Domingo German Adds his name to Perfect Game history with a gem

In his first career start way back on May 6, 2018, Domingo German pitched six no-hit innings in what have been a combined no-hitter against Cleveland. The combined one lasted seven innings before the Yankees overcame a four-run deficit and won on a game-ending three-run homer by Gleyber Torres.

Since then German, has made 84 other starts and shown glimpses of no-hit stuff, notably on April 15 when he retired the first 16 Minnesota Twins amid suspicions of using a foreign substance that infuriated his opponent. And there was also the time in Boston in July 2021 when he no-hit the Red Sox before Alex Verdugo singled on his 93rd pitch and the bullpen ultimately messed up the game.

And in some of those other starts made him an unlikely no-hit candidate, especially based on recent results. A week ago against Seattle, allowed 10 runs and got booed off the mound after 3 1/3 innings, something that occurred after getting shelled for seven runs in two innings at Boston.

So on the surface what German achieved Wednesday may seem unlikely when he completed the 24th perfect game in baseball history, the fourth by a Yankee and the first since Felix Hernandez did it for the Seattle Mariners Aug. 15, 2012, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

It took 99 pitches for German to throw what seemed like an unlikely perfect game against the Oakland A’s, a team challenging the 1962 Mets for the worst record of all-time. He threw his vaunted curveball 51 times – 16 more than his first career start and 21 more times than the sticky substance check game.

“When he gets rolling like that, he’s just so fun to watch at his craft because he’s so good at commanding all of his pitches,” manager Aaron Boone said to reporters. “His curveball was great tonight, but because his changeup and his fastball were good, too, it made that curveball even more special.”

And when German easily got the final out as MLB steals leader Esteury Ruiz softly grounded out to Josh Donaldson, he joined a list that includes Hall of Famers Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, Cy Young and Catfish Hunter along with other standouts such as David Cone and David Wells.

“So exciting,” Germán told reporters through a translator. “When you think about something very unique in baseball, not many people have an opportunity to pitch a perfect game. To accomplish something like this in my career is something that I’m going to remember forever.”

German’s path to perfection has hardly been the smoothest. He was not even projected to be in the rotation when the Yankees began spring training but then injuries to Carlos Rodon and Frankie Montas hit. And his uncertainty occurred after he missed the first three-plus months of 2022 due to a shoulder injury.

Of course whether German should have been able to pitch in the first place is a source of various discourse. Towards the end of his 18-win season in 2019 when he emerged as the Yankees’ unlikely ace, German was suspended for the rest of that season for violating MLB’s domestic abuse policy for an incident that occurred at an event hosted by CC Sabathia, who was among many to tweet his support for the rare achievement.

.During his suspension, German considered stepping away from baseball and by spring training 2021 he was talking to his teammates and apologizing to teammates who acknowledged German’s mistake and placed high expectations for the right-hander to positively use his second chance.

“I’m so proud of him,” Boone told reporters. “For those of you who know him or have been around him, he’s such a sweet guy. He’s definitely been through a lot, taken ownership of a lot, and works really hard to be a good teammate.”

As for how last night occurred, it did not seem like Oakland hit many balls hard when it made contact. The A’s fouled off 17 pitches and put another 18 in play. Of those pitches put in play made contact on, only one was hit over 100 mph and eight were over 90 mph.

Based on what unfolded against Seattle, even with the prospect of facing the worst team in baseball, it seemed unlikely to expect this at least until the innings unfolded rapidly last night.

Just like it did in the fifth game of the 1956 World Series when Don Larsen pitched the most famous perfecto in baseball history. He did so after throwing to 10 batters in his first start of that World Series with six of them reaching base and when it was over, one of the descriptions came from Joe Trimble who led his Daily News Story with this fitting opening sentence: “The imperfect man pitched a perfect game.

German’s game was way more unlikely than David Wells in 1998 or David Cone a year later. Both were during standout careers and by the time Cone finished off Expos on “Yogi Berra” day, he accomplished a pair of 20-win seasons.

And when Roy Halladay did it, he was amid a Hall of Fame career and the only unlikely factor was that he allowed seven runs against the Red Sox in his previous start.

Perfect games are rare and when they do occur, they get remembered forever which even with his imperfect past is what German achieved in the span of two and a half hours.