permitted, and the batter had the right to call for the ball high, low, or "middle" (belt-high). There was no strike zone; whether a pitch was "good" or "unfair" was left to the umpire's sole discretion, and foul balls were not counted as strikes. The pitching distance was 45 feet (that however was the front edge of the 6-foot-deep pitcher's box, not the push-off point represented by the modern pitching rubber). Lee Richmond Richmond was pitching in his first full season in the big leagues after appearing in one game in 1879. He was apparently considered a good hitter, as he batted second in the lineup. His perfect game featured an unusual 9–3 putout, with Worcester right fielder Lon Knight throwing out Cleveland's Bill Phillips at first. The play came on one of three balls Cleveland hit out of the infield. Three outs were recorded on "foul bounds": balls caught after bouncing once in foul territory (the foul bound rule was eliminated three years later). In the seventh inning, the game was delayed for seven minutes due to rain; Richmond dried the ball off with sawdust when he returned to the mound. A monument marks the site of the Worcester Agricultural Fairgrounds where the game took place, located on the campus of the now-closed Becker College. The feat was recognized as unusual: a newspaper report described it as "the most wonderful game on record". John Montgomery Ward Monte Ward threw his perfect game at the Grays' park in Providence, but Buffalo, by virtue of a coin toss, which was the custom under the rules at that time, was officially the "home" team, batting in the bottom of each inning. At the age of 20 years, 105 days, Ward is the youngest pitcher ever to throw a perfect game. He batted sixth in the lineup. Beginning in 1881, the year after his perfect game, Ward spent more time as a position player than a pitcher; in 1885, following an arm injury, he became a full-time infielder. The five days between Ward's game and Richmond's is the shortest amount of time between major-league perfect games. World Series era (1903–present) Cy Young Young's perfect game was part of a hitless streak of 24 or 25⅓ straight innings—depending on whether partial innings at either end of the streak are included. In either calculation, the streak remains a record. It was also part of a