If history does indeed repeat itself, Yankees fans will be elated to know this fun fact after Domingo German's perfect game on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán recorded a perfect game. What does that mean? Why, the Yankees are going to win the World Series, of course.
When the Yankees shut out the Oakland Athletics yesterday, Germán likely had no idea he was going to throw a perfect game. The chances of doing so for any given pitcher in any given game are ridiculously slim.
Yet against all odds, Germán stepped onto the mound and struck out batter after batter. He threw 99 pitches across nine innings and allowed no hits and no walks, and he made quite a bit of history in the process.
Germán's the first pitcher born in the Dominican Republic to pitch a perfect game. He's the oldest player to do so since Roy Halladay in 2010. And he's only the fourth Yankees pitcher to do so, following the heels of Don Larsen, David Wells, and David Cone.
Another neat little fun fact? Every time a Yankees pitcher has pitched a perfect game, the Yankees have won the World Series that season.
Yankees' Domingo German may have put team on track to World Series
Wait a minute. Just, wait a minute. Back up. Is this a mere coincidence?
Don Larsen threw a perfect game in 1956 — the Yankees won the World Series that year. David Wells threw a perfect game in 1998 — the Yankees won the World Series that year. David Cone threw a perfect game in 1999, and you get the picture. Now, Domingo German has completed the rare feat in 2023.
One could just as easily point out all the "D's" in those players' names and add a trivial tidbit to the correlational relationship, "When Yankees pitchers whose first name begins with the letter D record a perfect game, the team wins the World Series."
The thought process is the same. Which is to say, it's extremely far-fetched.
Basing a team's future success on four statistical data points doesn't feel like a good bet, and given the Yankees' Judge-less offensive drought, New York still has plenty of ground to cover in the AL East nearing the second half of the season.
Unhinged Yankees fans may hold onto this precious obsessive fact until their knuckles turn white, but the truth is the team is a far stone's throw away from serious World Series contention. Also, Statistics 101: Correlation does not imply causation.
