More than 150,000 major league games have been played in the modern era (1900 - present), but only 15 have been Perfect Games." A game is "perfect" when a pitcher pitches at least nine innings of a complete game victory and allows not a single runner to reach first base.

On September 16, 1988, Cincinnati Reds lefthander, Tom Browning, pitched a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This game was the only perfect game in which the losing team would go on to win the World Series in that same season. Here is the Dodgers' original dugout line-up card from that day. What’s amazing is that the card was signed by Browning after the game. The pitcher and his victims have never been better documented!

Tom Browning

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Browning barely missed becoming the first Major League pitcher to pitch two perfect games, taking his second bid into the ninth inning on July 4, 1989 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium. A lead-off single by Dickie Thon ended Browning's attempt.

The ball that Browning threw in his perfect game used to sit on his mantelpiece. Where is it now? "I don't know if the kids played with it or not," Browning said. "I think it's in the woods behind our house. It didn't have anything on it, and it was just sitting there. I guess the kids needed a ball to play with."

The game was delayed two-and-a-half hours, but when it finally started, Tom Browning was at his best, throwing 102 pitches, 72 of which were strikes. The small crowd that patiently waited nearly three hours for a 10 p.m. start were treated to a magnificent pitchers' duel that featured Tim Belcher taking a no-hitter into the the sixth inning and Tom Browning completing the first ever Cincinnati Reds perfect game.