Every time a pitcher throws a perfect game, as the Yankees’ Domingo Germán did on Wednesday, the list of previous pitchers who accomplished this feat is trotted out. The names are famous (Sandy Koufax! Cy Young!) and decidedly lesser known (Dallas Braden?).
At the top of that list, and quite easy to scroll past, are a few names separated from the others by nearly 25 years – and huge differences in gameplay.
1. Lee RichmondWorcester, 6/12/1880
2. John WardProvidence, 6/17/1880
Apart from the list of perfect games, their names are not known to the modern audience. Even their clubs are defunct. In some ways it can seem like they only exist to be credited with pioneering a feat that remains decidedly rare to this day. And occasionally they don’t even get it, as many news outlets limit their lists to the so-called modern era of baseball, which began in 1901.
If anything, Richmond gets the honor of being first, and his perfect game against the Cleveland Blues was easily the pinnacle of his sporting career. But if you take the time to learn about Ward, who matched Richmond’s perfection five days later in a game against the Buffalo Bisons, you’ll find that striking out all 27 batters he hit on a Thursday afternoon at Messer Street Grounds in Providence, RI, just one line on a resume that could make even Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar of the Los Angeles Angels, blush.
Ohtani’s ability to throw and hit is awe-inspiring, but Ward, born in 1860 and known to many as Monte by his middle name, Montgomery, did even more. He pitched a perfect game, won a National League ERA title, amassed 164 wins as a pitcher and 2,107 hits as a position player, had a stolen bases season, became a lawyer, formed a union, formed his own professional league and, just for the record, lol, developed such a strong golf game that he came second in a prestigious tournament.