Any discussion of surprise World Series heroes must begin with Don Larsen. Nothing in his background prepared anyone for his unforgettable performance in the fifth game of the 1956 World Series.
- The 26-year old 6'4" 225 lb right-hander had an 11-5 record that season with a 3.26 ERA. He started 20 games but completed only six in an era when starters were expected to go the distance.
- In his four major league seasons, Larsen was only 30-40 and lost 21 games in 1953 for the Baltimore Orioles.
- Don had "good stuff" but had a problem with control. He had 327 Ks but 300 Ws in four seasons.
- To improve his control, he had adopted the "no windup" delivery whereby he simply set his hands at his belt, kicked and fired. (You can see this in the video referenced below.)
- Don had started the second game of the '56 World Series in Brooklyn but lasted only 1 1/3 innings, giving up only one hit but walking four. All four runs off him were unearned.
From this record, the 64,519 who gathered in Yankee Stadium for Game 5 might have believed that he could throw a no-hitter if he had his stuff working. But they would also have bet any money that he would walk at least one.
Yankee manager Casey Stengel took a chance on him to pitch the crucial Game 5 with the Series tied 2-2. Even Larsen was surprised that morning when he found a ball in a shoe in his locker, Casey's way of informing him that he was starting. "I didn't think I'd get another chance to start," he said later.
The Dodger lineup featured four future Hall-of-Famers: SS Pee Wee Reese, CF Duke Snider, 3B Jackie Robinson, and C Roy Campanella, as well as 1B Gil Hodges, whom many regard as HOF worthy. Yet Larsen dominated from the start. He went to ball three on only one batter, Pee Wee Reese in the first. He threw 97 pitches, striking out seven. There were only two near-hits.
- Leading off the second, Robinson hit a hard liner that bounced off 3B Andy Carey's glove to SS Gil McDougald to threw Jackie out at first by less than a step.
- In the fifth, CF Mickey Mantle made a running one-hand catch in LC of Hodges's drive.
Larsen couldn't coast because Sal Maglie of the Dodgers also pitched a gem. Mantle's HR in the fourth broke the scoreless tie. Then the Yanks plated an insurance tally in the sixth on Carey's single, Larsen's sacrifice, and Hank Bauer's single. Maglie went the distance, allowing only five hits.
After the seventh inning, Larsen, smoking a cigarette in the dugout, said to Mantle, "Look at the scoreboard, Mick. Wouldn't it be something? Two more innings." Don later said that he knew he was pitching a no-hitter but didn't realize it was a perfect game also.
The Dodgers won the next day in Brooklyn 1-0 in ten innings, but the Yanks took Game 7 9-0 behind Johnny Kucks' three-hitter.
To show how different baseball was over 50 years ago, in the off-season Yankee GM George Weiss mailed Larsen a contract calling for only a $1,000 raise. Don got his friend Arthur Richmond, a NY sportswriter, to send Weiss a letter making a case for a larger amount. Larsen settled for a $5,000 increase to $18,000 for 1957. He didn't earn the raise, going 10-4 with a 3.74 ERA. He never won in double digits again, ending his career after 14 seasons with an 81-91 record. But he will be remembered as long as baseball is played, long after pitchers with far better marks are forgotten.
