Don Larsen

Don James Larsen ( born August 7, 1929 in Michigan City, Indiana ) is a former American professional baseball player in the Major League Baseball. He played the position of the pitcher and won in 1956 and 1958 with the New York Yankees to the World Series. Larsen is the only pitcher of MLB history, a Perfect Game in a finals series ( dt, " perfect game " ) managed, ie that the entire game no opposing batsman reached the first base. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the series in 1956 for this historic achievement.

Biography

Don Larsen was committed in 1947 as a free agent by the St. Louis Browns and made his MLB debut in 1953. The Browns, from which a year later, the Baltimore Orioles were present, Larsen was not a remarkable pitcher. He won 10 games in two years, but lost 33 and had a moderate earned run average of 4.2. Before the season 1955-56 he was engaged by the New York Yankees as a reserve behind Yankees pitcher Whitey Ford and star Tom Morgan and Tom Sturdivant. New York reached the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. After 4 games in which Ford had ever even thrown twice and Morgan and Sturdivant, Larsen was surprisingly summoned as starting pitcher for Game 5. Larsen provided a historic achievement and needed just 97 throws to the 27 batsmen to Dodgers star Jackie Robinson off. He threw the first and hitherto only Perfect Game in a final series, ie no Dodger reached the first base by a blow or a walk. The "Daily News" later commented: ". The imperfect man threw a perfect game " ( ". The imperfect one pitched a perfect game " ) When the Yankees won the World Series, Larsen was the Most Valuable Player ( Most Valuable Player ) of the final series excellent.

1958 Larsen was again with the Yankees champion before he was traded for future home-run record holder Roger Maris and he, in the following years with the Kansas City Athletics, Chicago White Sox, San Francisco Giants, Houston Colt .45 ' s, Houston Astros again the Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago Cubs played, before 1967 at the age of 37 years ended his career. He won 81 games in his career, lost 91 and finished with a career ERA of 3.78 from.

After his baseball career Larsen moved with his wife Corrine and his family moved to California and became a successful paper manufacturer in San Jose. In August 2002 he sold jersey, baseball glove and the last ball thrown by him his perfect game for U.S. $ 300,000 to his grandchildren to finance college. To date, Larsen gets many requests for autographs, which he ( on October 8, 1956 Perfect Game ) signs always with his name and the suffix " PG 10-8-56 ".

The perfect game

On 8 October 1956, Game 5 of the 1956 finals series instead. It was 2-2, and the Yankees had Star pitcher Whitey Ford twice and the other starting pitcher Tom Tomorrow and Tom Sturdivant ever even started a game. That reserve players Larsen should begin the important Game 5 was a surprise. But Yankees catcher Yogi Berra realized early on that Larsen unusually good cast ( "His stuff was good, good, good Anything I put down, he put over. . " ), And Larsen also had the luck: In the 2nd inning hit Dodger Jackie Robinson the ball low and hard just inside the Ausline, but Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle dove after the ball and threw it to first base before Robinson arrived. The next hitter Sandy Amoros produced another of these "line drives", but the blow landed an inch next to the foul line. The longer the three magic zeroes on the scoreboard stood (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Walks ), the less wanted the players to talk to Larsen: Baseball superstition forbids to talk about the possibility of a Perfect game, because they make the game " curse ". After Larsen had turned the last thrower, Yogi Berra jumping into Larsen's arms: This photo is one of the most famous of the Yankees history.

Clubs

  • St. Louis Browns (1953 )
  • Baltimore Orioles (1954 )
  • New York Yankees (1955-1959)
  • Kansas City Athletics (1960-1961)
  • Chicago White Sox (1961 )
  • San Francisco Giants (1962-1964)
  • Houston Colt .45 ' s ( 1964)
  • Houston Astros (1965 )
  • Baltimore Orioles (1965 )
  • Chicago Cubs (1967 )
Michigan City (Indiana) Strikeout World Series Most Valuable Player Award History of the Brooklyn Dodgers
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