Two Perfect Games: Baseball’s Rare Feat

By Jack bagley / *The Spanish translation follows the news in English

Happy New Year!

Time to begin making those wonderful New Year’s Resolutions,friends.  You know – the ones you make today, then forget about in two or three days.

Things like losing weight,quitting smoking or drinking,getting your act together,etc.  The things we all say we should do, then don’t do.

Yep,those things.  If you’d like to share your resolutions with me, send me an e-mail at [email protected] adn we can both laugh at them.

I am making two resolutions, one of which I shall immediately break. I resolve not to make resolutions; and I resolve to share trivia with you each week.  Let’s go!

Did you know …

… a poet tried a novel way to generate book sales?  When Walt Whitman (1819-1892) wanted to stir sales for his collection Leaves of Grasshe sent in reviews for the book to the New york newspapers without a byline.  His reviews (of his own work) called the book “transcendent” and proclaimed “an american bard at last!”  Sadly, the reviews didn’t help. Leaves of Grass sold only a few copies during its first print run.  (Gives a new meaning to “reading one’s own press releases,” if you ask me.)

… one of the oldest candies available has been around as the mid-19th Century?  Love them or hate them, everyone who likes candy has an opinion about Necco Wafers™, flat round slabs of candy about the size of a quarter, which come in rolls of about 35.  The candy was first produced in 1847 by the New England Confectionary Company, the initials of which incidentally form the candy’s name.  They are the oldest American candy brand still in production.  Additional trivia note:  The oldest continually produced candy brand is Good & Plenty™, the candy-covered licorice treat.  Production of those began in 1893, but because of a break in production of Necco Wafers from 2018 to 2020, Good & plenty are the oldest brand in continuous production.  (And suddenly I want some candy.)

… only one pitcher in all of professional baseball history has thrown two perfect games?  A perfect game is one in which a pitcher retires all 27 opposing batters without allowing a single base runner.  While the first perfect game in Major League Baseball was thrown in 1880 by Lee Richmond (1857-1929), and the feat has been done only 23 times since then, no MLB or minor league pitcher has thrown more than one.  The only professional ballplayer to throw two perfect games was Jean Faut (1925-2023), who pitched in the All-American Girls Professional baseball League from 1946 to 1953.  Faut, who played for the south Bend, indiana Blue sox, threw her first on July 21, 1951 against the Rockford Peaches, and did it  again on September 3, 1953, against the Kalamazoo Lassies. Additional trivia note: Faut’s two perfect games were two of only five pitched during the entire existence of the AAGPBL.  The others were thrown by Annabelle Lee (1922-2008) of the Minneapolis Millerettes, Carolyn Morris (1925-1996) of the Rockford Peaches, and Doris Sams (1927-2012) of the Muskegon Lassies.  The AAGPBL was featured in the hit 1992 movie, A League of Their Own.

… tropical storm classifications are based on wind speed?  For a tropical storm to be considered a hurricane, its sustained winds must be at least 74 miles per hour.  From 39 to 74 miles per hour, it’s called a tropical storm, and with winds less than 38 miles per hour, it would be a tropical depression.  (Thar she blows!)

… the design for a popular video game character was inspired by food?  Toru Iwatani (born 1955), the game designer who created the popular “Pac Man” game, got the inspiration for the design of the title character from a pizza.  Iwatani said he took a slice from a pizza and noticed how the remaining pie looked like a character,and used that as the design for the yellow dot-gobbler.  (Good thing he wasn’t having a dish of sushi or something.)

… a prolific director of horror movies got his start working for a children’s show host?  George A. Romero (1940-2017), the director who brought us classic horror films such as Night of the Living Dead and creepshowgot his first paid directing job working for fred rogers (1928-2003).  Romero filmed a segment for the children’s program Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in which Rogers underwent a tonsillectomy.  Romero credited that project as the catalyst which made him want to direct zombie and horror films.  (From Mr. Rogers to horror … what’s the transition?)

