After Rich Hill's foiled effort Sandy Koufax is still the only Dodger to have pitched a perfect game

[John1956PA]

Last edited Thu Aug 24, 2017, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)

On Wednesday, August 23, 2017, Dodger pitcher Rich Hill almost joined the elite perfect-game club when he took his flawless pitching performance into bottom of the ninth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, only to see a teammate commit an error which allowed a Pirate to reach first base. Hill got out of the inning without allowing any more base runners. As disappointing as the broken perfect game may have felt to Hill, he no doubt felt worse when, in the bottom of the tenth inning, Pittsburgh's Josh Harrison broke the no-hitter by getting just enough of a Hill pitch to send the ball over the outfield wall, thereby becoming the first batter in MLB history to end an extra-innings no-hit game with a walk-off homer. When all was said and done, the current best team in baseball lost to a floundering Pittsburgh team, and Sandy Koufax is still the only pitcher in Dodger history to have pitched a perfect game.

[GeoWilliam750]

1. Wonderful trivia

[Tikki]

2. I am heartbroken...Rich did pitch 9 no-run innings in under 100 pitches.

37 and that strong...Rich Hill is a mighty man.

So was Koulfax, for that matter.

Tikki

[WinkyDink]

3. Is. Koufax is still with us!

[Chasstev365]

4. Yes

[Tikki]

6. I just saw him on TV the other day and he is no longer pitching.

But he was one hell of a pitcher.

Tikki

[simplesimon]

5. Great job...

by Hill. Reminds me of Harvey Haddix of the Pirates, who threw 12 perfect innings in a game with a comparable outcome. It became known as the 'greatest game ever pitched' -- but was ended by a home run that wasn't.

Haddix' opponent was Milwaukee Braves pitcher Lew Burdette, who pitched a 13-inning shutout. In the bottom of the 13th Haddix lost the perfect game on a teammate's error, which was followed by a sacrifice to advance the runner, then an intentional walk to Hank Aaron.

Joe Adcock then hit one over the fence. When rounding the basepaths, however, Adcock passed Aaron, was ruled out, the home run negated, which meant that only the lead baserunner's run counted. 1-0 on a three-run homer.

All of which allowed Burdette --known for his humor -- to ask ever after, "Who won the greatest game ever pitched?"