Don Larsen's Perfect Game: A World Series Masterpiece

In October eighth, nineteen fifty six, was Game five of the World Series where the New York Yankees were taking on the Brooklyn Dodgers. And this series was tied two to two when Don Larsen took the mound and did something no one has ever done before or since, when he pitched the only perfect game in a World Series, making him a legend in baseball forever. We're going to dive into this historical game that lasts for the ages on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. And today's trivia question is how many perfect games have been pitched in MLB history? So to start the story, who was done? He was born in Indiana in a lower middle class family and actually excelled more at basketball than he did baseball, as he made the All Metro team in high school and got several college scholarship efferts to play basketball, But a scout for the Saint Louis Browns actually saw potential in Don Larson and signed him to a minor league deal in nineteen forty seven out of high school, signing a eight hundred and fifty dollars signing bonus roughly about twelve thousand dollars today to play baseball over going to college to play basketball. But it was a struggle through the minor leagues as each year in the minor leagues he bounced around from team to team, and he actually got drafted during this time by the Army to being part of the Korean War and spent nineteen fifty one to nineteen fifty three in the US Army, but upon being discharged, he actually was able to make the Major League roster for the first time for the Saint Louis Browns, and when he made his debut appearance on April seventeenth, nineteen fifty three, pitching five innings, giving up three runs, striking out three in a no decision, but the Browns did win that first game, and in his rookie season, he finished with a record of seven to twelve with a four point one six ERA and ninety six strikeouts, starting twenty two games of the thirty eight he appeared in and finished first on the team in innings, pitch and complete games, and second in strikeouts. But he also had success hitting as he batted two eighty four with three home runs in eighty one at Bets and had a seven game hit streak at one point. Now the next season, the Browns actually moved to Baltimore and became the Baltimore Orioles, and again Larsen struggled. He went three for twenty one that season with a four point three to seven ERA in twenty nine games. It was the fewest wins by pitcher without least twenty losses since nineteen sixteen, and he still holds that in a record that he still holds to this day. He led the majors in losses and finished third in highest RA as the Orioles were a rough team. He only won fifty four games that season, but two of his wins happened against the New York Yankees, who were shaking up their team the next year, trading for Don Larson as part of a seventeen player trade. As in those two wins against the Yankees they saw some potential, but Larson quickly got some shoulder issues and had to be sent down to the Miners, but would work his way back up to the team and in a nineteen fifty six season he would actually have a record of eleven to five with an ERA of three point twenty six, helping lead the Yankees to the World Series versus the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the first two game, the Dodgers won pretty handedly against the Yankees, but the Yankees came back in Game three and four at Yankee Stadium to tie the series, then headed into Game five, where Larson was given the chance to start again. Now this wasn't in his first time starting for the World Series, as in nineteen fifty five, he had actually started Game four for the Yankees versus the Dodgers that year, pitching four innings in a losing effort in the Dodgers would go on to win that series. And until that day, don didn't actually know he was going to pitch. The way they would do it is their manager, Casey Stingle, would put a baseball in the cleats of whoever was going to pitch that day, and so he showed up and saw baseball and he knew, hey, I'm starting. Now. The game was closed, as many as many World Series games are, and in the fourth Mickey Mantle actually came up and gave the Yankees a lead hitting a home run, and the Yankees would gain score in the sixth inning, giving them a two nothing lead. But in the second inning, Jackie Robinson hit a line drive to third base, which he just missed out on getting on first by a step. In the fifth Mickey Mantle had to make a spectacular play in center field, making a backhanded catch to continue the Perfect Game. And Larson knew as long as he had as he was keeping in control, he had a team that was supporting him to make him to the chance to do whatever he needed. And when the ninth inning came up, everyone knew the perfect Game was happening, but no wa and said anything. The Dodgers Carl Furlio fled out, then Roy Campanella grounded out to second, and then the last batter, Dale Mitchell, was struck out for the final out of the Perfect Game. Now this is made even more iconic by catcher Yogi Bearra leaping into Larson's arm. It's a lasting memory for both Bearra and Larson. And at the time TV wasn't really recorded as it is today, and it wasn't until two thousand and six when we actually got a recording of this actual game, as it was just found in a canister marked New York trip in the broadcasting storage facility, and it's great. If you get a chance, you can actually go to YouTube and type in World Series perfect game and you can watch the entire game if you would like. After this game, though, the Dodgers would come back and win Game six, but the Yankees would win Game seven, winning the World Series and giving Larsen the Most Valuable Player award, and Larson later told the media that he didn't even know that it was called a perfect game. He just thought it was called a really good no hitter. Major League Baseball history, there have only been twenty four perfect games, and the chances of pitching a perfect game is point zero one percent. Is very unlikely and does not happen very often. That doesn't mean that someone in the future pitch a perfect game, as even Don Larson wasn't thought to be a great pitcher to pitch a perfect game, as after this he struggled the rest of his career. He would stay with the Yankees for a few more years. In nineteen fifty seven, he would pitch Game seven of the World Series, but only lasted two in a third innings. In nineteen fifty eight, he would pitch the third game in the World Series, winning that World Series, and following in the nineteen sixty season, he would be traded to Kansas City and then again go to the Chicago White Sox and bounce around to the San Francisco Giants, the Houston Astros, the Baltimore Orioles, and finishes his career with the Chicago Cubs and ended his career with an eighty one and ninety one win loss record with a three point seven to eight earned run average. So this just goes to show you, as long as you're there, you have a chance to make history. You may not be the best player or a Hall of Famer, but Don Larson will always remembered for his perfect game. Sometimes that one moment is all you need. And I want to thank you for listening to today's episode. If you enjoyed it, please leave us a rating or review wherever you're listening. It really brings joy to my space. And if you want, you can tell us a topic you'd like us to cover in your name and we'll get that done just for you. And come back tomorrow for more daily sports history. In the answer today's trivia question, how many perfect games have been pitched in Major League baseball history and the answer is twenty four, but only one has been done in the World Series. That was Don Larson. He spent paint from St. Briton Paint