RIP Don Larsen

Never seen that photo before, the stock one is him pitching in the ninth, with second baseman Billy Martin in the background.

This one, he's pitching to Gil Hodges, with one out in the 8th. Five more outs to go. Four HOF players in Brooklyn's order that day: Reese, Snider, Robinson and Campy; one that should be, Hodges; an NL batting champ, Furillo, and a pretty good stick in Junior Gilliam.

1956 World Series Game 5 Box Score / Don Larsen Perfect Game

 

Well, shit. Thanks for the correction.

 

Two hours and six minutes. Today, it would go an hour and a half longer.

Also forgotten, Sal Maglie pitched a great game as well.

 

he was later part of the trade that brought Maris to New York.

 

MLB Network showing the TV broadcast of the game right now.

 

And Larsen would have been taken out after six for a match-up lefty, or because his pitch count was too high.

 

I don't know if, even with today's norms, a manager would have the stones to pull a pitcher with a perfect game going. Same with pitch count. Larsen averaged 3.6 pitches per batter. Hard to do much better than that.

 

He threw 97 pitches. Since Larsen was, to be nice, hardly the Yanks' number one starter, it's likely that today he'd have been pulled at any moment after the sixth when somebody from Brooklyn reached base. But of course no one did.