Mark Ripperger apparently does not miss.
MLB umpire Ripperger pulled off a very impressive feat on Thursday during the Kansas City Royals-Minnesota Twins game. Ripperger was behind home plate for the contest and managed to call a “perfect game.”
Out of 136 total pitches that were taken during the game, Ripperger called every single one of them correctly (per umpire database Umpire Scorecards). He called all 89 true balls correctly and all 47 true strikes correctly as well.
With the immaculate outing, Ripperger became just the second MLB umpire in the Umpire Scorecards era (since 2015) to turn in a “perfect game.” Pat Hoberg was the first one to do so, pulling off the feat in the 2022 World Series between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Royals went on to defeat the Twins on Thursday by the final of 3-2. Thus, for Ripperger to go perfect from the field in what ended up being a one-run game makes it even more impressive.
Still only 44 years old, Ripperger began working MLB games in 2010 before graduating to a full-time MLB umpire in 2015. Some of his most notable assignments include working the MLB All-Star Game in 2022, working the World Series in 2024, and being behind the plate for Mike Fiers’ no-hitter with the-then Oakland Athletics in 2019.
Major League Baseball is also probably pretty pleased that Ripperger now holds the most recent “perfect game” for an umpire. After all, his predecessor Hoberg was just fired by MLB over a betting scandal.
