BOISE, Idaho — THIS DAY IN SPORTS…June 21, 1964, 60 years ago today:
On Father’s Day, the Philadelphia Phillies stop the New York Mets, 6-0, as Jim Bunning, a father of seven, tosses the first perfect game in the National League since 1880. It was also the first in the regular season in the majors since 1922. The future Hall of Famer—and eventual Republican U.S. senator from Kentucky—also became the first pitcher of the 20th century to notch no-hitters in both leagues, having thrown one for the Detroit Tigers against Boston in 1958.
Baseball is a game of superstitions, such as the one that says you never talk about a no-hitter while it’s in progress. Bunning would have none of that, chatting with teammates in the dugout. He said it kept him relaxed. Well, things only got better as the game went on. Of Bunning’s 10 strikeouts, six came in the final three innings, including the final batter of the day, the Mets’ John Stephenson. Even more amazing, Bunning tossed only 90 pitches in the masterpiece.
Bunning’s perfecto was the first in the big leagues overall since Don Larsen’s legendary performance for the Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. But baseball would have to wait just over one year for the next one, when Sandy Koufax handcuffed the Cubs at Dodger Stadium. In the six decades since Bunning ended the perfect game drought, there have been 15 more. There were three of them in 2012 alone (Philip Humber of the White Sox, Matt Cain of the Giants and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners). But there’s only been one since that aberration (the Yankees’ Domingo German last year).
Bunning would pitch until 1971, retiring after that season as a Dodger. He returned to his native Kentucky and got into politics—his first office was city councilman in Fort Thomas. Bunning then became a legislator and rose to the post of Kentucky Senate minority leader. He ran for Governor in 1983 and became a Congressman in 1987. Bunning served in the House through 1999 before being elected to the U.S. Senate. He retired in 2011 and passed away in 2017.
(Tom Scott hosts the Scott Slant segment during the football season on KTVB’s Sunday Sports Extra. He also anchors four sports segments each weekday on 95.3 FM KTIK and one on News/Talk KBOI. His Scott Slant column runs every Wednesday.)
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