Tom Browning, former Reds pitcher who threw perfect game, cited for OVI

Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer

Credit: David Jablonski - Staff Writer

Tom Browning, the former Reds pitcher known for throwing a perfect game in 1988, was cited for OVI on Saturday in Georgetown, Ohio.

The citation from Brown County courts say Browning was driving eastbound on Sunset Blvd. near West Grant Avenue around 11:38 p.m. when he was pulled over by police. A breath test showed Browning’s blood-alcohol-level was .127, over the legal limit of .08.

The left-handed former pitcher, who lives in Union, Ky., was known as “Mr. Perfect” after he made baseball history when, on Sept. 16, 1988 at Riverfront Stadium, he became the 12th person to pitch a perfect game in major league history. It’s a feat so rare that only 23 pitchers have done it in more than 215,000 major league games.

He was also on the team when the Reds won the World Series in 1990 — though he didn’t pitch after he abruptly left, without telling anyone, to take his wife to the hospital after she went into labor at Wrigley Field.

Browning was also known for off-the-field antics, like when he ditched the dugout during a game in 1993 to watch his team play an inning from a rooftop party nearby.

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