A Perfect Family

One was a 5'9", 140-pound soft-tosser who lived on the black. The other's a 6-foot, 220-pound flamethrower. But John Rickert, 39, and his 18-year-old son, Mike, a senior pitcher at Bowler ( Wis.) High School have at least one tiling in common: On April 22 against nearby Iola- Scandinavia High, Mike threw a perfect game—just as John did...while pitching for Bowler High...against Iola- Scandinavia...for the same coach,

Raymond Murphy...22 years ago...to the day. "I was so wrapped up in the game, it didn't really occur to me," says John, who serves as Bowler's assistant coach when not running the family meat-packing plant. "Back when I did it, I didn't even know what a perfect game was." Mike, too, was unaware of his perfection until late in the game, when, he says, "I realized I hadn't pitched from the stretch all day." The two call it a "once-in-a-lifetime thing" which is more than astute readers of the local paper could say. After both perfect games the Shawano leader ran stories under the prosaic headline: RICKERT HURLS PERFECT GAME. The coincidence wasn't discovered until the following day by John's wife (and Mike's mother), Cheryl, who noticed the same date on the framed clipping of John's perfecto.

Unlike the men in her life, Cheryl, who charts Mike's every pitch, sensed "something special" happening as she watched Mike strike out 12 batters. Still, with a Devil Rays scout in attendance—Mike's also been scouted by Milwaukee and Philadelphia, though he may take his low-90s fastball to UW Stevens Point next year—only once did she worry. "Their number 9 hitter was barely four feet tall, and I didn't think Mike would find his strike zone," she says. "Mike told me afterward that he was scared he might kill the kid."