Rogers Is Perfect--With a Catch : Baseball: Texas left-hander who asked out of the rotation last season mows down Angels, 4-0.

The Texas Rangers’ Kenny Rogers stood dazed on the mound Thursday night, completely confused, trying to remember how former teammate Nolan Ryan reacted during his no-hitters.

That, of course, was of no use.

Not even Ryan ever pitched a perfect game.

Rogers could only turn around, watch center fielder Rusty Greer jump up and down with the ball in his glove, and by the time he looked up, he was mobbed by his teammates.

Rogers, with help from Greer’s diving catch two batters earlier, had just become the first left-handed pitcher in American League history to throw a perfect game--and only the 12th in the major leagues since 1900--defeating the Angels, 4-0, and sending the crowd of 46,581 at the Ballpark in Arlington into a frenzy.

It was the perfect game by the imperfect pitcher.

Rogers is a son of a strawberry farmer in Plant City, Fla., who never even played organized baseball until he was a senior in high school.

He was drafted merely because Ranger scout Joe Marches liked the way he took infield.

He didn’t become a full-time starter in the Ranger rotation until last season, and was going so poorly at one point that he asked out of the rotation.

“I couldn’t even tell you what no-hit stuff is,” said Rogers, who had been bothered by a sore shoulder.

Now, he is part of baseball folklore.

“I still can’t believe it,” Rogers said an hour after the game ended, hugging his 8-month-old daughter. “It probably won’t hit me until I go outside tonight and wake up my neighbors.

“I know I won’t go to sleep. I’m going to get that tape and watch it over and over all night. I’m going to watch every single pitch.

“If I’m late to the game tomorrow, it probably means I’m sleeping.”

*

The only left-handers to throw perfect games were Cincinnati’s Tom Browning on Sept. 16, 1988 against the Dodgers and the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax on Sept. 9, 1965 against the Chicago Cubs.

“Who knows, maybe now he can believe he can get people out when he wants to,” said Ranger pitching coach Claude Osteen, a teammate of Koufax.

Hey, if Rogers faces the Angels more often, he might start thinking he’s the second coming of Koufax.

The Angels (40-59), who have scored in only two of their last 30 innings, hit only seven balls out of the infield through the first eight innings.

Then came the ninth. The fans, who had wildly cheered every strike beginning in the seventh inning, now were standing, giving him a rousing ovation when he took the mound.

Rogers, who for a few innings actually had forgotten that he had a perfect game, looked up in acknowledgment. It was a feeling that he might never attain again, so he decided to soak in the moment.

“I tried to stay composed the whole time,” said Rogers, who threw 98 pitches, striking out eight. “I figured if I got nervous, I had no chance. I didn’t really get into what I was doing until I got the last out, because I didn’t want to be disappointed.”

Rex Hudler, who was no-hit by Fernando Valenzuela in 1990 when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals, was the first batter.

On an 0-and-2 fastball, Hudler hit a dunker into the gap in right-center.

Hudler and Rogers kept watching, and there was Greer, running as hard as he could, diving, and with his outstretched glove, caught the ball.

The crowd screamed in disbelief. Hudler muttered obscenities. And Rogers merely closed his eyes.

“When that happened,” Rogers said, “I thought, ‘I guess somebody wants me to have it.’ ”

Next up, Bo Jackson.

Rogers fell behind 2 and 0, and then came right back and struck him out on three pitches.

Gary DiSarcina, who never had a hit off Rogers in 16 career at-bats, was the last one to stand in the way of Rogers’ perfect game.

He swung and missed the first pitch. DiSarcina then swung, and hit the second pitch to center.

“I was just waiting for it to come down,” Greer said. “It seemed like it took forever. And I gave it a little extra squeeze.”

It was over.

Rogers was perfect.

“We just saw the greatest sports feat in history,” Angel starter Andrew Lorraine said. “I would never say I wanted him to do it, but you know, this is something we’ll all remember as long as we live.”

A Perfect Dozen

Perfect games pitched in major league baseball since 1900:

Date Pitcher Team and Opponent Score May 5, 1904 Cy Young Boston vs. Phil. (AL) 3-0 Oct. 2, 1908 Addie Joss Cleveland vs. Chicago 1-0 April 30, 1922 Charles Robertson Chicago vs. Detroit 2-0 *Oct. 8, 1956 Don Larsen New York vs. Brooklyn 2-0 June 21, 1964 Jim Bunning Philadelphia vs. N.Y. (NL) 6-0 Sept. 9, 1965 Sandy Koufax Dodgers vs. Chicago 1-0 May 8, 1968 Catfish Hunter Oakland vs. Minnesota 4-0 May 15, 1981 Len Barker Cleveland vs. Toronto 3-0 Sept. 30, 1984 Mike Witt Angels vs. Texas 1-0 Sept. 16, 1988 Tom Browning Cincinnati vs. Dodgers 1-0 July 28, 1991 Dennis Martinez Montreal vs. Dodgers 2-0 July 28, 1994 Kenny Rogers Texas vs. Angels 4-0

* World Series