A perfect game is rare, there is no way around that fact. Now imagine you play for the New York Yankees, you are playing against the Brooklyn Dodgers, and it is Game 5 of the 1956 World Series. Welcome to Don Larsen and his perfect moment.
There was a scare in the fifth inning but it sure helped to have Mantle patrolling center field as he snagged a hard hit Gil Hodges line drive with a classic (before bad knees) Mantle running catch.
As the story goes, after the seventh inning, Larsen was smoking a cigarette and talking with Mickey Mantle in the dugout and mentioned “Look at the scoreboard, Mick. Wouldn’t it be something? Two more innings to go.” That is exactly what happened and history was made. Larsen threw a perfect game and the only no-hitter in post-season history until 2010. That is the stuff of Legend.
Video Courtesy of TheMLBhistory
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