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CHAPTER FOUR

Perfection!

In the spring of 1981, the Cleveland Indians were led by manager Dave Garcia and played under the ownership of Francis J. “Steve” O’Neill. It was a roster carefully put together by general manager Phil Seghi. Bruce Drennan and Joe Tait were calling the Indians game on WUAB-TV, while Nev Chandler and Herb Score were the play-by-play duo for Indians radio games.

The Cleveland Indians roster included the 1980 rookie sensation Joe Charboneau fresh off his amazing first year in the big leagues. Rick Manning joined Charboneau in the outfield, along with Larry Littleton. The team was anchored by “The Human Rain Delay” Mike Hargrove at first base, Duane Kuiper at second, Toby Harrah at third, and shortstop Tommy Veryzer. The team also had Pat Kelly and André Thornton ready to come off the bench at any time, Chris Bando sharing time behind the plate with veteran Ron Hassey, and future Hall of Fame pitcher Bert Blyleven to lead the starting rotation.

On Friday, May 15, 1981, the Indians were ahead 15–8, surprising everyone by spending 16 days in first place in their division. The team never was more than a game ahead of the other teams in the division, but it didn’t matter because they gave hope to their fans. A five-game winning streak at one point in April had fans already talking postseason.

Lenny Barker grew up in Rose Tree, Pennsylvania, with two brothers and two sisters, although he was the only one to play baseball. He enjoyed playing not only in organized leagues but also in the streets with his friends. Barker recounted that he wanted to be a pitcher at an early age, stating, “At the age of seven or eight, I felt that I would excel at it. I always liked pitching, and I would have kids in the neighborhood come over and catch for me. I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a pitcher.”

Bert Blyleven was the ace of the 1981 Cleveland Indians.

Barker and his friends would play in any field they could find and pretend to be their idols—Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Barker’s own personal hero, Mickey Mantle. Barker revealed that it was his dream to play in the major leagues: “My aspirations of playing big league baseball started when I was 10 years old. By the time I got to high school, I knew I had a chance to play. It didn’t matter to me who I got drafted by because I just wanted to play professional baseball.”

Barker played baseball at Neshaminy High School near Philadelphia, where he excelled and was eventually drafted by the Texas Rangers. Barker said he found out that he was drafted by Texas when he “got a call from a scout in their farm system letting me know I had been drafted. A short while later, they started coming over and we got working on a signing bonus.” Barker made his major league debut in 1976; looking back over his three years as a Texas Ranger, he noted:

It felt great because it was a dream come true when I was picked first in the third round. All my life as a little kid I wanted to be a pro athlete, and this was my opportunity to get the ball rolling and show them what I could do. I have nothing bad to say about the Rangers because they treated me good and it was a great learning process. I learned a lot in the minor league system. I had a great time in the minor leagues; I didn’t make much money, but I still had a great time.

However, going from Philadelphia was a culture shock for the young player:

It was the first time I ever had to step on an airplane when I flew to Sarasota, Florida, where the rookie league was located for the Texas Rangers. It was a kind of shock just getting into an airplane for the first time. I was the type of guy who was large in size and, because my parents were divorced when I was a young age, I had to become a man pretty quick. I knew I had a lot of confidence in my ability when I got there, so it worked out good.

Barker showed signs of brilliance at times, but he also struggled with command before being traded to Cleveland in 1979. Revealing how friendly and welcoming the Indians were to him, Barker received the nickname “Big Donkey” from Cy Buynak, the Indians’ clubhouse manager:

We had great times, and we would have parties all of the time with our families. We had a lot of team unity back then. On the road, we would have a group of eight to ten guys go out to dinner together. I got traded to Cleveland after the 1978 season, when I was traded with Bobby Bonds. The first time you get traded, you’re kind of shocked in the beginning and feel like the other team didn’t want you. Then I started thinking about it and realized that the team trading for you really wanted you. I also realized that I had more of an opportunity to become a starting pitcher in Cleveland because in Texas they had four All-Stars in their starting rotation. They had Fergie Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven, and John Matlock. It would have been very hard to break the rotation. I was happy to be here because it was someone who wanted me. I was happy to play in the major leagues and I didn’t care where. Cleveland gave me the opportunity to start, and that’s why I still live here today. I love this city.

