Dodgers while pitching innings and giving up just one run. He finished the year with a 1–0 record and recorded a 1.54 ERA to retain his spot on the major-league club the following season. Major League Baseball career Early career As a rookie, Browning went 20–9 with a 3.55 ERA for the Reds, becoming the first rookie to win 20 games since the Yankees' Bob Grim in 1954. Browning finished the season with 11 consecutive wins—the longest streak by a Cincinnati pitcher in 30 years—and was named The Sporting News''' NL Rookie Pitcher of the Year. He also finished second (behind Vince Coleman) in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Browning was superstitious and did not shave between starts. As a result, he was often photographed with a four-day stubble. He also wore red underwear on the days he pitched. Browning would go on to post double-digit win totals for seven straight seasons and consistently ranked among the league leaders in starts, innings pitched, and shutouts. One of his best seasons came in 1988, when he went 18–5 with a 3.41 ERA and teamed with 23-game-winner Danny Jackson. Perfect game On September 16, 1988, Browning pitched the 12th perfect game in baseball history. In a 1–0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Riverfront Stadium, Browning threw 70 of 102 pitches for strikes and did not run the count to three balls on a single batter. The first left-hander to pitch a perfect game since Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, Browning remains the only Reds player to pitch a perfect game. Three months earlier, on June 6, 1988, Browning had a bid for a no-hitter broken up by Tony Gwynn, who singled with one out in the ninth. Browning just missed becoming the first pitcher to hurl two perfect games, taking another bid into the ninth on July 4, 1989, against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium; a lead-off double by Dickie Thon broke up this attempt. 1990 World Series In 1990, the Reds went to the postseason for the first and only time in Browning's career. He won 15 games that season and picked up a key win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. The Reds would meet the heavily favored Oakland A's in the World Series that year, but thanks in part to Browning's victory in Game 3, the Reds