Baseball's First Perfect Game

And the Man Who Threw It

Central Massachusetts, of all places, is home to a professional baseball first. On June 12, 1880 the first perfect game thrown in professional baseball was thrown in Worcester, Massachusetts at what is now the quad on the grounds of the Weller Academic Center at Becker College. An historical marker on the site reads:

"ON JUNE 12, 1880, THE FIRST PERFECT GAME IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL HISTORY WAS PITCHED ON THIS SITE (THE FORMER WORCESTER AGRICULTURAL FAIRGROUNDS) BY J. LEE RICHMOND OF WORCESTER AGAINST CLEVELAND IN A NATIONAL LEAGUE GAME."

John Lee Richmond of the Worcester "Worcesters" - there appear to be differing accounts as to a nickname by which the team was known, referring to "Ruby Legs," "No Names," and "Brown Stockings" - of the National League was the first perfect pitcher in professional baseball against the Cleveland Blues. Incidentally, he was also the first pitcher to give up a grand slam home run.

Perhaps not unlike another perfect game 118 years later, where the pitcher claimed he was "half drunk" or "hung over," according to Donald Dewey, Richmond had partied all night at a pre-graduation party and played a morning game between Brown and Yale before making his way to Worcester for the Cleveland game.

Richmond was a lefty who began his six season career with the Boston Red Caps - the team that has come to be the Atlanta Braves - in 1879 at the age of 22. He was a 5'10", 142 lbs. curveball specialist. In 1880 he was finishing his bachelors' degree en route to a medical career; while he was a major league pitcher he was also a student at Brown and later a medical student at what would become NYU, using his earnings to finance his education toward becoming a doctor. He was signed to play with Worcester for $2400, an amazing sum of money in the day. Interestingly enough, he is also responsible for Major League Baseball rules prohibiting professionals from playing with amateurs, as he played concurrently as a pro and an amateur (he played college ball while pitching in pro ball).