Perfecto Devalued: 1998 Twins say thanks.

Once upon a time in Yankee Stadium, Tom Kelly's Twins couldn't manage to get a runner on against lefty David Wells. The 35 year-old had thrown just the 13th perfecto in the history of major league baseball. Perfecto is spanish for Perfect. Minnesota didn't exactly have a team of all-stars in 1998, trotting out players like Brent Gates and, I'm not kidding with this one.. Jon Shave.

It was a depressing time to be a Twins fan. The Yankees were on their way up, helping push the gap between the rich and the poor in baseball. And along came this half drunk, overweight 35-year old with a mustache to completely embarrass the poor team from Minnesota. At the time, this moment was a very big deal.

It's not a big deal anymore.

Before David Wells, there had been only 12 perfectos in modern baseball history. Since then, there have been five.

Indeed, it seems that almost anyone can throw a perfect game these days. Dallas Braden threw one this month. So did Roy Halladay. Jon Sanchez would have pitched one last season except for an error committed by his shortstop. Mark Buehrle got his last year.

Of course, there's poor Armando Galarraga. The Tigers pitcher retired all 27 batters he faced, except the last out he got wasn't ruled an out. He became the victim of the worst regular season call in the history of baseball. Yes, it's the Tigers. But still, it's a black eye for all of baseball. And it would have been a real feather in the Twins cap as it would have further devalued David Wells' accomplishment twelve years ago.

That right David Wells, Minnesotans are no longer embarrassed that you threw a perfect game against the Twins. So there.