Jim Bunning's perfect game
On June 21, 1964, Jim Bunning of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched the seventh perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the New York Mets 6–0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Shea Stadium. A father of seven children at the time, Bunning pitched his perfect game on Father's Day. One of Bunning's daughters, Barbara, was in attendance, as was his wife, Mary. Needing only 90 pitches to complete his masterpiece, Bunning struck out 10 batters, including six of the last nine he faced. The perfect game was the first regular season perfect game since Charlie Robertson's perfect game in 1922 (Don Larsen had pitched a perfect game in between, in the 1956 World Series), as well as the first in modern-day National League history (two perfect games had been pitched in 1880). It was also the first no-hitter by a Phillies pitcher since Johnny Lush no-hit the Brooklyn Superbas on May 1, 1906. Bunning, who no-hit the Boston Red Sox while with the Detroit Tigers in 1958, joined Cy Young as the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in both the National and American Leagues; he has since been joined by Nolan Ryan, Hideo Nomo and Randy Johnson. The perfect game also made Bunning the third pitcher, after Young and Addie Joss, to throw a perfect game and an additional no-hitter; Sandy Koufax, Johnson, Mark Buehrle and Roy Halladay have since joined him. As the perfect game developed, Bunning defied the baseball superstition that no one should talk about a no-hitter in progress, speaking to his teammates about the perfect game to keep himself relaxed and loosen up his teammates. Bunning had abided by the tradition during a near-no hitter a few weeks before, determining afterwards that keeping quiet didn't help. Gus Triandos, Bunning's catcher, had also caught Hoyt Wilhelm's no-hitter on September 20, 1958, while with the Baltimore Orioles, becoming the first catcher to catch no-hitters in both leagues. Boxscore

References

External links
Box Score and Play-by-play - June 21, 1964 at Baseball-Reference.com
June 21, 1964: Jim Bunning's Perfect Game - Society for American Baseball Research (SABR Essay)
Last three outs of Jim Bunning's perfect game- MLB Film Room

1964 Major League Baseball season
1964 in sports in New York City
1960s in Queens
June 1964 sports events in the United States
Major League Baseball perfect games
Sports competitions in New York City
Philadelphia Phillies
Shea Stadium