On May 8, 1968, Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

pitched the ninth perfect game in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

history, defeating the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

4–0 at

Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, often shortened to the Oakland Coliseum, is a multi-purpose stadium in Oakland, California, United States. It serves as part of the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Complex, located next to Oakland Arena. In 2 ...

. The game was not televised. Hunter struck out 11 batters, including the last two batters he faced: Bruce Look and pinch-hitter

Rich Reese Richard Benjamin Reese (born September 29, 1941) is an American former professional baseball player who played first base and outfield in the major leagues from through for the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. Born in Leipsic, Ohio, Reese t ...

. He also struck out

Harmon Killebrew Harmon Clayton Killebrew Jr. (; June 29, 1936May 17, 2011), nicknamed "the Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. He spent most of his 22-year career in Major League ...

all three times the two future Hall-of-Famers faced each other. Only two batters got to a three-ball count:

Tony Oliva Tony Pedro Oliva Lopez (born Antonio Oliva Lopez Hernandes Javique; July 20, 1938) is a Cuban former professional baseball player and coach. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a right fielder and designated hitter for the M ...

in the second inning, who reached a 3–0 count before striking out, and pinch hitter Reese, who fouled off five consecutive 3–2 pitches before striking out to end the game. Hunter relied mostly on his

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

during the game, only disagreeing with catcher Jim Pagliaroni's pitch-calling decisions twice. As a measure of his appreciation for his catcher's contribution to the perfect game, Hunter rewarded Pagliaroni with a gold watch that he had inscribed on back. Only 6,298 fans showed up for the evening contest, which is the smallest attendance to watch any MLB perfect game. The perfect game was the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

's first regular season perfect game since Charlie Robertson's perfect game in 1922, as well as the first

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit (baseball), hit through conventional methods. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in ...

in the Athletics'

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

history, which was in only its 25th game after the franchise had moved from

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, its home from 1955 to 1967. Bill McCahan had pitched the Athletics' last no-hitter in 1947; the franchise was then based in

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. One of the best hitting pitchers of his time, Hunter went 3–4 at the plate, helping his own cause by batting in three of the four Oakland runs. In the bottom of the seventh inning, his bunt single scored

Rick Monday Robert James "Rick" Monday Jr. (born November 20, 1945) is an American former professional baseball player who now serves as a broadcaster. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a center fielder from 1966 to 1984, most notably as a member ...

to break a scoreless tie. One inning later, with the Athletics leading 2–0, he singled to score Pagliaroni and Monday. As of 2017, Hunter is the youngest pitcher to pitch a modern-era perfect game, at 22 years, 30 days old.

Boxscore

References

External links

Boxscore of Catfish Hunter's perfect game
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Catfish perfect game 1968 Major League Baseball season Oakland Athletics 1960s in Oakland, California 1968 in sports in California Major League Baseball perfect games May 1968 sports events in the United States Baseball competitions in Oakland, California