• Find team by: Affiliation | Class | Geography
     
07/21/2008 5:02 PM ET
Redbirds' veteran Wasdin flirts with perfection
Spot starter retires first 21 batters five years after tossing first perfect game
By Benjamin Hill / Special to MLB.com
John Wasdin fired a perfect game -- with 15 strikeouts -- against Albuquerque as a member of the Nashville Sounds on April 7, 2003. (Allison Rhoades)

ADVERTISEMENT
• Video: Memphis 6, Oklahoma 1
• Box score
• John Wasdin's player page
• Audio: Wasdin racks up his 11th K
• Try on a Redbirds cap

Very few pitchers are fortunate enough to pitch a perfect game at the professional level. On Monday afternoon, John Wasdin of the Memphis Redbirds came tantalizingly close to pitching the second of his career.

On April 7th, 2003, Wasdin pitched a perfect game as a member of the Nashville Sounds, and on Monday he made another bid for immortality. The veteran right-hander struck out a season-high 11 batters over seven flawless frames before allowing Chris Shelton's home run in the eighth. Nonetheless, his dominant outing played a pivotal role in Memphis' easy 6-1 win over host Oklahoma.

Making Wasdin's gem even more impressive was the fact that it was his first start since April 26th. The 35-year-old was called on to make a spot start in place of Mitchell Boggs, who received a promotion to the St. Louis Cardinals.

"I don't approach a game any differently whether it's starting, relief, or whatever. I'm just a ballplayer, and I do my job no matter what it is," said Wasdin. "The goal every time I'm out there is to make quality pitches and to ride that wave as long as I can."

Wasdin enjoyed one heck of a ride on Monday, as he retired the first 21 batters he faced and threw 65 of his 92 pitches for strikes. Prior to Shelton's home run, the 1993 first-round Draft pick had allowed just two balls to be hit out of the infield, and his 11 strikeouts were his most in a ballgame since fanning 12 on June 17th of last season. Nonetheless, Wasdin was nonplussed by his excellent afternoon on the mound.

"My catcher, Mark Johnson, called a great game and I never shook him off," he said. "The defense made the plays and our offense put some runs on the board. All you can do is go out there and air it out, and may the best team win."

Nonetheless, if Wasdin had succeeded in his bid for perfection, he would have become the first player in the long history of the Pacific Coast League history to throw two perfect games.

"If that had happened, I probably should have retired on the spot," said Wasdin. "But, really, it may sound crazy, but I wasn't even concerned with the perfect game. Because once you lose that, you still have a no-hitter. And if you lose the no-hitter, you still have a shutout, and if you lose the shutout, you're still in line for the win. And if you lose the win, you're still out there, saving the bullpen. It's just a win-win situation when you look at it like that."

Wasdin was lifted from the game after Ryan Roberts followed Shelton's home run with a single. Jason Motte came on in relief and retired all six batters he faced, five of them via the strikeout.

The RedBirds offense, meanwhile, provided Wasdin with plenty of support. D'Angelo Jimenez blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning and an RBI single in the eighth, while Mark Freese went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a run scored.

Tommy Hunter (1-2) took the loss for the RedHawks (58-45), allowing five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits over five innings.

The RedBirds improved to 56-46 with the victory.

Benjamin Hill is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.