perfect game. Browning threw 70 of his 102 pitches for strikes with Catcher Jeff Reed behind the plate and did not run the count to three balls on a single Dodger hitter.

Later developments

The Dodgers would go on to win the

1988 World Series The 1988 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1988 season. The 85th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the N ...

—the only time, to date, that a team has won a World Series after having a perfect game pitched against it during the season. Only one other team has since earned a postseason berth after having a perfect game pitched against it during the season: the 2010 Tampa Bay Rays, who were on the losing end of

Dallas Braden's perfect game On Sunday, May 9, 2010, Major League Baseball pitcher Dallas Braden pitched a perfect game. Braden, a member of the Oakland Athletics, pitched the game against the Tampa Bay Rays and retired all 27 batters. The game took place on Mother's Day i ...

on May 9, went on to win the

American League East The American League East is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. MLB consists of an East, Central, and West division for each of its two 15-team leagues, the American League (AL) and National League (NL). This division was created before ...

title. Not until Sean Manaea of the Oakland Athletics no-hit the eventual

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

on April 21, 2018, would a no-hitter again be pitched against a team that would go on to win that year's World Series. Browning's perfect game was the first of a record three that Paul O'Neill would play in as a member of the winning team. With the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

, he would be on the winning end of

David Wells David Lee Wells (born May 20, 1963) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Boomer", Wells was considered on ...

' and

David Cone David Brian Cone (born January 2, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher, and current color commentator for the New York Yankees on the YES Network and WPIX as well as for ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball.Philadelphia Phillies at

Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for foo ...

, Browning retired the first 24 batters he faced.

Dickie Thon Richard William Thon (born June 20, 1958) is a Puerto Rican-American former professional baseball shortstop who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the California Angels, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Ra ...

then broke up the bid with a ninth-inning leadoff double. After striking out Steve Lake, Browning gave up a single to

Steve Jeltz Larry Steven Jeltz (born May 28, 1959) is a French-born American former professional baseball player. He played in parts of eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Philadelphia Phillies and Kansas City Royals. Jeltz primarily played ...

, scoring Thon.

then relieved Browning and got Len Dykstra to hit into a game-ending double play, giving the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists during the January Uprising in 1863 * USSR (or, to a lesser extent, China) during th ...

a 2–1 win. Browning pitched for the Reds through 1994, and finished his career with the 1995 Kansas City Royals. His MLB totals include an overall record of 123–90, 3.94 ERA, and exactly 1,000 strikeouts in 1,921 innings pitched.

Line score

References

External links

Box score
at

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...