17 Dec 2025 · 4 min
Brian Johnson uses MLB perfect games (23 in 140 years, 210,000+ games) to explore striving for perfection. John Wooden said perfection is impossible but the pursuit of it is not. Small daily improvements matter more than flawless results.
140 years.
Over 210,000 games.
23 perfect games.
No — no pitcher has ever thrown more than one perfect game.
Wooden.
You're listening to Optimize with Brian Johnson. More wisdom in less time. Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another optimize plus one. In our last plus one, we talked about the fact that batting.300 over the course of your Major League Baseball career gets you in the hall of Fame. Today we're going to continue the baseball metaphor pop quiz for baseball fans. Do you know how many perfect games have ever been thrown? Now, for those who may not know, a perfect game is defined by Major League Baseball via Wikipedia, as a game in which a pitcher or a combination of pitchers pitches for a victory in a game that lasts a minimum of nine innings, in which no opposing player reach his base. So get this. According to Wikipedia, Major League Baseball has been around for 140 years. Over 210,000 games have been played and only 23 perfect games have ever been pitched. And no player has ever thrown More than one perfect game. 140 years. 210,000 games. Only 23 perfect games. And no pitcher has ever done it twice. Yet you and I want to have perfect lives. I'm reminded of John Wooden. He was all about going for perfection, but only doing so knowing we'll never actually get it. Here's how he puts it. Perfection is what you're striving for, but perfection is an impossibility. However, he says striving for perfection is not an impossibility. Do the best you can under the conditions that exist. That is what counts. Sounds a lot like our guiding stars and distant shores, eh? Check out that plus one. You know what else Wooden said? He said this. When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, he says, but eventually a big gain is made. Don't look for the big quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That, he says is the only way it happens. And when it happens, it lasts. Sounds a lot like our optimize plus ones, eh? And how about one more Wooden gem? And all of these are from his book called Wooden, by the way. He says, did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is, did I make my best effort? That's what matters. The rest of it just gets in the way. So today's plus one. Let's make our best effort. Let's seek this small improvement one day at a time. That's the only way it happens. And when it happens, it lasts. Plus one plus one plus one. We hope you enjoyed this episode of Optimize with Brian Johnson. To find out more, go go to Optimize Me.
