What Just Happened With Madison Bumgarner

On April 25, Madison Bumgarner took the mound against the Braves in Atlanta to start the second game of a doubleheader. In 2020, MLB made a lot of foolish rule changes concerning COVID-19, and one of them was that games in a doubleheader would only last seven innings. In 2021, they're letting fans into the stands, they're playing 162 games, and yet they're keeping the seven inning doubleheader rule. That stinks, but it's okay, right? Well, on Sunday, Madison Bumgarner pitched all seven innings, winning 7-0, without allowing a hit. He was credited with a complete game and a shutout, but not with a no-hitter. This doesn't make sense to me, but for whatever reason, the official criteria for a no-hitter is that the game goes at least nine innings. There was nothing that MadBum could do about the length of the game, but the rules trump everyone, so it's fair. This got me to thinking about whether Ernie Shore's perfect game on June 23, 1917 or Harvey Haddix's famous 12 inning game in 1959 were really perfect games. Nobody seems to recognize them as perfect games nowadays, but many baseball insiders (such as myself) believe them to be perfect games. Let's start with Ernie Shore's game. In 1917, Babe Ruth got the start in a game against the Washington Senators and walked the leadoff man, Ray Morgan. The Babe didn't like the umpire's calls, so he acted up and got himself ejected. The new pitcher, Ernie Shore, came in with no outs. Morgan was thrown out stealing and Shore finished the game without allowing a baserunner. This is technically a perfect game and a shutout, but not a complete game. Haddix's game is a little more tricky. He pitched 12 perfect innings against the Braves but lost the game in the 13th on account of an error. This game was credited as a perfect game at the time, but if it ever happens again (and something very much like it did happen with Pedro Martinez) it wouldn't be a perfect game. Since it was credited as a perfect game at the time, I count it but not Martinez's. This same personal ruling was also made by an accomplished baseball author, who just so happens to be a genius, just in case I'm not good enough for you (I won't give his name right now). So, what do you think about each game? Was Bumgarner robbed? Is history wrongly judging two famous games?