Going in to yesterday’s White Sox – Mariners game, there had been only 20 perfect games thrown in the 143 year history of major league baseball.  9 innings and 96 pitches later, there are 21, as Phil Humber becomes the third White Sox hurler, following Charles Robertson in 1922 and Mark Buehrle in 2009, to achieve perfection.

Humber was in control for most of the game, but was clearly nervous as the 9th inning unfolded, hitting ball 3 twice, the only times in the game he had done so.  The final batter, Brendan Ryan, was retired on a check swing dropped third strike, with AJ Pierzynski throwing him out at first while Ryan argued the strike call with the home plate umpire. As Paul Konerko stepped on first base for the putout, Humber dropped to his knees and then stood up in time to be tackled by Jake Peavy and the rest of the Sox roster.

Unlike Buehrle’s perfect game, I was able to watch most of this one live.  Thanks to the outdated backout rules that MLB uses, especially for games broadcast on Fox, not many people outside of Chicago and Seattle were, unfortunately.  Since the Yankees were battling the Red Sox, only 2% of the country were able to see the game as it unfolded.  I guess not everything about it was perfect.