Don James Larsen was an American professional baseball pitcher.
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46 Facts About Don Larsen
2.
Don Larsen won the World Series Most Valuable Player Award and Babe Ruth Award in recognition of his 1956 postseason.
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3.
Don Larsen's family moved to San Diego, California, in 1944, where his mother became a housekeeper and his father worked as a department store salesman.
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4.
Don Larsen attended Point Loma High School where he was a member of the basketball and baseball teams.
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5.
Don Larsen was selected for the All-Metro Conference team as a basketball player, and was offered several college scholarships to play basketball.
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6.
Don Larsen started his career with the Aberdeen Pheasants of the Class-C Northern League in 1947, appearing in 16 games.
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7.
Don Larsen started the 1949 season pitching for the Globe-Miami Browns of the Class-C Arizona–Texas League, before he moved up the minor league hierarchy, playing for the Springfield Browns in the Class-B Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, and the Wichita Falls Spudders of the Class-B Big State League for the first half of the 1950 season.
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8.
Don Larsen was promoted to the Wichita Indians of the Class-A Western League in the second half of the 1950 season.
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9.
In 1951, Don Larsen was drafted to the United States Army for the Korean War.
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10.
Don Larsen spent the next two years in the Army, working in a variety of non-combat jobs.
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11.
Don Larsen was discharged from the Army in 1953 and made the St Louis Browns roster prior to the beginning of the season.
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12.
Don Larsen made his Major League Baseball debut with a start against the Detroit Tigers on April 17,1953.
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13.
Don Larsen finished first on the team in innings pitched and complete games and second on the team in strikeouts.
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14.
Don Larsen allowed the most hits with 202, and earned runs on the squad.
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15.
Don Larsen broke a major league record for pitchers by having seven consecutive hits at one point.
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16.
Don Larsen led the major leagues in losses and finished third in the league in earned runs allowed.
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17.
However, Weiss and Yankees manager Casey Stengel thought that Don Larsen had the most potential out of the two, having been impressed with Don Larsen's performance against the Yankees and demanded that he be included in the trade.
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18.
Don Larsen reported to spring training with a sore shoulder and pitched ineffectively to start the year.
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21.
Don Larsen pitched a shutout against Jim Bunning and the Detroit Tigers on August 5,1955.
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22.
Don Larsen was used in between the bullpen and the starting rotation for most of the season, participating in 38 games, starting 20.
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23.
Don Larsen was pitching for the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers on October 8,1956.
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24.
Don Larsen walked four batters and allowed four runs in the process but, because of an error by first baseman Joe Collins, none of the runs were earned.
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25.
Don Larsen needed just 97 pitches to complete the perfect game, and only one Dodger batter was able to get a three-ball count.
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26.
Don Larsen gave up three consecutive hits to Gene Stephens, Gene Mauch and Sammy White to start the second inning, and after a sacrifice fly by pitcher Bob Porterfield, he gave up a double to Frank Malzone, and was taken out of the game.
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27.
Don Larsen started another game two days later against the Red Sox and by the end of the month his ERA was over 6.
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28.
Don Larsen was traded to the Kansas City Athletics with Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern and Marv Throneberry for Roger Maris, Joe DeMaestri, and Kent Hadley.
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29.
Don Larsen became a full-time relief pitcher, anchoring a strong bullpen that included Bobby Bolin and Stu Miller.
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30.
Don Larsen had five wins with 11 saves for the pennant-winning Giants.
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31.
Don Larsen won the deciding game of the three-game playoff series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, relieving Juan Marichal in the eighth inning.
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32.
Don Larsen was on the Chicago Cubs roster for two weeks of the 1967 season, pitching only four innings in what would be his final stint in the major leagues.
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33.
Don Larsen spent the rest of the season with the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs of the Class-AA Texas League.
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34.
Don Larsen started the 1968 season in the Cubs' minor league system, pitching for the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League and Tacoma Cubs of the PCL, before retiring in the summer.
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35.
Don Larsen was regarded well enough by his managers that he was used as a pinch hitter 66 times.
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36.
Don Larsen was known to have no windup or leg kick, a technique usually used by modern pitchers when there are runners on base.
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37.
Don Larsen could get hit for home runs with relative ease if his control was off.
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38.
Don Larsen became an executive for a paper company, working with farmers who worked in California's Salinas Valley.
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39.
In 1964, Don Larsen was inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.
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40.
Don Larsen was in Yankee Stadium for two of baseball's 21 modern perfect games: his own in 1956, and David Cone's in 1999.
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41.
Cone's game took place on Yogi Berra Day; Don Larsen threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Berra before the game.
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42.
Don Larsen later said that Cone's perfect game was the first game he had seen in person from start to finish since his retirement.
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43.
Don Larsen married his first wife, Vivian, in 1955, out of a sense of duty after she became pregnant with his child.
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44.
Don Larsen died on January 1,2020, from esophageal cancer at the age of 90.
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45.
Don Larsen was known for his personality and his enjoyment of the nightlife, especially in New York City.
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46.
When he broke into the Majors with the St Louis Browns, Don Larsen started violating a time-limit curfew that was set by managers Marty Marion and then Jimmy Dykes.
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