1929
Born August 7, 1929
Michigan City, IN, USA
Don Larsen Marquee
b. August 7, 1929 · St. Louis Browns 1953, Baltimore Orioles 1954, 1965, 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, Chicago Cubs 1967
He went 3-21 for the 1954 Orioles, which is still one of the worst records anyone has posted, and was traded to New York that winter in a seventeen-player deal. On October 8, 1956, in the fifth game of the World Series against Brooklyn, he retired all twenty-seven men he faced. It is Don Larsen's Perfect Game and it remains the only one thrown in the postseason.
He used no windup that year, which he had started midway through the season, and he threw 97 pitches. He was named the Most Valuable Player of that World Series and won a game in each of the 1957 and 1958 World Series.
Fourteen seasons gave him 81 wins against 91, a 3.78 earned run average and 1,548 innings for eight clubs. He was 11-5 in 1956, his best year, and pitched mostly in relief after 1959. Fifteen writers' ballots listed him and the best gave him 53 votes. He died on New Year's Day 2020, at ninety.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Babe Ruth Award | 1 | 1956 |
| World Series MVP | 1 | 1956 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | SLB | 50 | 81 | 11 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 0 | .284 |
| 1954 | BAL | 44 | 88 | 6 | 22 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 0 | .250 |
| 1955 | NYY | 21 | 41 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 0 | .146 |
| 1956 | NYY | 45 | 79 | 10 | 19 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 17 | 0 | .241 |
| 1957 | NYY | 31 | 56 | 6 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0 | .250 |
| 1958 | NYY | 28 | 49 | 9 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 0 | .306 |
| 1959 | NYY | 29 | 47 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0 | .255 |
| 1960 | KCA | 23 | 29 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | .207 |
| 1961 | CHW/KCA | 43 | 45 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .311 |
| 1962 | SFG | 52 | 25 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | .200 |
| 1963 | SFG | 46 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .182 |
| 1964 | HOU/SFG | 37 | 32 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .094 |
| 1965 | BAL/HOU | 28 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .231 |
| 1967 | CHC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Career | — | 480 | 596 | 65 | 144 | 25 | 5 | 14 | 72 | 43 | 138 | 0 | .242 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | SLB | 7 | 12 | 38 | 22 | 2 | 192.2 | 201 | 89 | 64 | 96 | 4.16 |
| 1954 | BAL | 3 | 21 | 29 | 28 | 0 | 201.2 | 213 | 98 | 89 | 80 | 4.37 |
| 1955 | NYY | 9 | 2 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 97.0 | 81 | 33 | 51 | 44 | 3.06 |
| 1956 | NYY | 11 | 5 | 38 | 20 | 1 | 179.2 | 133 | 65 | 96 | 107 | 3.26 |
| 1957 | NYY | 10 | 4 | 27 | 20 | 0 | 139.2 | 113 | 58 | 87 | 81 | 3.74 |
| 1958 | NYY | 9 | 6 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 114.1 | 100 | 39 | 52 | 55 | 3.07 |
| 1959 | NYY | 6 | 7 | 25 | 18 | 3 | 124.2 | 122 | 60 | 76 | 69 | 4.33 |
| 1960 | KCA | 1 | 10 | 22 | 15 | 0 | 83.2 | 97 | 50 | 42 | 43 | 5.38 |
| 1961 | CHW/KCA | 8 | 2 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 89.1 | 85 | 41 | 40 | 66 | 4.13 |
| 1962 | SFG | 5 | 4 | 49 | 0 | 11 | 86.1 | 83 | 42 | 47 | 58 | 4.38 |
| 1963 | SFG | 7 | 7 | 46 | 0 | 3 | 62.0 | 46 | 21 | 30 | 44 | 3.05 |
| 1964 | HOU/SFG | 4 | 9 | 36 | 10 | 1 | 113.2 | 102 | 31 | 26 | 64 | 2.45 |
| 1965 | BAL/HOU | 1 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 1 | 59.1 | 61 | 19 | 23 | 41 | 2.88 |
| 1967 | CHC | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9.00 |
| Career | — | 81 | 91 | 412 | 171 | 26 | 1548.0 | 1442 | 650 | 725 | 849 | 3.78 |
On this day & linked events
2020
Died January 1, 2020
1953
Major-league debut: Don Larsen
Don Larsen made a major-league debut on April 18, 1953.
1956
Don Larsen's Perfect Game
New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen throws a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series, the only perfect game in World Series history.
1958
Hoyt Wilhelm's No-Hitter
Hoyt Wilhelm threw a no-hitter for the Baltimore Orioles against the New York Yankees on September 20, 1958, winning 1–0.
1967
Final major-league game: Don Larsen
Don Larsen played a final major-league game on July 7, 1967.
Image: Bowman, public domain