Yankees right-hander Domingo German joined elite company Wednesday night when he threw a perfect game against the Athletics.
It was the first perfect game in the majors since August 2012 when the Rays went 27 up, 27 down against the Mariners' Felix Hernandez.
German took a long path to the big leagues after being signed by the Marlins in 2009. He was traded to the Yankees in 2014 and finally exceeded his rookie status in 2018.
A year after that, however, German brought controversy upon himself. He was suspended by MLB after being put on administrative leave for alleged domestic violence against his girlfriend. German missed the entire 2020 season after sitting out part of the 2019 campaign.
MORE: List of MLB perfect games since 2000
Domingo German domestic violence suspension
MLB suspended German 81 games for violating the league and Players Association's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy, the result of an incident with his girlfriend following a 2019 gala hosted by then-Yankee teammate CC Sabathia.
According to The Athletic, German slapped his girlfriend at the event and then, while drunk, became violent after it. The woman eventually hid in a locked room. A Yankees teammate and his wife came to pick her up. The girlfriend remained with the player's wife while the teammate tried to calm German.
Authorities were not called the night of the incident, and so there was no police report. MLB did not need one to act under the joint domestic violence policy.
German was placed on administrative leave by MLB while it investigated the incident. On Jan. 2, 2020, German was given an 81-game suspension, with 18 games already served from the leave. He missed the entire 60-game, COVID-shortened regular season and three Yankees playoff games in 2020. He was reinstated Oct. 6, 2020, but was ineligible to pitch for the remainder of the postseason.
During spring training in 2021, German issued a statement on his relationship with his teammates.
"I was able to speak to each player on the team," German said in a statement, per ESPN. "The only acceptable way to begin to move forward was to address them face-to-face. It is worth repeating again today what I told the team, there are a lot of young players who wear this uniform, and I want them to understand the great damage that can be done when mistakes like mine have been made."
