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Health & Fitness

Don Larsen's Perfect Game

Don Larsen's moment in the sun.

The conclusion of the World Series brought back the time when it was called the October Classic, now a discarded term. For me the biggest sports thrill ever was Don Larsen’s perfect game, October 8, 1956, at Yankee Stadium. It was a celebration of baseball at its height while at the same time being the end of a magnificent era.

Dame Fortune smiled on Larsen five times that day.

The first was in the second inning when Jackie Robinson, overweight and slowed considerably, hit a rocket grounder to third. It bounced off Andy Carey’s glove directly to shortstop Gil McDougald, who fired to first just in time. McDougald still remains the only player voted to the All-Star game at three different positions (third, short and second). But for a terrible accident, he stood a chance at the Hall of Fame.

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In the fifth inning Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges unloaded a liner to the deepest part of left center field. Fortunately for Larsen, at Yankee Stadium this was 457 feet away. Mickey Mantle, in his sixth year and still the fastest man in the majors, made a sensational over the shoulder catch on the run as the ball was sinking. My guess is that he was twenty or thirty feet from the 457-foot marker. At any other ballpark, it would have been out or against wall.

The third break came when Sandy Amoros hit one into the right field seats that curved foul by inches at the last moment. It had now become tension city…

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Mantle’s solo home run in the fourth inning was the first hit of the game. Altogether, Dodger pitcher Sal Maglie gave up only two runs and five hits and would have won nine times out of ten. His excellent effort made the game even more exciting, for the Dodgers were an explosive team.

The fourth stroke of luck was, ironically, Dale Mitchell, who was sent in to pinch hit as the last batter. Mitchell had a 1-2 count when Larsen threw his 97th and final pitch. With the stakes that high, even Ted Williams wouldn’t get a break if the pitch was close to the strike zone. On television, it looked slightly high and outside, but still close enough. Panelli called it a strike. Mitchell loudly complained, but none of his teammates joined in. In the whole game, only Pee Wee Reese drew a three-ball count, and that was in the first inning. The magic book deserved to be closed.

The last and biggest bit of luck was the skill of home plate umpire Babe Panelli, who before the Series had announced his retirement. He had enjoyed a long and respected career in the National League. The rotation had him calling balls and strikes that fifth game. Few remember that Panelli was behind the plate that day, and without incident until the final pitch. He’s the forgotten man in one of the game’s supreme dramas. A single missed call in the earlier going could have changed everything. Again, there were no complaints.

It is interesting what happened afterward. In regard to Don Larsen, bright things were predicted but he returned to mediocrity. Still, he did hang on for 14 years.

Early in the 1957 season, an accident ruined two careers, pitcher Herb Score of Cleveland, a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, and Gil McDougald, mentioned earlier. Score was the second coming of Bob Feller, with a fastball and curve that made batters quiver. It was bad news when McDougald hit a liner straight to Score’s eye. He was carried from the game on a stretcher, with the situation looking very bleak. Fortunately Score did not die as first seemed might happen. He eventually regained sight in the affected eye, but his career was over. McDougald, like Score a very religious man, also went into the well. His numbers afterward just weren’t the same.

The 1956 World Series marked the end of the Yankee-Dodger rivalry that started in 1947. The teams met six times with the Yankees gaining the upper hand in five of them. All marked baseball at its best, with not a single negative incident.

After the 1957 season the New York Giants moved to San Francisco and Brooklyn to Los Angeles. For New Yorkers, it was like being on the losing end of World War III. From a business standpoint it made sense, but fans, especially Brooklyn fans, thought their decades of support gave them moral ownership. Even the Dodger players were heart-broken.

Up until the fat lady came to sing, it had been great while it lasted!

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