Phillies Draw First Blood in World Series in Game with Ties to Don Larson’s Perfect Game
October 29, 2022
In winning game one of the 2022 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies overcame a five-run deficit early in the game. This tied a 5-run come-from-behind world series victory two decades earlier in game six of the 2002 World Series won by the Anaheim Angels. The only World Series game in which a winner overcame a larger deficit was played in 1956, the four of seven series won by the N.Y. Yankees over the Brooklyn Dodgers and best known for Yankee pitcher Don Larson’s perfect performance in game five. Twenty-seven Dodgers. Twenty-seven consecutive outs. No hits. No walks. No base-runners by virtue of fielding error. That 2-0 victory on 97 pitches thrown remains the only perfect game in the World Series but not over all post-season games. More about that later.
Larson had also started game 2 of the 1956 World Series played at Ebbets Field on October 2, 1956. The Yanks had a 6-0 lead midway through the second inning, but Larson had no command of his pitches that day, giving up two walks in the first inning and two more walks in inning 2, the second of which came with the bases loaded. Yankee Manager Casey Stengel, who as an in-game tactician usually pulled the right strings, took Larson out with the bases still loaded and the Yanks holding a 6-1 lead and needing just one more out to get out of the inning. In comes Johnny Kucks, who would later win game 7 with a 3-hit shutout, but this time he gives up a single and then a home run that tied the score. Brooklyn eventually won 13-8, and the six-run deficit still ranks at the top of the list of come-from-behind victories in world series play. But back to Larson, Stengel on a hunch and decided to start Larson on short rest on October 8 at Yankee Stadium in game five, and the rest is history (no pun intended).
There’s another connection between last night’s game and the Phillies. While Larson threw the only perfect game in a world series so far, his masterpiece in 1956 wasn’t the only post-season no-hitter. Pitching for the Phillies in the 2010 National League Divisional Series in game one, Roy Halladay allowed no hits and just one base-runner via a single walk in a 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Moreover, what is unique about that accomplishment is that Halladay became and still is the only person to throw no-hitters in both the regular season and a post-season game during the same year. On May 29, 2010, Halladay pitched a 1-0 perfect game win against the Florida Marlins — no walks, no hits, and no Cincy base-runners by virtue of a Phillie fielding error. How about that?
Copyright 2022, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: 2022 World Series
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