First Perfect Game Monument

«We could of been perfect
If you let it»
(Lady Gaga)
«Perfect».
It’s a word we hear all the time, but what exactly does «perfect» mean?
Doesn’t every «perfect» thing have some tiny room for improvement? If only there was a way to measure perfection, to define absolute perfection.
In the world of baseball, there is such a thing, and it’s called a «Perfect Game». Twenty-​seven batters come to the plate, and twenty-​seven batters return to the dugout. No one reaches base. Not one.
It has happened just 23 times in Major League History. The first time it happened is commemorated on this monument. It happened on June 12, 1880 when pitcher Lee Richmond of the Worcester Worcesters (or Brown Stockings or Ruby Legs, depending on your source) retired twenty-​seven consecutive Cleveland Blues batters.
It’s a simple gray granite monument located at the center quadrangle at Becker College, the former location of a stadium on the old Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds.
There is an etching of a baseball diamond on the top, with an inscription below. The inscription reads «On June 12, 1880, the first perfect game in professional baseball history was pitched on this site (the former Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds) by J. Lee Richmond of Worcester against Cleveland in a National League game.»
Perfection indeed…