On This Date in Sports September 30, 1984: Perfect Way to End the Season
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
On the final day of the regular season, Mike Witt pitches a perfect game as the California Angels beat the Texas Rangers 1-0 at Arlington Stadium. The lone run in the seventh inning is unearned, as Charlie Hough goes the distance and allows seven hits for Texas. The game is played in under two hours as both teams looked to have one foot out the door, with Witt striking out ten.
It had been a year of mediocrity for the American League West as the Kansas City Royals won the division title with a less than stellar mark of 84-78. The California Angels managed by John McNamara had their chances, but only managed to finish right at the .500 mark going 81-81. The Texas Rangers, on the other hand, were never apart of the race for first place, as they spent most of the season in last place under manager Doug Radar with a record of 70-92.
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Just 8,375 fans were on hand in Arlington as fans in Texas had long since moved on to football. The Angels needed the win to finish .500 on the season as the Rangers just hoped to get on with the off-season. Leading off for the Rangers that game was Mickey Rivers, playing in his final major league game. Rivers had played 15 years and was apart of two World Championships with the New York Yankees.
While Mike Witt made the start for the Angels, knuckleballer Charlie Hough was on the mound for Texas. Rivers struck out in his first at-bat. Doug DeCinses was the game’s first base runner with a leadoff single in the second, though he was quickly erased when Brian Downing hit into a double play. Mike Brown had a leadoff triple in the third but never did not score as Hough hung tough. Witt meanwhile added two strikeouts in the third as the had three Ks in the first trip to the lineup.
The Angels continued to get base runners but failed to score in the middle innings, as Mike Witt had two more Ks, as the Rangers looked like they wanted the game over quickly so that can get to the off-season. In the seventh inning, Doug DeCinses led off with a single and advance to second on a passed ball. This allowed him to reach third with one out on a ground ball by Brian Downing and score on a similar ground ball by Reggie Jackson.
With a 1-0 lead, Mike Witt could begin to sense history as he struck out Mickey Rivers in his final plate appearance to lead off the seventh. The Rangers meanwhile continued to play like a team that could not wait for the game to be over. Witt would mow through the Rangers in the eighth fanning Pete O’Brien and George Wright. In the ninth with history three outs away, Mike Witt started with a strikeout of Tom Dunbar. Bob Jones a pinch hitter grounded out to second for the second out, while Marv Foley pinch hit for Curt Wilkerson seeking to spoil the perfect game. Foley followed Jones with a grounder to Rob Wilfong at second to end the perfect game.
It was the third time there had been a No-Hitter on the final day of the season. Bumpus Jones in his major league debut threw a No-Hitter for the Cincinnati Reds on the last day of the 1892 season against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1975, four members of the playoff-bound Oakland Athletics, Vida Blue, Glenn Abbot, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers made history against the Angels to end that regular season. It was also the 11th Perfect Game in MLB history, with Reggie Jackson becoming the first player to be on the winning side of two Perfect Games, having played with Catfish Hunter on the Oakland A’s for his gem in 1968.