As we’ve done for all perfect games and no-hitters this season - and there have been a lot - we’re taking the historical bullet points from the moment and presenting as many interesting and unique facts about the performance as we can. Considering Felix Hernandez threw the first perfect game in Seattle Mariners’ history, there’s plenty of historic undertones to talk about. 

According to MLB.com:

• It is the first time in Major League Baseball history that there have been three perfect games in a single season. It happened twice in two previous years. The first time was 1880, just five days apart: Lee Richmond for Worcester over Cleveland on June 12 and then by Hall of Famer Monte Ward on June 17 for Providence over Buffalo. The second was just two years ago, when Oakland’s Dallas Braden did it to the Rays on May 9, followed 20 days later by Roy Halladay’s masterpiece for the Phillies in Miami.
• In the 57 games played at Safeco this season, the Mariners have been on the opposite side of a perfect game (the White Sox Philip Humber), had six of their own pitchers combine to no-hit the Dodgers and watched Hernandez throw the first perfect game in franchise history with Wednesday’s 1-0 win over the Rays.
• Two of the the four no-hitters in franchise history were thrown this season, with Hernandez’s perfection joining the six-man no-no by Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen on June 8.
• Seattle became the first team in MLB history to throw a perfect game and have a perfect game thrown against it in the same season.
• Hernandez is now 6-3 with a 2.05 ERA in 12 home starts this season, with opponents batting .199 and striking out 106 times in 96 2/3 innings.
• King Felix had thrown one previous one-hitter and four two-hitters in his career — all on the road.
• There have been 23 perfect games overall, and going back to Mark Buehrle’s for the White Sox against Tampa Bay in 2009, there have now been six such events over the past four seasons. Three have been pitched against the Rays.

(Graphic courtesy MLB.com)

Click here to relive all 27 outs of Hernandez’s perfect game via MLB.com.

To have an inside look at baseball history, check out the new Topps Pennant app today and follow us on Twitter @ToppsPennant.

-Compiled by Chris R. Vaccaro

Seattle slugger Ichiro Suzuki recorded career hit No. 2,500 Tuesday night.

During another four-hit game for Ichiro, amidst a downtrodden season for the perennial all-star, he made history by reaching the plateau faster than any player (1,817 games) since 1936. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Al Simmons reached the milestone in 1,784 games.

“I’ve broken many records over the past 12 years,” he told the Seattle Times, through interpreter Antony Suzuki. “But now, if you look at me when I first got here in 2001, if I’d said on my first day that my goal was to hit 2,500, people would have said I was crazy.

Prior to joining Seattle in 2001, Ichiro played nine seasons for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan. He compiled 1,278 hits and had a .353 career average. Of course if you combine his hits from Japan and the major leagues he has 3,781, not far from that mighty number of 4,256 that Pete Rose compiled. The record only applies to major league hits, however.

Ichiro, who is hitting .265 in 2012 and hit a career-low .272 in 2011, is a free agent after this season and, according to a report in Sporting News, has no plans to retire.

At 38 years old and a desire to continue playing, you’d have to expect him to reach the 3,000-hit plateau at some point before he retires. Of the 28 players who have reached that milestone, three are not in the hall of fame: Derek Jeter (still playing), Craig Biggio (lock for HOF) and Rafael Palmeiro.

The only active players with more career hits than Ichiro right now are Derek Jeter, Omar Vizquel, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Chipper Jones. 

To have an inside look at baseball history, check out the new Topps Pennant app today and follow us on Twitter @ToppsPennant.

-Chris R. Vaccaro

There have been tremendous prospects who have captured the nation upon their arrival to the big leagues, but Ken Griffey Jr.’s debut in 1989 feels most similar to Bryce Harper’s first game this past Saturday, April 28.

While Griffey went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and scored a run in his debut for the Mariners against the Athletics on April 3, 1989, Harper was 1-for-3 with a double and picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly for the Nationals against the Dodgers.

Griffey and Harper are two of four teenagers to record extra-base hits in their first major league games. Adrian Beltre and Jose Reyes are the others.

To have an inside look at baseball history, check out the new Topps Pennant app today.

-Chris R. Vaccaro

Prior to Saturday’s pitching gem, Philip Humber had never thrown a complete game in his 29 previous Major League starts. So Humber rang in the distance game on the mound with the grandest of performances, throwing the 21^st perfect game in baseball history.

Humber threw 96 pitches and struck out 9 in the 4-0 victory over Seattle at Safeco Field. This was the first perfect game since Roy Halladay achieved the honor with the Phillies in 2010 against the Marlins.

While teams like the Mets, who traded Humber to Minnesota in the deal for Johan Santana in 2008, have never thrown a no-hitter, let alone a perfect game, the White Sox have had success in recent years with outstanding pitching performances. Former White Sox great Mark Buehrle, now a starter with the Marlins, met his match with perfection in 2009 against the Rays. Way back in 1922, Charlie Robertson also threw a perfect game for the White Sox against the Tigers.

Humber, now 1-0 in two starts this season, was a first round draft pick by the Mets in 2004 and is the seventh ex-Met to throw a no-hitter or perfect game.

To see a complete list of all 21 perfect games in baseball history, click here.

To have an inside look at history, check out the new Topps Pennant app today.

-Chris R. Vaccaro