It was on this day in 1984 that California Angels pitcher Mike Witt threw the eleventh perfect game in Major League history.  Witt’s Angels defeated the Texas Rangers 1-0 in a game played at Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Witt’s perfect game came on the final day of the season as he thoroughly dominated the Rangers.  He had 10 strikeouts on the day to go along with 13 groundouts, as only four balls left the infield throughout the course of the game.  A few years later in 1990, Witt would finish off a no-hitter started by teammate Mark Langston.  After pitching seven innings of no-hit ball, Langston left the game and was replaced by Witt, who finished off the final two innings.  There have only been nine combined no-hitters in Major League history.

A perfect game is one of the rarest occurrences in baseball and amazingly there were two last season (and there should have been a third).  Dallas Braden and Roy Halladay both threw perfect games in 2010, while Armando Gallaraga was robbed of his when umpire Jim Joyce made an incorrect call on what would have been the final out of the game.

Here is Jim Joyce’s blown call.

Notable Birthdays

Jamal Anderson, NFL – Born September 30th 1972 (age 39) in Newark, New Jersey

Carlos Guillen, MLB – Born September 30th 1975 (age 36) in Maracay, Venezuela

Martina Hingis, WTA – Born September 30th 1980 (age 31) in Kosice, Slovakia