Before Len Barker pitched a perfect game in 1981, everyone else had the luxury of the opposing pitcher needing to bat against them. But by '81, the American League was utilizing the DH, and Barker became the first pitcher to have to go through 27 professional hitters in order to attain immortality.
On May 15, 1981, the Toronto Blue Jays were at Cleveland Stadium to face Barker and the Indians. Barker breezed through the Blue Jays hitters, striking out 11 and never once going to ball 3 against anyone. By virtue of the DH rule, Barker became the first perfect game pitcher to not need to come to the plate himself.
One of baseballs few highlights in '81 with the shadow of the strike over everything, the perfect game was also the last no-hitter to date in Indians history, currently the longest drought in baseball. Not as bad, obviously, as their 75 year title drought, but it does hold to the theme that the Indians can't catch a break it seems.
Despite it's shortened schedule due to the strike, 1981 was Barkers best season. He led the league in strikeouts and was an all star. His control of 5 is very accurate for the game in which only 19 of his pitches were not called a strike, making for an extremely efficient performance.
Hassey has an incredibly rare distinction. He not only caught Barker's perfecto, but he goes on later in his career to catch another perfect game, but we'll deal with that later. '81 was otherwise forgettable for Ron.
Perfect games, by definition, don't need much help on offense. It still helped that Orta had a great day at the plate, going 3-4 with a homer.
Not that he can put it on a Hall of Fame resume, but Andre Thornton does hold the distinction of being the first DH for a perfect game pitcher. Unable to help in the field, he did hit a sac fly to drive in a run for Barker.
Leal had a solid card in '81 and put in a complete game effort in the game, but he couldn't contain the Indians hitters and had to sit helplessly as he watched his teammates fail 27 straight times at the plate.
