On this day in New York · October 8, 1956
Don Larsen Throws a Perfect Game in the World Series
A journeyman pitcher who'd lost 21 games the year before threw the only perfect game in World Series history, and his manager still wouldn't call it his best.
The facts
- Date
- October 8, 1956
- Final score
- Yankees 2, Dodgers 0
- Attendance
- 64,519 at Yankee Stadium
- Pitches thrown
- 97, with seven strikeouts
On October 8, 1956, Yankees right-hander Don Larsen retired all 27 Brooklyn Dodgers he faced at Yankee Stadium, the first perfect game in World Series history and the only World Series no-hitter of any kind until 2022. Larsen beat Dodgers ace Sal Maglie 2-0 in Game 5, needing just 97 pitches while working from an unusual no-windup delivery. Mickey Mantle broke the scoreless tie with a fourth-inning home run and also robbed Gil Hodges of an extra-base hit with a running catch in left-center. The game ended on a called third strike against pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell, sending catcher Yogi Berra leaping into Larsen's arms in the image that still defines the day.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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I had great control. I never had that kind of control in my life.
Don Larsen, recalling the game in 1998
Source: Wikipedia -
So far!
Yankees manager Casey Stengel, asked afterward if it was the best game Larsen had ever pitched
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
Nearly seventy years later it's still the gold standard for pitching under pressure in New York: no one else has done it in the World Series' biggest spotlight since, and Larsen, a career .500 pitcher, is proof the city's biggest sports moments don't always belong to its biggest stars.
Sources
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