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| Date | September 9, 1965 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Dodger Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Los Angeles, California | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Attendance | 29,139 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time of game | 1:43 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On September 9, 1965, Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a perfect game in the National League against the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium.
Koufax became the sixth pitcher of the modern era, and eighth overall, to throw a perfect game. He was also the first left-handed pitcher to throw a perfect game and the first pitcher to throw a perfect game at night. It was Koufax's fourth no-hitter, breaking Bob Feller's Major League record of three. He also became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in four consecutive seasons. Koufax struck out fourteen batters, the most ever recorded in a perfect game. He also struck out at least one batter in all nine innings, the only perfect game pitcher to do so to date. During the game, Koufax threw 113 pitches, 79 of which were strikes.
The game was also notable for the high quality of the performance by the opposing pitcher, Bob Hendley of the Cubs. Hendley gave up only one hit and allowed only two baserunners. Both pitchers had no-hitters intact until the seventh inning. The only run that the Dodgers scored was unearned. The game holds the record for fewest baserunners in a game, with two, and the fewest hits in a game. The only hit by either team was by Lou Johnson of the Dodgers, who was also the only baserunner.
Koufax's perfect game is a memorable part of baseball lore, particularly since it was not televised. The game was immortalized by Dodgers' play-by-play announcer Vin Scully who instructed the radio crew to record the final inning of the perfect game. He later gifted the recording to Koufax, as he had done so with the pitcher's previous three no-hitters. Scully's call of Koufax's perfect game is often cited as one of the greatest and most memorable calls in the history of baseball.