RIP Don Larsen - Greatest Single Game WS Pitcher Ever

protectionist

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2013
55,248
17,508
2,250
A legend of Major League Baseball has just passed away, at the age of 90. The greatest single game pitcher of a World Series game, Don Larsen, in 1956, against the Brooklyn Dodgers, pitched the only PERFECT GAME in WS history.

The accomplishment was so awesome, that after the last pitch, the catcher, Yogi Berra, ran out to the mound and jumped up on Larsen in excited celebration.

As huge as this was in 1956, nobody knew that 64 years later, in 2020, this would still stand as the ONLY perfect WS pitching performance, ever.

The Berra celebration has become a standard thing in baseball, for 6 decades, with dozens of catchers emulating Berra's happy jump. Sometimes they have knocked the pitcher down, when the catchers were bigger than the pitcher.

This wasn't the case in 1956, as Berra at 5'8", was much smaller than the 6'4" and sturdy built Larsen.

I was just 10 years old at the time, but I remember my mother and aunt who were born in Denmark, taking a certain kind of national pride, in that Larsen was also Danish.

Maybe not one of the most well known names in MLB history, but without a doubt, a record that is immense, has never been equalled, and maybe never will be.

Those of us who have pitched in the game of baseball, can keenly appreciate the strength, intelligence, and unbending nerves that could produce any perfect pitched game, let alone one in the World Series of MLB.
 
Last edited:
One of the iconic performances in Baseball history

Larsen was an above average Pitcher who put it all together on that afternoon
 
Larsen was also considered a good hitting pitcher. In 4 separate seasons he hit an over .300 batting average, and in 1958, he had 4 home runs in 49 at hats, which if stretched out to a full season, would equal 50 home runs.
 

Forum List

Back
Top