The Indians were happy to have Barker, who went on to win 19 games in 1980—a breakout season after they won only six games in 1979. Barker explained what made the 1980 season special:

I played winter ball in Puerto Rico after the 1979 season and concentrated on my pitching and getting command of all my pitches. We had a pretty decent team in 1980, and everything started working for me. I was able to throw a lot more strikes, as I threw over 240 innings. I had over 180 strikeouts with only 80 walks. It was a great ratio for a power pitcher. I believe that it was the concentration level and everything finally clicking. I was becoming a major league pitcher instead of a major league thrower. I started getting better and better at my control, and that, with my work ethic, turned everything around.

Barker was off to a good start in 1981 and was proving the Indians’ faith in him to be correct. Later that year, on May 15, 1981, Barker took to the mound, just as he had done on previous game days, in front of a crowd of 7,290 fans at Cleveland Municipal Stadium:

It was a normal spring day with some sprinkles and coolness in the air. I didn’t do anything different from my normal routine. I ate a little food, but not much because I didn’t like to eat a lot on the days that I pitched. I laid around the house and relaxed a bit before leaving to pick up my brother from the airport. I left my house around 4 p.m. to pick him up, but his plane was late and I had to wait. When he finally arrived, we had to speed to the ballpark. When I finally got there, I had trainer Jimmy Warfield put some heat on my arm real quick so I could rush out and warm up. Once I got out there and starting stretching, I was fine. We didn’t realize right away that when I was warming up I was throwing almost all fastballs.

Cleveland’s opponents for the game were the struggling Toronto Blue Jays, led by manager Bobby Mattick. Taking the mound for the Jays was Luis Leal, who at that point in the season was a modest 2–3. Barker had come into the contest with a record of 2–1. The balmy 49-degree Cleveland spring weather was perfect for a pitcher’s duel. Behind the plate calling the balls and strikes was Rich Garcia, with Greg Kosc, Don Denkinger, and Jim McKean handling the calls on the base paths. Pitchers and umpires don’t really mix, but Barker knew Rich Garcia and was familiar with his strike zone:

I knew Richie before that game; he was a good umpire who called a good game. Over time, you get to know the umpires and you can tell their strike zones. Most of them keep the same strike zones and some don’t. Being a pitcher, you don’t become friendly with umpires, but you know who they are and remain cordial with them. There are a lot of good umpires, but there are also a lot of bad ones.

The fans in the stands—who just wanted to kick back and watch some baseball—had no idea what a special moment they were in store for. Little did anyone know that Lenny Barker was about to catch the attention of not only the fans in the stadium but also of baseball fans nationwide. The battery mate for Barker that evening was Ron Hassey, who went on to catch another perfect game later in his career with pitcher Dennis Martínez in 1991. Barker looked back at working with Ron Hassey, stating,

I felt really comfortable with Ron Hassey. He was a guy who was an All-American third-baseman out of Arizona. He was able to make a successful transition from third base to catcher. It was amazing to see how he progressed. He actually was a pretty darn good catcher who did a good job and called a great game. He worked hard back there and was the only catcher to catch two perfect games, so he must have done something right. We also had Bo Díaz, who was an All-Star in 1981. He was a pretty good catcher who caught for me down in Venezuela numerous times. I was used to both, and they were both excellent catchers. Sometimes you get a relationship with a certain guy who you feel comfortable with. The manager can tell when you get in a groove with a certain guy, and they will keep that tandem working together.

All eyes were on Barker from the first pitch. As he wound up to throw, the seal of history was about to be broken in epic fashion. Barker managed to get each of the first two batters to ground out to shortstop Tom Veryzer. The third out came when George Bell grounded out to first-baseman Mike Hargrove. A rather routine trip through the top of the order became a common occurrence as the night went on. Len walked (no pun intended) through what he felt during the early part of the game: “It started off feeling like a normal game, and I was throwing nothing but fastballs early. The guys behind me made a couple of incredible plays in the first inning. As we got later in the game, I started striking out batters at a good pace.”

