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Listen to the radio broadcast Starters: Len Barker vs. Luis Leal WP: Len Barker   LP: Luis Leal HR: CLE: Jorge Orta (8th)

The big right-hander got off to a good start in the 1981 campaign, winning two of his first three decisions leading up to the game of May 15. The Eastern Division rival Toronto Blue Jays were in town for the first game of a four-game set and Luis Leal would take the hill for the visitors. Barker wasted no time in getting down to business, using a mix of hard stuff and off-speed offerings in retiring the side 1-2-3 on three ground balls.

Leal did not fare as well in his first frame. The Jays' young righty got into immediate trouble as Rick Manning laced his first pitch into left for a leadoff single. After an out by Jorge Orta, a John Mayberry error made it first and third with one out. A sac fly and Ron Hassey single later, the Tribe led 2-0.

Barker went back to work, getting the side in the second on two fly-balls to center and a grounder to second. In the third he got two more ground outs before retiring Buck Martinez on a fly ball to the gap in right-center. He started racking up the strikeouts in the fourth - notching two punchouts in the fourth, fifth sixth and seventh frames as he continued to mow down the Jays in order. His defense wasn't remiss either - spectacular plays by third baseman Toby Harrah in the sixth and second sacker Duane Kuiper in the seventh helped keep the perfecto alive.

In the eighth inning, as the small crowd made enough noise for 25,000, Barker picked up two more strikeouts and got the other out on a dribbler to Kuiper. In the bottom half of the inning, Jorge Orta crushed Leal's offering into the seats in left for a solo HR and a 3-0 Tribe lead. The stage was set for the final frame.

Rick Bosetti led off for Toronto and was retired by Barker on a foul pop to Harrah in front of the Blue Jays' dugout. Al Woods came up a pinch hitter for future basketball star Danny Ainge and became Barker's eleventh strikeout victim. Ernie Whitt stepped in as a pinch-hitter for Martinez, for the Jays' last attempt to break up the perfect game. He managed to get wood on the ball, lifting it to short center where Manning made the catch as the Indians swamped Barker and the celebration began.

Copyright 1981 by the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball