27 Men Out: Baseball's Perfect Games

by Michael Coffey

Book Overview

Now in paperback, Michael Coffey's wonderful book about baseball's holy grail, the perfect game: "The best baseball book of the...season" (Booklist). There have been only fifteen perfect games pitched... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743446062
• ISBN13: 9780743446068
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

27 men out deserves to be in any baseball fan bookshelf

27 men out is a thrilling, entertaining document that will keep you turn page after page. Some feats were totally unexpected, such as the Charlie Robertson perfect game of 1922. Robertson recorded 27 consecutives outs versus the very powerful hitting Detroit Tigers, who included Ty Cobb. Addie Joss's masterpiece against the White Sox during the final stage of the pennant race is an equally great read. The author is very generous with details and perspective, painting a wonderful and bright history of those gems. 27 men out deserves to be in any baseball fan bookshelf.

Illustrative Look at Pitching Perfection

This is a nicely illustrative look at the 14 times a big leaguer set 'em all down. Author Michael Coffey takes a detailed look at each pitcher's career, baseball in his specific era, and his actual masterpiece from Cy Young in 1904 through David Cone in 1998 - the book arrived before perfect games by Randy Johnson (2004) and Mark Buerhle (2009). Readers learn about player-owner disputes and shady moves by arrogant owners (both are as old as the game itself). We see the Cleveland Spiders trading away Cy Young and his teammates prior to 1899, Addie Joss fighting for a $4,000 contract in 1907 after a big year, the self-destructive cheapness of White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, the foolish antics of Oakland A's owner Charley Finley, etc. We also get a look at whether expansion contributes to more perfect games - most came after 1956. Actually, the game narratives aren't that exciting until the last inning - perhaps attending fans felt likewise. The hurlers included Hall-of-Famers (Young, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, etc.), solid pitchers (Tom Browning, Mike Witt, etc.), even modest Charlie Robertson, who's controversial 1922 gem for the White Sox was the last one until Don Larsen did the trick for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series. I felt the author wrongly excluded Harvey Haddix's 12-inning gem against Milwaukee in 1959 (he lost in the 13th), Ernie Shore's 1918 perfecto (he relieved an ejected Babe Ruth with one on in the first), and perhaps the dual efforts by Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward in 1880. Still, this is a nicely illustrative book.

Well written and thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover

Ordinarily I am not a big fan of sports books. But every now and again I will come across a book that piques my curiosity. Such was the case with Michael Coffey's "27 Men Out". This one grabbed my attention on page one and never let go. Coffey recalls, in remarkable detail, each of the 14 perfect games in major league history. More importantly for me, he manages to put the accounts of these pitching gems in the context of what was happening in the baseball world at that time. Furthermore, Coffey asseses the careers of each of the 14 perfect game pitchers. It is an improbable group. From Hall of Famers Cy Young, Sandy Koufax, Jim Bunning and Catfish Hunter to talented hurlers like Dennis Martinez, David Wells, Mike Witt and Don Larsen to mediocre pitchers Len Barker and Charlie Robertson, these gentlemen all share a remarkable legacy. I seem to recall from my reading that the odds of tossing a perfect game in major league baseball are something like 1 in 12,000!! And as a huge baseball fan, I also enjoyed reading the names of those players who were fortunate enough to be a part of these historic games. Many of these names I had not seen in many moons. There is one more noteworthy fact I will throw out as a tease. Incredibly, one rather average receiver caught all 9 innings in 2 of the 14 perfect games. Can you name him? Somehow I doubt it. I had absolutely no clue. Learning his identity is just another great reason baseball fans should read "27 Men Out". Highly recommended.

Perfect Pitching and Fielding in Context

Perfect games had always left a sour taste in my mouth since I first watched Don Larsen of the Yankees twirl one at my favorite team, the Dodgers, in the 1956 World Series. The Dodgers came within inches several times of breaking up the perfect game and winning the contest. I was disgusted when the game was over. The Dodgers hit him hard all day and had nothing to show for it. Well, since there had only been three earlier "perfect games" at that point, I could rack it up to a quirk of fate. But it began to become annoying when two other pitchers also had perfect games against the Dodgers (Tom Browning and Dennis Martinez) while only one Dodger, the great Sandy Koufax, had one to his credit. Perfect games seem to happen all of the time now. There have been 7 since 1981. Seeing that Bill James had written a foreword to this book, I thought perhaps I could learn more about what makes these unusual performances happen. What I learned was an eye-opener and I recommend this book to all baseball fans. First, I had forgotten that you have to be the winning pitcher in a complete game that goes at least nine innings to have a perfect game. Poor Harvey Haddix (12 perfect innings), Pedro Martinez (he came out before the game was complete), and Ernie Shore (27 perfect outs in relief). Their remarkable efforts don't count. Second, I didn't know very much about most of the games. This book filled me in. Some of the efforts seem to have been helped by players who were in a hurry to get out of town, umpires with enormous strike zones and meeting up with weak-hitting teams at the end of the season. So not all perfect games are equal. Third, some of these pitchers names didn't mean anything to me. How well do you know Addie Joss, Charlie Robertson, Len Barker and Kenny Rogers? I was glad to learn more.Fourth, there are some great pitchers who have finished perfect games. It was a nice treat to read more about them, especially Cy Young who doesn't come in for much discussion these days.The unexpected surprise in the book was that Mr. Coffey also made connections between the developments in the game of baseball and these pitching masterpieces. So I had a chance to learn more about when 60 feet six inches became the distance from the plate to the rubber, when underhanded pitching ended, and the early battles among start-up leagues. I also learned many interesting things about the development of Latin American players. You will probably have other nice surprises as well.The games themselves are described in interesting detailed ways, without becoming too developed. You find out about the close calls (3-0 counts, hard hit shots that are almost fair, balls that are snagged by lunging infielders and close plays at first) as well as the demeanor the players and fans. It's a little like being there.Speaking of being there, Mr. Coffey was inspired to write the book after taking his young son to see David Cone's perfect game in 1999. That game is e

More than baseball

One of the great things about this book is its survey of American history during the years each of these perfect games was pitched. Perhaps those that complain about the high salaries of today's ball players might benefit from learning about how earlier great players were indentured servants to greedy owners. Too bad the book was published just weeks before Randy Johnson's perfect game.