A perfect gameÑ27 batters faced, 27 batters retiredÑis an extremely rare event in baseball. Since Lee Richmond pitched the first perfect game in 1880, only 20 pitchers have managed the feat. To put things in perspective, the number of Apollo astronauts who have orbited the moon (24) is greater than the number of major league pitchers who have thrown perfect games.

The perfect game count almost reached 21 on June 2, and would have except for a blown call by an umpire. Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga retired the first 26 Cleveland batters. Batter number 27, Jason Donald, hit a ground ball that was fielded by Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera. He tossed the ball to the Galarraga, who was running to cover first base. Although the pitcher clearly reached the base first, in a footrace replayed thousands and thousands of times, umpire Jim Joyce inexplicably called the runner safe