Perfectly Solid

After Dallas Braden pitched the 19th perfect game in baseball history, I got to thinking: this should be a great sign of things to come.

Unlike no-hitters, which have been accomplished by everyone from Nolan Ryan (324 career wins) to Bud Smith (7 career wins), perfect games have mostly been hurled by very good-to-great pitchers.

Four Hall-of-Famers have done it - Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Jim Bunning, and Randy Johnson (yeah, I'm jumping the gun, but it's inevitable). After that quartet, you have several pitchers that have had long and successful careers. Dennis Martinez won 244 other games besides his 1991 perfecto against the Dodgers. David Wells was one of the better lefthanders of his era, going 239-157 over 19 seasons including an afternoon in 1998 when he baffled the Twins. Kenny Rogers also toppled the 200-win plateau, playing for six different teams over nearly two decades. David Cone (perfect game in 1999 vs. Expos) struck out nearly 2,700 batters and won the 1994 Cy Young. Mike Witt (perfect game in 1984 vs. Rangers) won at least 15 games in four straight seasons from 1984-87, and Mark Buehrle (perfect game in 2009 vs. Rays) has played in four All-Star Games and is just entering his prime at 31 years old.

In fact, Don Larsen, who probably threw the most famous perfect game in the 1956 World Series, may be the worst pitcher to ever toss up all zeroes. He was just 81-91 in his career and was the only pitcher in modern baseball history to pitch a perfect game yet not ever play in an All-Star Game. Even Len Barker (perfect game in 1981 vs. Blue Jays) and Tom Browning (perfect game in 1988 vs. Dodgers), made one All-Star appearance each.

What does this mean for Braden? Nothing, as of now. He'll be 27 in August and has only made 53 career starts. While he seems solid, nobody is praising him as a future star. But, his accomplishment is unique because unlike a no-hitter, a perfect game is no fluke. Very good pitchers have made history before, and time will tell is Dallas Braden can stay true to that trend.