Perfect Game - John Ward
Perfect games are rare. I remember the 1998 and 1999 Yankees features a perfect game each year and thought that was a crazy short amount of time....that actually had nothing on the true record. A mere 5 days after Lee Richmond became the first man ever to pitch a perfecto, John Montgomery Ward made it happen for the 2nd time. It would be 76 years before the National League would be a part of another perfect game, and 84 years before an NL pitcher would pull it off themselves.
On June 17, 1880, Ward was untouchable as his Providence Grays beat the Buffalo Bisons 5-0. Ward ultimately ended up in the Hall of Fame more for his union work, but nevertheless he has the first perfect game pitched by a future member of Cooperstown. He is also the youngest perfect game pitcher ever. Just like with Richmond, this game was subject to odd variations of the rules when compared to todays game. Ward was pitching in his home park, but Buffalo won the coin toss and were acting as the home team in this situation. NFL fans think nothing of this oddity.
1880 made for a pretty decent card for Monty. He pulled a 39-24 record (good for 3rd in the league in wins. We've already covered the league leader that season.) Worth mentioning he led the league with a 47-19 record the season prior. That 8IP is misleading, since the Grays weren't very deep at pitching. Ward completed 59 of the 70 games he pitched. Teammate George Bradley was 13-8. Combined, the two men accounted for every decision of the 52-32 record that season.
The 4-5 strikeouts on his chart was very interesting, seeing how he only struck out 2 men on his perfect day, and 230 for the season.
