Perfect Game Collection #2

 Here are the next 3 perfect game pitchers in my collection. 

Addie Joss achieved perfection on October 2, 1908 in the middle of a tight pennant race between the Cleveland Naps, Chicago White Sox, and Detroit Tigers.  According to his card, he only needed 74 pitches to shut down the Sox. 

Interestingly enough, Ed Walsh the pitcher for the Sox also had a complete game, struck out 15, and only gave up 4 singles. The Naps only run came in the third after a botched pickoff play and wild pitch. Just goes to show how razor thin the margin of error can be to achieve a perfect game.

Joss is a sad tale in that he died two days after his 31st birthday, just three years after this game in April 1911 of tubercular meningitis. It's sad to think what his final career stats might have been as he had a 160-97 record, 234 complete games, 920 strikeouts, and 45 shutouts...

Robertson's perfect game came in his fifth appearance and fourth start on April 30, 1922. Likely many of the more recent perfect games, Robertson did not have a stellar career, as he finished with a career record of 49-80.

My Don Larsen card is one that I'll have to get upgraded at some point. I hope to pick up a 1956 here soon and it looks like lower level, non-graded cards are around $20 - $30. 

Larsen's dance with perfection came in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, 34 years after Robertson's no-no. What's amazing it followed a Game 2 start that didn't even make it two full innings.  That Dodgers team boasted a line-up of Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella, which makes this perfect game pretty incredible.