Larsen Pitches Perfect Game.

Larsen Pitches Perfect Game. New York Yankee Don Larsen became the only pitcher to throw a perfect game in the World Series when he did not allow a single Brooklyn Dodger to reach first base in game five of the 1956 World Series. . Larsen Pitches Perfect Game Baseball fans expected great things from the likes of Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and Babe Ruth. But some of the game's most memorable moments were created by less revered players. Such was the case with Don Larsen, pitcher for the New York Yankees. After compiling an unimposing 11-5 record for the season and lasting less than two innings against the Brooklyn Dodgers in game two of the 1956 World Series, he threw a flawless no-hitter in game five, becoming the only pitcher in history to throw a perfect game in World Series play. The two teams had met in World Series play the year before, with the Dodgers winning the title, 4-3. As in 1955, the 1956 World Series was evenly fought; after four games the series was knotted, 2-2. Larsen started game five. The Dodgers boasted a formidable lineup--Junior Gilliam, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Sandy Amoros, Carl Furillo, and Roy Campanella. In the first inning Reese took Larsen to a 3-2 count--the longest turn at the plate of any Dodger during the game. The first of the four potential hits occurred in the second inning, when Jackie Robinson batted a vicious grounder to third base. The ball bounced off Andy Carey's glove and seemed a sure hit until quick-thinking Yankee shortstop Gil McDougald recovered the ball and fired it to first to put Robinson out. Though veteran Dodger pitcher Sal Maglie matched Larsen's efforts pitch-for-pitch in the first four innings, Mickey Mantle broke his no-hit streak late in the fourth when he blasted a 330-ft (100.58-m) home run into the stands. Dodger Gil Hodges hit a fly to deep left-center in the fifth inning, but Mantle starred again, making a terrific run and a diving one-handed catch. Amoros almost tied the score in the next at bat with a powerful drive hit to the right-field stands, but at the last minute the ball arced foul. In the sixth inning Yankee Andy Carey came through with a single. Larsen followed with an expert sacrifice bunt and Carey took second. Hank Bauer's hit to center field was enough to send Carey home for the Yankees' second score. In the seventh inning the Dodgers' Gilliam nearly reached base with a hard line drive, but in one fluid motion McDougald scooped the ball and shot it to first, taking Gilliam out. By this time Yankee and Dodger fans alike knew they were witnessing a once-in-alifetime event. "One could have heard a dollar drop in the huge arena as Carl Furillo got up as the first Dodger batter in the ninth," reported the New York Times. Furillo fouled the first two pitches and then took a ball. After two more fouls he popped up to Bauer in right field. Sportswriter Arthur Daley wrote that at this point the tension in the stadium was "as brittle as an electric light bulb. The slightest jounce and the dang thing might explode." Next up was Dodger catcher Roy Campanella. After hitting a foul, he hit a grounder right to second baseman Billy Martin, who rifled it to Joe Collins at first for the inning's second out. The final Dodger to bat was pinch-hitter Dale Mitchell, in for Maglie. Larsen's first pitch was a ball. On the next two pitches umpire Babe Pinelli called a strike and then a ball. Mitchell fouled the next pitch, and then Larsen fired a fastball to the outside corner. Mitchell, thinking the pitch was out of the strike zone, didn't swing. Pinelli shot his right hand into the air to announce the third strike--Larsen's 27th consecutive out. Although Mitchell tried to protest the call, he was drowned out by thunderous celebration from the 64,000-plus crowd at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn. Jubilant teammate Yogi Berra rushed to Larsen from behind home plate, leaped into his arms, and kissed him on both cheeks. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound Larsen carried Berra off the field only to be tackled by the entire Yankee dugout. As sportswriter Curly Grieve of the San Francisco Examiner wrote, "It was the one to make you thank your lucky stars you were there and had a ticket stub to frame and prove it." Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.