Posted By:
Ted ZanidakisIn my lifetime, there is no debate in my mind. As a kid I played
hooky on Oct 8th in 1956. Little did I know what I was in for.
Well, as most of us know, that was the day Don Larsen pitched a
perfect No-Hit game against the Dodgers.
He was quite modest afterword when he told the press the Dodgers
made it easy for me, I only needed 97 pitches to win the game.
Well, it might have been easy for him; but two events occurred
that could have changed the complexion of the game. Jackie Rob-
inson hit a sharp grounder that was booted by the 2nd baseman
and was fielded by Gil McDougald (at SS) who whipped the ball to
1st base to get Jackie out by half a step.
The 2nd event was a monster hit by Gil Hodges to the monuments
in deep left-center (death valley in the old Yankee Stadium).
Mantle took off like a rabbit and caught up with it to preserve
the No-Hitter and possibly the game. Mantle, also won the game
with a two-run homer.
Sal Maglie pitched a great game for the Dodgers that day limiting
the Yankees to just 3 hits, until Mantle homered.