27 Men Out: Baseball's Perfect Games

I loved the whole background on each pitcher and even the little asides on other players involved in each game. The actual game stories were boring as, let's face facts, no-hitters are boring. Dramatic they may be but NOTHING happens at all offensively for one team. We're talking about basically the failure of hitters on the other side of this coin. As my lifelong Cub fan friend has said to me in the past, "I would never want to see a no-hitter as it'd be sooooooo boring." Then again she's a Cub fan.

I also thought it was a HUGE stretch to link the perfect games to whatever was happening in MLB as a whole (i.e., labor strife, gambling scandals, etc.). It was fascinating stuff but does it belong in a book like this?

It's definitely readable but don't read too much into it.


Satisfactory, but incomplete   August 5, 2005
If you wish to find out more about the first perfect games, pitched by rivals Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward in a remarkable 5 day span in 1880, you will need to look elsewhere (Ronald A. Mayer's "Perfect!", for example).


Well written and thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover   March 5, 2005
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

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.


Odd Juxtapostion of Perfect Pitching and Labor History   July 9, 2004
 4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Michael Coffey has written a fascinating book about one of baseball's rarest feats -- the perfect game. Coffey is at his best when he surveys the events of each perfect game and as he identifies the place of such a game in the context of each pitcher's career. Along this way we gain delightful little tidbits and trivia, such as Cy Young walking off the mound after his perfect game, not fully understanding the significance of his accomplishment until his first baseman commented, "Nobody came down to see me today." Coffey creates memorable images of superstars and journeyman alike: the beloved yet tragic figure, Addie Joss, the carousing Don Larsen, the studious and intense Jim Bunning, the talented and enigmatic Sandy Koufax, and the Nicaraguan hero, Dennis Martinez.

So why only three stars? The problem with this book is that Coffey overextends when he tries to connect the perfect game with the labor history of major league baseball. The former is full of joy and serendipity. The later is dark with elements of greed, bitterness, and envy. Quite simply, the two don't mix well within the same book.

But this should not stop most baseball fans from enjoying the stories behind each perfect game. Too bad this volume is already published, for I would have liked to have read Coffey's insights into the character and career of the newest member of the perfect game club, Randy Johnson.