Don Larsen's Perfect Game

Lore & Background

Larsen retired all 27 batters he faced, needing just 97 pitches. The final out was a called third strike on pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell, called by home plate umpire Babe Pinelli. Yogi Berra caught the game and leaped into Larsen's arms after the final out. The Yankees went on to win the series in seven games.

In Their Own Story

The late autumn sun cast long shadows across the worn dirt of Ebbets Field as Don Larsen wiped his hands on his cap, staring down at Gil Hodges. The stadium was a sea of roaring fans and hushed anticipation, the air thick with the smell of rosin and damp grass. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Larsen wound up and delivered a fastball that seemed to defy gravity, snapping off the bat on a sharp line drive straight to shortstop. As Yogi Berra closed in from behind, the world held its breath until the glove snapped shut, sealing a moment that would be whispered about for generations.

Reader's Guide

The game was televised by NBC with Mel Allen and Vin Scully announcing. A nearly-complete kinescope recording was discovered in 2006 and aired on MLB Network in 2009. Two color films exist: one shot by Saul Terry on 8 mm film, and another shot by Al Mengert on 16 mm film.

Did You Know?

• Larsen struck out 7 batters in the perfect game.
• Only one Dodger batter, Pee Wee Reese in the first inning, got a three-ball count.
• Larsen was unaware that his achievement was a perfect game until someone in the clubhouse told him.
• The closest the Dodgers came to a hit was a line drive by Jackie Robinson in the second inning and a deep fly ball by Gil Hodges caught by Mickey Mantle in the fifth.