In the bottom of the first inning, a leadoff single by Rick Manning got the Tribe off to a good start. After second-baseman Jorge Orta popped out to the shortstop, Mike Hargrove reached first base on an error by first-baseman John Mayberry. André Thornton wasted no time hitting a sacrifice fly deep enough to score Manning from third, giving the Indians an early 1–0 lead. Moments later, Ron Hassey singled and the lead grew to 2–0. Harrah ended the inning with a called third strike from Leal. The score, and the Indians’ lead, was more than Barker was going to need. Barker said that the early lead helped him to relax and focus going into the second inning: “It helps out for sure. In tight games, you can make one bad pitch and lose a game. We didn’t average a lot of runs back then, so every time we got up on a team it was nice. It made it easier to pitch, but still a two-run lead is not a huge lead. When you’re pitching well and have a lead like that, you can get your team a win.”

Mike Hargrove played first base the night of the perfect game.

Facing Barker to lead off the top of the second was cleanup hitter—and the person responsible for the first inning error—John Mayberry. His fly ball to center field started the inning off for the Indians right-hander. After Upshaw grounded out to second base, Garcia flew out to center field, which ended the second inning in the same way as the first: perfect for Barker.

After a bottom of the second that saw the Indians fail to add to their lead, Barker took the mound to face the bottom of the Blue Jays order. Back-to-back ground outs by Bosetti and Ainge set the table for a fly out by Martínez that ended the inning. Barker had made it through the Blue Jays lineup once without allowing a single hit or base runner. At the top of the fourth, after the Indians failed to score again, Barker began his warm-up tosses to prepare to face the top of the Blue Jays order for a second time. Griffin managed to hit the ball out of the infield this time, but right into the glove of left fielder Joe Charboneau. Barker recorded his first strikeout of the game by getting Lloyd Moseby to swing and miss. It was quickly followed by another strikeout by Bell. Twelve Toronto batters had come to the plate, and each one had failed to reach base.

A quick bottom of the fourth didn’t give Barker too much time to rest between innings, but it also kept him from getting cold. Leading off the top of the fifth was cleanup hitter Mayberry, who became yet another strikeout victim, the third in a row and all swinging. After an Upshaw foul ball fly out to third base, and another strikeout, this time by Garcia, to close out the top half of the inning, Barker was more than halfway through the perfecto. During the bottom of the fifth, Orta hit a two-out single only to get thrown out at second while trying to steal with Hargrove at bat. Bosetti led off the top of the sixth by grounding out to second-baseman Duane Kuiper. Danny Ainge and Buck Martinez followed with back-to-back strikeouts; they both went down swinging. Barker had earned every one of his strikeouts that same way, as his pitching arsenal appeared to be more and more unhittable inning after inning.

The Indians continued to make things interesting by trying to add to their lead in the bottom of the sixth. They had hits by both Hargrove and Harrah. Leal managed to strand both runners on base by forcing fly outs from Thornton and Hassey. He followed that with a ground out from Charboneau that closed out the inning and kept Cleveland still ahead 2–0.

With 18 outs down and only 9 more to go, the chance of a perfect game entered everyone’s minds—even Barker’s. He disclosed when he felt that he could be pitching a perfect game: “After the seventh inning, and then truly in the ninth inning, that’s when I went out there and knew my pitches were working. I still had great command of them, and the Blue Jays couldn’t hit them.” The once unlikely feat was now suddenly possible, even close enough to hope for. Barker wasted no time in getting Griffin to ground out to start off the seventh inning. Barker then took matters into his own hands by getting both Moseby and Bell to strike out swinging. Barker was red-hot as he now set down 21 batters in order. All of his strikeouts resulted from Toronto batters swinging. Barker was in full command of all of his pitches and headed toward a perfect game. Barker didn’t have time to think about a perfect game too much, though, because again the Indians went down in order to close out the seventh. With the top of the eighth inning on tap, the Cleveland Indians were beating the Toronto Blue Jays 2–0. But the real story was that starting pitcher Lenny Barker was now a mere six outs away from tossing a perfect game.

For the third time that evening, Mayberry went down swinging. With just five outs to go, the 7,290 fans in attendance at the Cleveland Municipal Stadium roared at every pitch as if there were ten times that number of fans present. The atmosphere became intense and exciting as Barker closed in on what only a few hours earlier seemed impossible to imagine. After an Upshaw ground out to second-baseman Kuiper, the crowd began to sense magic in the air. When Garcia struck out swinging to close out the top of the eighth inning, the Indians crowd roared again with excitement, because the team was just three outs away from seeing baseball history.

