Humber Shows Perfect Games Don’t Guarantee Future Success

Domingo German is 30 years old, has spent 14 years as a professional and has never had a multi-year contract. He has twice been eligible for salary arbitration, which has helped him boost his salary to $2.6 million.

German’s perfect game on Wednesday night in Oakland may be a turning point for him financially, elevating his profile to a level where the Yankees will want to offer him a contract extension that gives him security beyond 2024. But you don’t have to look far for a cautionary tale.

ADVERTISEMENT

Philip Humber, once the third overall pick in the draft, threw a perfect game for the White Sox on April 21, 2012 in Seattle. He had pitched well the previous season but like German had never truly established himself as a fixture, and as it turns out never would.

Humber was in his age-29 season when he threw his perfect game, one year younger than German. He was celebrated by the White Sox but couldn’t hold onto his spot in a five-man rotation, finishing the season 5-5 with a 6.44 ERA.

When the White Sox dropped Humber from the 40-man roster after the season, he was claimed by the Houston Astros. He was busy raising a young family and putting down roots in east Texas, and didn’t bother with a trophy case in his new house. He stashed all the souvenirs from his perfect game in a storage box placed under a bed.

ADVERTISEMENT

Humber threw 54 2/3 innings for a 51-111 Houston team in 2013 and never again got back to the major leagues despite brief stays with the Oakland and San Diego organizations. He extended his career with a brief stay in Korea before retiring after a trip to winter ball in 2016.

Humber, who never earned more than $850,000 in a season, now works in commercial real estate in Carthage, his home town.

“I remember after it happened saying out loud, ‘I don’t know what I am doing on this list. You’ve got Randy Johnson and Sandy Koufax that have done that,’ “ Humber told the Tyler Morning Telegraph in 2021. “My hero growing up was Nolan Ryan had never done that. Seven no-hitters and none of them perfect. So to think a guy like me could do that was pretty hard to comprehend.”

Humber admitted he retired with a sour taste in his mouth.

“I walked away from the game because I hated it and I hated what it did to me, and it affected a lot of areas of my life,” Humber said. “I was so obsessed with being successful at baseball that I was bitter that I didn’t feel it treated me for as much time and energy I put into it. I felt it took more from me than what I put in.”

ADVERTISEMENT

He’s mellowed in the years since retiring.

“I have a better perspective than I had 10 years ago,” Humber told the Morning Telegram. “It’s cool to look back on it. … (Baseball) took a toll on me. That’s why I am in real estate, that’s why I didn’t want to coach, I wanted to get as far away from the game as possible. But I watch baseball. And now, my son is playing baseball. Whatever he does, I’m going to support him 100%. It gives me an opportunity to be around sports and remember what’s good about it.”

German won 18 games with the Yankees in 2019 but since then has gone 11-15 with a 4.29 ERA, never working 100 innings in a season. He was suspended 81 games by MLB after a domestic violence incident in ’19.

German was largely considered a fifth-starter candidate in spring training but has benefitted from injuries to Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes and Frankie Montas. His work the rest of the season will likely determine how he fits with the Yankees for 2024 and beyond.

ADVERTISEMENT

Nothing is guaranteed except for always being remembered as one of the pitchers to accomplish the rarest of feats, a perfect game.