… a rock musician has a doctoral degree?  Brian May (born 1947), guitarist for the group Queen, has an earned Ph.D. in astrophysics from Imperial College in London.  (I’ve heard of spaced out, but this …)

… noted author and political activist Helen keller was related to a Confederate general?  Keller (1880-1968) was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, and became deaf and blind at the age of two following an illness.  She was related to Confederate general Robert E. Lee (1807-1870) on her mother’s side.  Keller’s mother, Catherine Everett Adams Keller (1856-1921), was a second cousin of Lee.

… penguins sleep more deeply in the afternoon?  Scientists discovered this trait by creeping up on sleeping king penguins at different times of the day and poking the penguins with a stick until they awakened.  It took only an average of five pokes to wake a sleeping penguin in the morning, but afternoon naps were deeper – the average was nine pokes with a stick to rouse the bird.  (Try that trick with a bear one day, and let me know how it goes.  If you survive.)

Now … you know!

[email protected]

Copyright © 2026 Jack Bagley

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For our Spanish speakers | for our Spanish speakers

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DID YOU KNOW THAT…?

Who is the only professional baseball player to have pitched two perfect games?

Por Jack Bagley / The Spanish translation follows the news in English

Happy new year!

It’s time to start making those wonderful New Year’s resolutions,friends. You know: those that you do today and forget in two or three days.
Things like losing weight, quitting smoking or drinking, getting your life in order, etc. The things we all say we should do… and then don’t do.

Yes, those things. If you would like to share your resolutions with me, email me at [email protected] and we can laugh at them together.
I am making two resolutions, one of which I will break immediately. I resolve not to make resolutions; and I resolve to share trivia with you every week. Come on!

Did you know that…

…a poet tried a novel way to generate book sales? When Walt Whitman (1819-1892) wanted to boost sales of his collection leaves of Grasssent reviews of the book to New York newspapers without signing them. His reviews (of his own work) called the book “transcendental” and proclaimed, “At last, an American bard!” Sadly, the reviews didn’t help.Leaves of Grass It sold only a few copies in its first edition. (Gives new meaning to “reading one’s own press releases,” if you ask me.)

…one of the oldest sweets available has been around since the mid-19th century? Love them or hate them, every candy lover has an opinion about Necco Wafers™, flat disks of candy about the size of a quarter, which come in rolls of about 35. The candy was first produced in 1847 by the New England Confectionary Company, whose initials, incidentally, form the candy’s name. They are the oldest American candy brand still in production. Additional trivia note: The oldest continuously produced candy brand is Good & Plenty™, the licorice-coated candy.Its production began in 1893, but due to a interruption in the production of Necco Wafers between 2018 and 2020, Good & Plenty is now the oldest continuously produced brand. (And suddenly I want sweets).

…only one pitcher in the entire history of professional baseball has thrown two perfect games? A perfect game is one in which a pitcher retires all 27 opposing batters without allowing any runners to reach base.Although the first perfect game in Major League Baseball was thrown in 1880 by Lee Richmond (1857-1929), and the feat has only been accomplished 23 times since, no MLB or minor league pitcher has thrown more than one. The only professional player to throw two perfect games was Jean Faut (1925-2023), who pitched in the american women’s Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) between 1946 and 1953. Faut, who played for the Blue Sox of South Bend, Indiana, pitched her first on July 21, 1951 against the Rockford Peaches, and repeated it on September 3, 1953 against the Kalamazoo Lassies. Additional trivia note: Faut’s two perfect games were two of only five pitched during the entire existence of the AAGPBL. The others were thrown by Annabelle Lee (1922-2008) of the minneapolis Millerettes, Carolyn Morris (1925-1996) of the Rockford Peaches, and Doris sams (1927-2012) of the Muskegon Lassies. The AAGPBL was featured in the 1992 hit film A League of Their Own.

…are tropical storm classifications based on wind speed? For a tropical storm to be considered a hurricane, its sustained winds must be at least 74 miles per hour. From 39 to 74 miles per hour it is called a tropical storm, and with winds less than 38 miles per hour it is considered a tropical depression. (There it blows!)

…was the design of a popular video game character inspired by food? Toru Iwatani (born 1955), the designer of the popular game Pac-Mangot the inspiration for the main character’s design from a pizza. Iwatani said he took a slice of pizza and noticed what the rest of it looked like, like a character, and used that as a design for the yellow bogeyman