Orta, perhaps filled with adrenaline from a possible perfect game, started off the bottom of the eighth with a solo home run off of relief pitcher Leal. It was an insurance run that brought the score to 3–0. Barker had a chance to breathe a sigh of relief before taking the mound at the top of the ninth. When Barker walked to the mound in the top of the ninth inning, he was no longer just another major league player—he was a man just moments away from achieving baseball immortality. He was on the verge of pitching only the tenth perfect game in major league baseball history. He was no longer the hard-throwing righty that the Texas Rangers had sent away after early control problems: Barker was a man on a mission and no one was going to stop him from achieving it. He was so focused that he didn’t think of the possibility of Toronto laying down a bunt in the ninth inning, “It didn’t cross my mind. I had a no-hitter going against the White Sox once when their leadoff hitter bunted to reach base to start the seventh inning. The next time he came to bat, I drilled him. That is part of baseball.”

Bosetti completed his 0–3 night with a foul ball pop out to the left side of the infield to start the ninth. Desperate to try anything to break up the no hitter, Blue Jays manager Bobby Mattick chose pinch hitter Al Woods to bat for Danny Ainge. The move proved futile—Woods also struck out swinging, giving Barker his 11th strikeout of the game. When Mattick then substituted Buck Martinez for Ernie Whitt, it was his last move. The tension in the crowd and the fans watching at home was thick. Barker had come so far and everyone knew they were just seconds away from witnessing history. Barker forced Whitt to fly out to center fielder (and current Indians television broadcaster) Rick Manning. The perfect game was complete, and the city of Cleveland erupted in joy and pride for their beloved starter.

Vince with perfect-game hurler Lenny Barker

The crowd went wild with excitement after the last out of the perfect game. Barker had just pitched only the tenth perfect game in Major League Baseball history. His teammates stormed the field to greet him in celebration. How did the perfect-gamer celebrate? Barker described it as a pretty low-key affair: “We went back to my condo back in Parma and we celebrated for a while. We were on the game of the week the next day, which was an early day game, so some of us celebrated longer than others.” It took a few days for the great accomplishment of the game to sink in for Barker: “It pretty much set in a couple of days later when I started thinking about it. Everyone was waiting to see if I could do it again. It was never in the back of my mind, as I believe the next game I threw a three hitter only to lose 3–0 because all three hits were solo home runs. So it was back to reality real quick because that is what the major leagues does to you.” Out of the 104 pitches that Barker threw that perfect night, 84 of them were strikes:

I always had a good curveball and threw it hard, but that night I was able to throw it over the plate with ease. I just had such good control over it, and Hassey and I were able to realize it quickly. That night we threw more curveballs, as I would normally throw mostly fastballs. It was just knowing that when you get something working well that you don’t change it. They were trying to hit the ball because every strikeout was swinging. My concentration was unbelievable that night, and my confidence was high from having a good season thus far. The whole staff was having a great year until the work stoppage. That night belonged to my curveball because I could throw it anywhere and they weren’t hitting it.

Barker only made one adjustment to his pitching during the game, stating, “I threw one changeup that Mayberry hit for a line drive out, so we got rid of that pitch and stuck to the fastball and curve.” After Rick Manning caught the last out and Barker had achieved the perfect game, he described the feeling in detail:

All the air was sucked out of my body as I took a big sigh of relief that it was over. I felt like a 1,000-pound weight was lifted off my shoulders. It was one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life, besides having my children. It was a tremendous feeling having all my teammates celebrate with me. In the clubhouse, they rolled out a whole lane of towels leading up to my locker filled with Champagne. It was a great feeling not just for me but for my teammates as we all celebrated. Everyone was so much a part of it back then because of the loyalty from the city and players. Cleveland had so many negative things said about them that it was nice to have our team in first place and then have the perfect game to go along with it. It was something that hadn’t been done in a long time, and for it to happen in Cleveland was great for the city and for everyone as we all shared in it. It wasn’t just my game, it was everyone’s!