The Art of the Perfect Game (Or, How to Get Really, Really Lucky)

"It was a million-to-one shot, Doc."-Frank Costanza The Yankees won an unremarkable game this evening. The opener of a relatively meaningless series in Camden Yards against an Orioles team that got buried back in May. Nick Swisher got three hits. Robinson Cano doubled twice. And Andy Pettitte retired the first twenty hitters he faced before fate, and the law of large numbers, caught up with him. There have been eighteen perfect games in the history of the Major Leagues. No pitcher has ever thrown two. The last time two pitchers threw one in the same year was 1880. And in an age where every single record and every single star is doubted, it is perhaps the only record besides DiMaggio's hitting streak that is cheat-proof. And that's because there's just so many different little things that can go wrong. For instance, the average major league fielder has a fielding percentage of somewhere between .920 and .980; the average major league hitter has an on-base percen...